DIY Paper Bag Flooring Tips, Tools & Supplies for Concrete Subfloors 

Wow, thank you!

Awesome, thanks!

Hi. Did you use white Elmers glue or the yellow? Thanks

So glad you love it!

Thank you Patti!

;-)

***** I am trying to find you on face book I want to do this on a basement floor. the floor was plain brown and then I coated it with white zinsser to seal it. I went to the local paint store and the guy advised me not to do this as the glue would not stick to the cement and then the stain would not stick to the cement. do not know what to do tried to find you on facebook but could not find you. I need advice before I can continue Linda Jirous thanks

Linda Jirous I am in no way a professional on this matter. I can tell you that it worked for me. I think when all is said and done the floor acts like one large floor covering. Kinda like a linoleum or even a hardwood floor (which is usually floating over the concrete not glued down) it's one large piece of flooring helps it stay in place as it works with the hardwood floors. We have had no issues with any shifting. We sealed ours with clear caulking around the base boards when it was all dried and sealed. Also through my research this technique has been around since the 1970's or earlier. I have heard of no one having issues with the floor shifting or not staying in place. It has been done on wood and concrete sub floors. Hope this helps! ~ Grace

***** thank you! I am using white art paper and going to do a lighter stain What stain hwave you found that seems to work the best What sealer have you found that works the best

Thank you for your kind words!

tile not take..

I agree, Those are my favorite parts too! I believe it is because I stained the pieces BEFORE installing them. Most tutorials have you installing them then staining. I did a full bath, a kitchen and my laundry room for under $200! Thank you for your comment.

Thank you

Mandi Gail Nelson Thanks for the tip.

Alma, Thank you for your comment.

Hi Richard - not sure if folks use this in the States, but do you think wallpaper paste would do as a substitute for the glue? The Elmer’s glue recommended is really expensive here. Cheers. Kate

@@kated6442 I'm not sure if wallpaper paste will work the same as I've seen no one use it but Elmers glue is called PVA glue here in the UK and is really cheap! It's just the glue kids use at school. I bought a 5 litre bottle on ebay for £8.99 and I know you can get 500ml bottles of it in the poundshop. Good luck!

Shipping paper works well

Actually the walnut was not dark enough so I mixed the black into it to create one darker shade. Only one color of poly was applied to the paper. Thanks for asking.

Tanner, not sure. I know it can be done on wood like plywood sub floors.

I would love to see images... you can PM them to me on FB if your on there.... facebook.com/L.GraceLauer?ref_type=bookmark

Thank you! Cheers!

Actually it works better on wood sub-flooring! Good luck!

Wendy Shumate I did not get the gunk up 100% but I did get it as smooth as possible but in some places it was still tacky. After scraping I did a lot of sweeping. and vacuuming for dust etc. Key is no lumps or bumps.

I do have an image of the entire floor. I did my bathroom, kitchen and laundry rooms. I have since moved out of that house and am looking forward to doing this again in the new home. You can see more images and info on my blog at blog.uniquelygrace.com/2013/09/paper-bag-flooring-diy-on-concrete.html

Alicia, I have not. Though I wanted to in our master bath. Yet we got orders to move with the military and had to relocate before I had time.

Shannon, -I would find out your square footage and then add about 1/3 of that to your total. This will help with account for the pieces you won't use and the overlap. -I purchased my paper at Lowes. If you buy the contractors paper watch out for the kind with a waxy finish. You don't want that one... but one of the beauty's of this project is if you save our grocery bags you can use those and save money. -You can roll the stain on after your install but I found that the paces with and without glue came out different also you won't get the variation in color I did it will be more uniform, witch is not a bad thing... just a preference. - Sanding is necessary, not between every coat though. I did it between every other coat. also I didn't do it after about a month (I had to take a break and could not finish all the coats of poly) I didn't sand it after it had be walked on and cleaned and I regret that. Even though it had been cleaned well it still had oil residue from being part of the kitchen and some of the poly pealed right up. I had to then sand it down again through two layers of poly and redo that spot. - Cleaning, you can google how to clean poly sealed floors. It is the same as the poly sealed wooded ones. Basic gentle cleaners and a mop will work just fine. Hope this helps.

Yes, correct... kind of. It is not damp with stain. It absorbs the moisture in the glue. The stain is dry. Hope this helps.

honeybld67 I believe they were water based. I believe it was a yellow can. It's just the lighting.

Chachi67, Thanks for asking. Our bathroom is about 9 ft x 5 ft but the counter sink, the half wall and the toilet take away from that sq ft. Second yes there is a slight change but with concrete based flooring the ground underneath keeps it from changing to low. The linoleum that was down before had very little insulation either. We are in Norhtern CA. It could just be a change in the weather causing the slight temperature difference. Since we did this at the end of summer and now we are getting our colder weather. It has not caused us to want to wear slippers though... it's not that cold to walk on.

KISS it Donna... keep it simple. I have always tried to use simple house hold cleaners. I use just vinegar and water. If I need to shine it up a bit I may actually use a window cleaner now and then.

Hello Tamara, Wooden subfloors are even easier. Rip up your carpet. Get all the staples out and start gluing. Skip the staining the floor part. The rest is the same. Hope this helps.

I have seen it done over the vinyl... but the dip where the faux grout lines are in the vinyl will show up as dips on the floor in the end result. Hope this helps.

Don't combine any products, I combined the two methods. So I polyurethane the floor.... then also pasted the glue mixture onto the poly then the paper.

Okay 👌 gotcha! Thanks 😊

Laura, So far so good! We did the floors in our home 6 months before we moved out. They had a renter in that home for a year. Floors held up just fine no problems so far! :) I would follow the temperature directions on the cans of products. We did ours in August or Sept in CA... so warm weather all around. Make sure you have plenty of ventilation!

Red Tankgirl I ask as I have a wood floor that is partially still having poly on it and partially worn. I don't want to sand it off first but wasn't sure if the elmres would stick to the existing varnish on the floor. What do you think?

Red Tankgirl I think it would matter if the existing is oil based or not. If you brush some watered down glue onto the surface does it separate or stay in place? The poly I used was water based. But for a wood subfloor you shouldn't need the poly first the glue will stick to the wood on it's on just fine. Test it and see.. but possibly a light sanding would help if the glue does separate.