Painting and varnishing hardboard?

[Wonderer99]

Hi everyone. New here so be gentle

I have done a search here but could not find the answer to my question so please accept my apologies if this has been covered.

I am a photographer and am making a wooden studio floor. I want to lay over this as a finish pieces of hardboard ( your bog standard wickes variety ).

Initially I was going to lay my white cotton background snugly over this but it occurred to me that as a studio flooring it would look much better if I could actually paint the hardboard white and finish it off with a tough floor varnish ala Ronseal diamond hard variety. Would this be possible and if so would this work better on the smooth or rough side of the board?

I know you can get white finished hardboard but it is not as large as the standard brown stuff and the fewer joins on the floor the better. As mentioned the hardboard will be firmly glued to a thick wooden base so will be firm.

Any advice on if this is possible or any advice would be much appreciated. Which type of paint, whether diamond hard varnish is ok etc. I have the DIY ability of a 4 year old so any help would be great!

Thanks all

 

[joe-90]

If it were me I'd use oil based satinwood. It's tough and easy to mop clean.

 

[opps]

Satinwood wil be durable but will take a long time to cure.

You might want to consider a waterbased floor paint. If you have other people entering the area it might be advisable to pay a bit extra for an anti-slip paint, eg

http://www.duluxdecoratorcentre.co.uk/servlet/ProductHandler?code=DDC10142

I am not sure what the others think, but a thin plywood (3.6mm) might prove to be far more durable than hardboard which is quite soft. it will cost more than hardboard though.

If you do go for ply you will have the option of screwing it down rather than gluing (thus allowing you to lift the boards up if the need arises).