DIY Paper Bag Floor Installation

We decided to try a paper bag floor in our front room. This is our first time trying this and we like the results. Although its most often called a paper bag floor, we actually used thicker
Builders Paper: amzn.to/2rvIyao
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[@lucysnowe31]

This is literally the best paper floor version I've seen. I was toying with a stencil idea too and your video helped seal the deal on that! Gorgeous, thank you for sharing!

[@SaritaLaroche]

Thank you! Good luck on your project

[@elizabethc9832]

I love the look of your floor! The stenciling takes it to another level! I did a paper floor 8 years ago in my dining room as a "temporary" solution. It still looks lovely. I used glue when putting mine down (over composition tile) with two coats of poly on top, the outcome looks very similar. Instead of a stencil, I cut out mid-century stars from the same but non-crumpled brown paper and glued them randomly about. Fast forward to now, I'm getting ready to have tile put down and taking up the paper floor with a bit of sadness. It served me well during the days of unemployment, getting back on my feet, to now. I've noticed that there's some minor damage under where I watered plants (I used water-based poly). No scratches but I put pads on all my furniture. For the most part, it wore better than any of the rolled laminent floors I've seen. Thanks for sharing your process in this video.

[@SaritaLaroche]

We had our floor for a few years until we remodeled and sold our house. I signed the paper floor- I imagine in 20 years (or whenever) someone pulling up the old laminate floors and finding my paper bag floor underneath 😀

[@kaviah46]

I did this to my stairs. However, I used a glue and water mixture and laid the flooring. After drying, I stained and put on several coats of polyurethane. My stairs are flat. You really have to take the time to do this and glue and water mixture is the best result. You put the paper in the glue and water mixture to totally saturate the paper thus giving the paper an even color. My stairs are beautiful and have lasted four years with no wear and tear or patching needed. I simply dust them down with a damp rag.

[@SaritaLaroche]

Pink Tool Belt Diva I’m sure they’re impressive

[@griffeygirl5938]

Wish you could share a picture. I’m thinking about doing this on my stairs also. I think I’ll try your version.

[@deluxewaterless7229]

Excellent video. One of the best brown paper bag videos I've found so far

[@SaritaLaroche]

Wow, thank you!

[@deluxewaterless7229]

Your welcome

[@steamboatwillie8517]

Wow, I'm gobsmacked! I ended up here by accident, but glad I did. My dad told me once him and mum decorated a lounge with feed bags ( poor/ farmers) when they first got married: I never understood it could look this good though! Congrats, it's a great job!

[@SaritaLaroche]

Dave Shuttleworth thank you and gobsmacked is my favorite word of the day

[@acgrateful3373]

I really appreciated your honesty about the process and how you handled the various challenges; which every project has, but most people don't show in their video's. Great looking floor!

[@SaritaLaroche]

I appreciate that!

[@ladykatherine2939]

P.S. The video was great. Using the clips of the work, with the descriptive titles over it made it so much easier to understand, rather than talking while working. I have to subscribe and see what else you are up to!💖

[@SaritaLaroche]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@juiemon1]

Such an awesome job. The floor looks great!!!!

[@sage9836]

Beautiful. I like how the tearing of the paper and layout process makes different patterns. The one I am doing looks like stone. I am going to use a stencil, too! No, mine is not turning completely flat, either. I'm glad you showed that. The wrinkles mostly came out. I like to think of it as a nice organic look.

[@SaritaLaroche]

Sage organic look...that’s exactly the word I was looking for

[@jross008470]

Love how u added the stencil to it, that was a great idea

[@SaritaLaroche]

Jeanine Ross thank you

[@marset.designsplus3813]

Love love, love the variation of color. And the stenciling... was the refreshing touch. 👍👏

[@SaritaLaroche]

Marcia Mc Clean thank you

[@yocelin1087]

Its BEAUTIFUL! the best one I have seen yet. Very informative as well. Thanks!

[@SaritaLaroche]

Roselia thank you-it was a labor of love

[@zippyustar6350]

First one I’ve seen that impressed me completely now I am collecting supplies by Aug I will try this brown paper bags( the bags I’m using are from work extra strong)they measure out to 32 x 20 inches in the big room 22 x 24 feet @ $.25 a bag and stencils I have as well as use the year subscription to Rollin Stone magazine for the year 1999 it will be covers of a time I enjoyed thoroughly there on the floor in the big room/ carpet came out year ago I have been waiting for a project like this one 🧐 💡 👏🏻🥳💋 thanks

[@SaritaLaroche]

Good luck! The magazine idea sounds so creative. :-)

[@BrydieeeeB]

Ooo I want to see

[@IRONWEED_]

Looks great! Thank you for honestly discussing the challenges.

[@SaritaLaroche]

Thanks for the nice comment

[@justachic4962]

NO NO NO NO NO.... ITS NOT FAIR HOW AMAZING YOU ARE!!!!!

[@pomeikwong2653]

That is inspiring me to have a go! Thanks!

[@barbarawhittall2311]

Beautiful!

[@deniserhodes4464]

WOW WOW WOW WOW ....my room is next. The stencil is genius!!

[@SaritaLaroche]

Curious if you ever tried?

[@TaylorJohnson-ur8ek]

This is simultaneously the most artistic and detailed version of this type of project I've yet seen. Thanks!

[@SaritaLaroche]

Taylor Johnson that’s an exceptional compliment. Thank you

[@BrydieeeeB]

Yes love the way it looks and the art great job

[@rainy4036]

Nice job! I have never heard of paper on the floor! But it looks beautiful. I hope it lasts for you.

[@SaritaLaroche]

Thanks! We had it for several years before we sold the house and installed hardwood over it.

[@lindamarie6574]

wow, it looks awesome, like stone, that is one beautiful floor

[@SaritaLaroche]

Linda Marie thank you

[@Rockonchick2]

I doing paper bag flooring too love it ....been doing it for sometime it really cool

[@SaritaLaroche]

Sally Soucie hope it turned out well for you

[@ladykatherine2939]

What an amazing result!! Adding the stenciled design really took the appearance to the next level (the paint colors in the stencil were perfect!).Labor intensive to be sure, but the finished floor is gorgeous, well done!!

[@SaritaLaroche]

Thank you so much!

[@sharonnagel3384]

WOW👌👌👌

[@lowellirish]

I loved the stencils. It's been 4 years. How is it holding up?

[@YANDEX30V]

Good job done. Looks like leather which I was gonna use..ty

[@SaritaLaroche]

No problem 👍 We loved and lived with this floor for many years. No one- I mean no one, who entered our home ever assumed it was brown paper. It has a cross between leather and stone look.

[@ThisIsMeTinnaMarie]

Nice job!! Love the stencils

[@SaritaLaroche]

🌞

[@lesliewallace4814]

I'm going to do it. Thank you so much I love this

[@SaritaLaroche]

Good luck

[@hissonshinegirl]

The best method IMHO is to soak the paper in water crumble and make sure you are using the same side up if you want a uniform color. One side is darker then the other side and the texture is different. But it sounds like you like that paper bag calico look. Using Elmer's glue all straight not watered down. Using wet paper makes it more pliable and try not to overlap so much that you see it through the top paper. If you want nice veins in the paper take some ritz dye in your color choice in the water you are wetting the paper. I like a red dye then I crumble the paper and then take a paintbrush and run black paint over the high spots of the wrinkles and the wet paper makes the black run into veins so kool. let that dry then rewet the paper and apply with undiluted Elmer's glue.

[@SaritaLaroche]

NONAS good to know!

[@BrydieeeeB]

Any ideas how I can make it more of a whitewashed look at all to match my beachy white, mix of blues including turquoise, grey home?

[@ErmilinaLight]

Great job!!!

[@SaritaLaroche]

Thank you!!

[@kellylucille112]

Love it! I want that floor.🥰

[@SaritaLaroche]

thank you

[@carbie1880]

Oh this is a nice and beautiful work . I love it 🌹🙏😄

[@SaritaLaroche]

C. B. Thank you-appreciate the support 😃👋

[@chauntelamor9168]

So beautiful Awesome job!!!

[@SaritaLaroche]

thank you

[@jamiekahn5778]

Good job !

[@SaritaLaroche]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@gailsmith8115]

Wow thats so cool

[@SaritaLaroche]

Thanks

[@peterporker7685]

I'm shocked by how good it looks. The stencil was a great touch. Can you do this over wood sub floor? All the videos I've seen has been concrete

[@roscomoon2534]

I believe so. I watched another video that was done right over sub-flooring.

[@SaritaLaroche]

Sorry we never replied- I have seen other videos as well that did it on a wood sub-floor. I personally have no experience with it but I believe it would be easier to adhere to than concrete.

[@uoohoo99]

If you put more coats of poly down, it helps to prevent damage and will make the floor smoother.

[@shlomitcnaan7123]

OMG the stencil!!

[@SaritaLaroche]

😀

[@mjkay8660]

beautiful.

[@SaritaLaroche]

Thank you!

[@lindamazur6124]

Looks great ,but I just wanted to let you know that ,there is a difference in the darkness of the paper because of which side is facing up . I leaned this years ago when I did half of my house . At first I was annoyed by it , until I figured out what was going on . Once I understood that depending on which side of the paper was facing up , I purposely used that info to my advantage in the layout .

[@SaritaLaroche]

Great tip!

[@mjkay8660]

i have a chair made of paper during the great depression. yep, rolled paper, what tenacity

[@SaritaLaroche]

WOW!...you use what you've got :-)

[@feliciaodd3116]

So cool. And amazing.

[@SaritaLaroche]

Thanks...it's been a while, but it was a fun project

[@feliciaodd3116]

So is it still holding strong?

[@SaritaLaroche]

We had it for several years (worked great), but we sold the house and put flooring over it as part of the remodel to sell@@feliciaodd3116 I would say the only downside was that it was just straight concrete, so it was a bit tough on the feet sometimes and it could be a bit echoey (if that's a word)

[@feliciaodd3116]

It is now lol makes sense that it would be hard and probably cold on the feet. Thanks for your help.

[@YagwitOG]

I'm going to try a bit of fabric softener for the living room. My paper fought me ever inch of the way.

[@SaritaLaroche]

Good Luck!

[@Lene3987]

Lindo!!.... Brazil😃

[@SaritaLaroche]

Lene L. S obrigado 👍

[@Ynvme2013]

Beautiful..but how do u clean and maintain this?? Do u mop?? Explain..

[@SaritaLaroche]

Ynvme2013 yes we mop and scrub and do everything you would do for a normale floor. I don’t use harsh chemicals-but I don’t use harsh chemicals in general. It was super easy to maintain.

[@brentgreear5995]

My wife and I are going to do this upstairs on plywood and my question is what type of glue was used or you just do the poly on it? Thanks a bunch and loved the video y’all looks amazing.

[@SaritaLaroche]

Brent Greear we used water based polyurethane and nothing else. We chose that because we didn’t have a plywood subfloor, just concrete. I’m assuming in your upstairs, you will have plywood subfloors. So, you could use the white glue/water mixture a lot of other videos feature and just use polyurethane on top.

[@theonlymrsk7229]

Have you had any problems with the crack you repaired? Ours still has moisture coming up and it has discolored the paper and we are not sure how to fix it.

[@SaritaLaroche]

Theonly MrsK7 we did have some paper erosion over time- a couple of years. I didn’t know what was specifically going on, perhaps moisture seepage as you experienced.

[@DeniseSlack]

Can this floor be mopped? Will the finish turn “milky” with puppy accidents or wet paws?

[@SaritaLaroche]

This floor can be mopped. The polyurethane seals it. It never turned milky on us. I never had a dog- but we did have a geriatric cat who puked a lot on it.

[@seanroaney1473]

Beautiful job -- and I agree the stencil looks fantastic. Question: would it be possible to do this as wallpaper? And if it is, for a person who rents an apartment and would have to return the walls to the original condition upon moving, would it be possible to remove the paper? Thanks for sharing an enjoyable and informative video. :)

[@SaritaLaroche]

Sean Roaney I’m sure the technique could be used on multiple surfaces, but I would be hesitant to put it somewhere in a rental. For us, we knew that when we tired of it, we could just put any type of traditional flooring right over it, since it is essentially just decorated concrete.

[@SaritaLaroche]

Sean Roaney as I side note I will mention that I did a similar treatment to a wall once, without the polyurethane-just very crinkled and soft brown paper. I just taped it with double stick tape and it looked like suede. But it was just a random project I threw together in a rental.

[@ncgolli]

where did you get the lovely stencil?

[@SaritaLaroche]

Nancy Wilson wish I remembered the website-just poked around online

[@AlaskaWild]

Doesn’t moisture and paper equal mold? What about moisture coming up through the floors, getting to the paper?

[@SaritaLaroche]

Never had an mold issues after keeping the floor for many years

[@judichristopher4604]

WOW ... that is Beautiful... So.. You didn't STAIN it... You just used the natural color of the paper?

[@SEJ147]

I did this in our livingroom, I didn't use any stain, just the brown paper. I did learn that with different rolls of paper the color can be different. Also, I used Elmers Glue All mixed with water 50/50 to glue it to concrete, works great and is cheaper than the polyurethane.

[@SaritaLaroche]

No stain-just the water

[@norraven4751]

I was wondering if the shades of the paper differ because some are reversed - as in top side up, then underside up. Does that makes sense?

[@SaritaLaroche]

I don't really think there was a top and bottom on that particular paper. But I understand what you are suggesting. :-)

[@griffeygirl5938]

So you didn’t use any glue first? Just the poly?

[@SaritaLaroche]

Yes- we opted for no glue because we didn't have a subfloor.

[@cinnerfication]

I would have put some kind of self leveling coating on the floor so your not patching

[@SaritaLaroche]

Cindy Anderson that probably would have been better. Live and learn 😁

[@joeramir421]

All the other tutorials showed to use elmer's. Any reason why you layed down the poly then paper?

[@SaritaLaroche]

Joe Ramir hi-thanks for the question. As we researched different options, we decided that Elmer’s straight onto the concrete wasn’t a good choice for us. I personally think that works better on a wood subfloor-but we aren’t experts-just went with our gut after watching numerous others.

[@marset.designsplus3813]

@@SaritaLaroche Yes I conquer. Because the purpose of the glue can be served by applying the polyurethane ( adhering). And, it's more durable. Haven't tried it myself but, I do a lot of experiments based on common sense and adventure.. lol. Eg. I use wall paint on my floors and then apply floor liquid polish. Also a wood stain over the paint one time. All on concrete floors.

[@brucerobertson2466]

That looks really good , how durable is it

[@SaritaLaroche]

We had it intact for a long while with no issues. The more sealer you put over it the stronger it will be.

[@alyceetxebarria6926]

I really want to paper bag over my extremely ugly 12 inch tile squares floor...??? What do you think? Im thinking fill all the grout lines with..Cement crack repair stuff..then go for it? Advice or thoughts on the matter?

[@SaritaLaroche]

alyce etxebarria you sound like a person of my own heart and adventure. For sure, the grout would be the biggest worry. Texture will show through the paper. If you feel confident getting the surface level, it may work. I suggest doing a test patch if you can, first.

[@islandbreezy441]

I wonder how it would look when sealed with epoxy

[@SaritaLaroche]

Good question

[@debssweets]

That is amazing! Do you think it would hold up to the daily use of a handicapped person in a electric wheelchair?

[@SaritaLaroche]

Yes, with enough topcoat sealer.

[@stevieg3078]

Very nice floor. why did you choose to use polyurethane instead of glue to lay down your floor? Thanks.

[@SaritaLaroche]

We were not gluing to a subfloor, we were gluing straight down to the concrete. So we choice the polyurethane. It's been a few years since we did it, and at the time there weren't many videos I could find specifically for concrete.

[@stevieg3078]

@@SaritaLaroche Thank you for your response.

[@TheDusty7878]

How much dirt hides in the wrinkles and how many scratches are in the floor now after less than 1 year?

[@SaritaLaroche]

We posted the video a year after we actually did the floor, so I can tell you that it cleaned up easy. We didn't have many scratches or tears- just one spot at the threshhold, where the paper lifted.

[@code-52]

Will this work on a concrete porch?

[@SaritaLaroche]

I really don’t know. I know I saw a family use this technique on a concrete slab outside their back door, but I’m not sure how it held up long term. It would need to be sealed really well- with more too coats layers than I was willing to do in this particular floor.

[@fredmckibben6872]

So, instead of using 'Glue/Water' mix to lay it down on the floor, you used 'Poly".....am I correct???

[@SaritaLaroche]

Yep that’s what e did- because we weren’t sure glue/water would work directly onto concrete. I’ve seen glue/water work well on a subfloor.

[@silviulungu5442]

Does it work if i use wheat paste?

[@SaritaLaroche]

I wouldn't know- sorry

[@brucerobertson2466]

Does concrete have to be primed first

[@SaritaLaroche]

Mitch Stevens I don’t have an answer for that, other than we did not.

[@carolbrockrathburn8318]

Did you use glue. I like how you did your's Didn't take as long as if you Glued it First Much Better

[@SaritaLaroche]

We did not use glue, because we didn’t know if glue would adhere to concrete. If you have a wood subfloor, you can essentially do the same thing with a watered down glue mixture.

[@hopepitts9649]

How many gallons of polyurethane did this take?

[@SaritaLaroche]

Hello- I really wish I could remember enough to tell you precisely. At this point, we are many years out from having done this video. But I want to say it took us 2 gallons for our living room.

[@JazzyNegrita]

❣️👍🏿💯🥰

[@nonebusiness4488]

the end product was very attractive but too much polyurethane exposure.

[@SaritaLaroche]

thanks for the comment

[@thomaslotito380]

Not impressed at all. Sorry. Doesn't mean you didn't work hard at it.

[@planetclay]

wow such an impressive comment...not....especially for someone who hasn't got a single thing on his own channel that he's done...impressive or otherwise.

[@Ynvme2013]

So whyd you click on it then. Im sure the vinyl peel and stick tiles on your floor look lovely.

[@SaritaLaroche]

😁