Happy Monday my friends! You may or may not know that about a year and 1/2 ago I posted a really through tutorial for painting concrete/cement. Ivie’s floor was my first experience and its held up really well, so well in fact, that I decided to rip the carpet out of Dylan’s room and paint her floor too.
So why another tutorial? Well, I’ve learned a few things along the way that I would love for you to know to (in case you are planning on tackling your own concrete painting project!)
Carpet Removal
First up is carpet removal. Not the funnest job in the world, that is for sure. Dyl’s room is preeeeetty small so it wasn’t a horribly hard job (but if you need a few more tips on that, pop over and check out this post on YHL.)
Once your carpet and pad are out its time to remove the tack strips. (Those are the pieces of wood along the edge of your carpet that hold it in place.) You can use a myriad of tools for this from a chisel, to a hammer, to a screw driver. We used floor scrapers to remove them (you can see both of them in the picture above) The one on the left is a little finer and you have a little more control, and the one on the right is sort of like the bulldozer of floor scrapers and destroys everything in its path. Basically you are using them to pry up the tack strips. Make sure when you pick them up you are wearing gloves, those suckers are sharp.
Remove Adhesive
Now you have the fun job of getting off all of the carpet glue. And actually the proper spelling of that would be Carpet Human Fly Trap GAAA-LOOOOOOE. Our carpet was laid when we moved into our house 4 years ago and the glue was still VERY sticky. I don’t know at what point it looses its tack and becomes concrete like but I have heard that does happen….
In my first post I talked about dousing it with Lacquer Thinner and letting it sit and then dousing it again and scraping it off with a plastic scraper. This is what I have learned since then, if you pour a fair amount of Lacquer Thinner on and then cover it with a plastic garbage bag for 10 minutes the glue comes RIGHT off. Very little scraping involved. I took a few garbage bags and cut them down one side and the bottom so that they could cover a larger area.
Fill Holes
If you previously had carpet, then you are going to have lots of cute little holes along your baseboard that will need to be filled before you can paint. Mix up a batch of Quickcrete and fill your holes (its ok if you overfill them a little) and let it cure overnight.
Sand Baby Sand
The last prep step is to sand your heart out. Use a pole sander (you can buy them for around $6.00 at Sherwin Williams) and 80 Grit Sand Paper to rough up the entire surface of the floor. Sand the entire floor one direction, then sweep it up. Then sand it in the opposite direction, then sweep it up. Then sand one MORE time and this time when you sweep you want to sweep, vacuum, sweep, vacuum. Until you are SURE there is no dust left. (If you get it wet at this point you will have to wait 24 hours for it to fully dry, so don’t do that) Just sweep and vacuum like your floor’s life depends on it…because it does. Take special care to sand along the edges where you filled the tack strip holes and they should blend right in.
Now comes the fun part.
Paint
Painting a floor is hands down the easiest thing on the planet. In fact I would rather paint 5000 floors than 1 ceiling. You don’t even need a paint tray!
But you do need good paint. Regular latex paint is NOT for this project. You need something specially designed to withstand the beatings that a floor takes. The paint that I recommend is Sherwin Williams Porch and Floor Enamel. It is AMAZING and has held up SO well in Ivie’s room. It is a water based paint (so no crazy fumes) that is self priming and goes on so smooth. You do not want to get the wrong product when you are doing a project like this (can you imagine?!). You can have it tinted to any color of the rainbow, but personally I love the Extra White Base.
Make sure that you are using a microfiber roller cover that has a 5/16” nap for a really smooth finish. (If you are doing a top coat you will need to buy 2 of them.)
Pour your paint onto the corner furthest away from your door. I usually pour an amount that is the size of a dinner plate. If you have closets in the space you will want to start there.
Roll it the same way that you would roll a wall, in a “W” pattern. Make sure that you are not leaving any gobs behind (yes, gobs is the technical term.)
Also, notice in the picture above that the holes that were filled absorb the paint more than the regular floor. So go over those extra well.
This picture is after 1 coat.
Let coat 1 cure for a few hours. Once it is dry recoat following the same pattern. I didn’t need more than 2 coats on Dylan’s floor, but if you do, wait the appropriate amount of time before you recoat.
Sherwin Williams Porch and Floor Enamel does not require a top coat to seal it. You can leave it just how it is with a Satin finish and be golden as the geese on Willy Wonka.
But.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a top coat on because it makes cleaning the floors easier. It makes them shinier (this picture from Ivie’s room is the perfect example!)
If you are putting on a top coat, wait 24 hours before you do it to let your paint cure.
The top coat I recommend is H&C Wet Look Concrete Sealer (you can also buy this at Sherwin Williams). DO NOT use a polyurethane on top of your floor, especially if you have used white paint. You will hate your life when it yellows.
*When I did Ivie’s room I did 2 coats of Sealer and there are a few places where the concrete was not level and it puddled there and has yellowed a little bit. So I would just say to one coat it and avoid that possible problem.
Once your top coat is finished wait at least 24 hours to walk on it and72 hours before you put furniture on it. Deal?
One question I get over and over again about painted concrete is how to clean it. Surprisingly the best method that I have come up with (after trying lots and lots) is dish soap and a washcloth. Yep, regular old dish soap.
Put a small amount on the tough spot. (Dylan is going through a phase where she writes her name on EVERYTHING.)
Rub it in small circles with a damp washcloth.
Wipe it up with a clean non soapy one.
Do you have any questions about this project? Leave them in the comments and I will answer them there!
This post was written in partnership with Sherwin Williams. All project ideas, opinions and hard work are 100% mine.
I was thinking about painting the concrete floor in our nursery, do you think the concrete paint will last a fair amount of time?
It has held up REALLY well in Ivie’s room, so I say yes!
Oh my goodness!! Thank you so much for being fearless and just DOING it! You inspired me to get going. I wanted to rip out the old disgusting carpet but couldn’t afford to do the tile just yet so I thought about just living with the yucky concrete….but then YOU happened! My 13 y.o. daughter’s room is the guinea pig room and it has turned out so fantastic I may not ever put down new flooring! I stenciled a design randomly all over the floor which will mimic the design that is to be stenciled on her walls. I cannot wait to see the final result but as for painting concrete floors…..they are the BEST!
We’re redoing our floors and I’ve been holding out for stained concrete but it’s going to cost 18k, so that’s a deterrent. I’m wondering how you got the design? How do I paint it so that it’s not just plain?
Thanks!
What do you do for the floor portion that meets up with the doorway? (since it’s lower after removing carpet) I can just picture myself tripping every time I walked out of the room….
Such a good question! The plan (that I havent gotten to on my to-do list yet!) is to paint a threshold piece white to match the floor because we cant get it to match our wood anymore. I will make sure to update this post when its in!
xo
mandi
I have been on the internet for weeks trying to find hints and suggestions on painting a concrete floor in my lower level. You have answered every question that I couldn’t get answered. I have been to stores etc etc, in one reading you have given me the products and no how, thank you so much.
Did you say I could have the paint tinted to another color other than white? I have five dogs instead of little kids so I think white would get demolished real quick, lol
Did you ever do this, Mandi? I’d love to see how that worked out!
Brent and Rachel – you want to get transition strips for the doorway. I order my through Pergo to match the one I demolished pulling up the carpet and it matches the laminate in the hallway. HomeDepot has lots of generic ones https://www.homedepot.com/b/Flooring-Tile-Tools-Tile-Set-Tile-Tools-Accessories-Transition-Strips/N-5yc1vZc38a
Use a self levelling latex. Will run flush from threshold strip with a small gradient. May need to sand down using power sander with 60 grade sandpaper. U can hire a palm sander for about a tenner from tool hire shop
This is a great tutorial thank you so much! Do you think it would work in a garage? I am thinking of painting a portion and making a mudroom area, but I don’t just want plain concrete there. Do you think it would hold up?
There is some AWESOME epoxy paint at Home Depot- either gray or tan, and then you spread these flakes around. It cleans up really well, we’ve had it in our last 2 garages. (It’s made for garages and a lot of wear and tear)
If you use the epoxy paint, do you also need a sealer? I want my floor to be sealed….but not sure if the epoxy paint will double as the sealer or not.
🙂
Perfect timing as I’m getting ready to do the very same thing. This tutorial is great, thanks so much for sharing!!
Ok so this might be crazy but I have real hard wood floors do you think this type if paint would work on them or have you ever painted wood floors if so what would you deal it with?
Hey Jacklyn! Yes this paint works really well on hardwood! Infact Brooke at All Things Thrifty has a tutorial that is just for that! https://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2012/10/how-to-paint-floor-and-what-not-to-do.html
xo
mandi
Hi,
what method did you use to create the designs on the floor?
If real hardwood floor sand and use a durable floor paint normally 2 coats but can do 3 coats . Ring Leyland’s or Brewers
Seal it with
Did you use a paintbrush to go around the edges or was the whole thing just done with the roller?
Most of it was done with a roller, but I did have to use the paint brush to go around the edges in the closet.
xo
m
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Does having concrete make the room colder? We painted our backyard cement and it seems really slippery (especially when wet!). That is another concern of mine.
We live in So. UT where it is hot ALL.THE.TIME. In the winter it snows maybe 2x a year. The floors always feel cool but never cold, which is great in the summer!
We have plywood floors upstairs. I recently tore out the linoleum in the bathrooms, carpet down the halls, and the carpet in the family room. I painted the plywood floors with porch paint and I couldn’t be more pleased! It was a huge pain in the butt to scrape the paper and adhesive from the bathroom floors, but it was worth it. I sanded a bit and had to fill in a little where the plywood wasn’t flush, but other than that I left the “imperfections” and painted (and patterned) right over them. Porch paint is simply AH-MAY-ZING!
Have you painted outdoor areas. We have a large concrete porch with a roof over it. It does get wet though. The concrete is that rough outdoor concrete though, not smooth like inside. Any experience with soemthign like that? I will be painting soem of our basement floors when we finish it. Looks great!
I have never painted outdoors. I think it should work, but I would ask the guys at Sherwin Williams about it!
xo
m
How do the kids like it? I fear falling-out-of-bed-onto-concrete type injuries!
They kids are totally fine with it. We always have big rugs down so it is great!
Great tutorial. Just what I need for basement rooms. Thanks a whole bunch for doing all that research and putting it together in such a good format. You rock, gal!!!!
It looks like you did some awesome designs with the painting, do you have any suggestions on how to do designs?
Can you mop it to clean it?
Can you mop it to clean it?
We actually painted the vast majority of our 1621 square foot house with Sherwin-Williams floor paint in a dark charcoal gray (only the two bathrooms and the tile entry hall remain unpainted) similar to the painted charcoal gray floors we saw in Crate and Barrel in San Francisco (where the floors look amazing and finally convinced my husband to throw caution to the wind). It (the act of painting itself, which was about 10% of the job) was the easiest thing, ever. The prep work, however, was 90% of the job and wasn’t even remotely the easiest thing ever. My husband went room by room hand scraping overspray and glue off the concrete floor with a handled razor tool, vacuuming, more vacuuming, filling holes with concrete filler, vacuuming, and mopping, mopping, mopping.
My one regret is not using the wet look sealer. Even now, I’m considering going back and sealing it. Somewhere in the back of my mind is the requirement that a clean floor also look shiny.
How my husband cleans our floor: standard mop in mild, soapy water followed by standard dishcloth from the ragbag also in mild, soapy water.
How I clean our floor (hint: I’m lazier): Wet Jet, but instead of the Swiffer solution, I drilled a hole in the top of the solution bottle and fill it with warm water and a drop of dish soap. I mop just like you normally would with a Wet Jet, then empty the solution bottle and throw away the pad (unless I used a microfiber cloth I sometimes use from the dollar store, then I toss that into the wash).
I wouldn’t go back. I have kids and dogs and I love it. It’s so cool in the summer, and wasn’t nearly as cold as I thought in the winter. Our moms think we’re crazy, and maybe we are…but we love our painted concrete floor!
I love your brilliant Swiffer solution!
I am considering re-painting our cement floors which are peeling and look nasty. I had sworn that I would never re-paint them because EVERY painted concrete floor I’ve seen has peeled but I’ll admit that I have no idea if the proper paint or prep was used so I am re-considering.
Any chance you have the color name of the Sherwin-WIlliam gray you used? Would love to see pix if you are willing to send/post…
Thanks again for your helpful & interesting post.
Thank you for this great tutorial!!! I will have to bookmark this for future.
Hi, I know this post is a few months old; but hoping you might still see my question…We have purchased SW Porch & Floor Enamel to paint our concrete floors as well, but we’re super concerned about the paint fumes from this product. It’s supposed to be low-voc, but did you find it to be low odor? Did it dry quickly and did any paint smell linger? Also, how was the smell of the shiny topcoat you mentioned? Thanks so much… we are very sensitive to chemical smells and just wondered about your experience.
How long did you wait before you moved the furniture back in? I know you mentioned pads, I’m concerned that my furniture will be too heavy for 72 hours and I will mess up all my hard work. Did you have any trouble with anything sticking?
I plan to paint all the concrete floors in my house like this. I price checked these sherwin williams products and they’re a bit pricy. How far does a gallon of the wet look sealer go? How many rooms can i get out of one gallon??
You will probably only do one coat of the sealer so you will get a lot for your money, I think it has the sq/ft coverage on the gallon for exact numbers.
xo
m
I started painting and im so excited! I’ve always wanted to try this but wouldve never got up the balls to do it if i hadn’t stumbled upon this blog!
I just painted a floor and the paint looked great. However the top coat looks awful. There are now shiny bubbles left on top and one area looks cloudy as if the top coat hasn’t dried fully. Do you have any suggestions for fixing it? Is there a way to get rid of the air bubble look?
Hi. Thanks so much for the tutorial. We have old terrazzo floor, but to save a bit on money, we decided to paint the bathroom floor with a concrete paint color to compliment the bathroom. Home Depot convinced us to use non skid floor finish additive, which unknowingly to us gave the floor an unfinished floor texture. I wanted to buy the Glidden interior floor with gloss. But he convinced us that it was better to use BEHR concrete paint with these additive. The color is awesome, but I don’t like the texture. I really would like to have smooth look where it will not be too slippery, since it is the bathroom. Do you have any suggestions for us, please. Thanks in advance.
Which Behr product did you get for your floor?
Thanks and have a great day.
Lisa
Hi Mandi,
The guy at Sherwin Williams suggested this paint for a dresser I am refinishing for my new baby’s room. Is this a good choice for furniture, especially a baby’s room? Just concerned about the chemical content long term.
I recently moved into a house where all the floors are covered with the garage floor epoxy with the flakes you mentioned to someone earlier. I was wondering if you had any ideas for how to paint over it. Do you think I could just sand it and paint over it?
Does the top coat make it any more slippery? Or is it not that big of a difference in how slippery it is?
I have had concrete floors in my large living room/dining area/great room for years. I tore up my old carpet, hoping to replace it with laminate flooring. Life happened and I have not had the financial resources to get the laminate. I am sick to death of my “garage floor,” and am thinking of painting it white. My question is, would this technique also work to paint over the unglazed terracotta tile floor in the kitchen that is attached to my great room?
Hi, have you got advice on the best way to remove paint from concrete. On the cheap. I have a large warehouse of concrete walls that have horrible orange paint on them. And want to strip it back to raw concrete.
Cheers
@Trent – I’ve used a product called Soygel by Franmar to remove paint from a concrete floor. It worked really well on my home’s concrete slab, and it is rather environmentally safe. I’m sure it would do a great job of paint removal for you, but I’m not sure how you successfully get the loosened paint and Soygel out of the pores of the concrete blocks? (Assuming the walls are made of blocks, that is….) The Franmar folks were awesome with product support services. Call them up and ask their opinion! I am not associated with Franmar, just a homeowner!
Neat blog…. and gets me to thinking I might need to do this to my basement walls, make the storage room and storm shelter not only brighter but, better looking too. I assume the same Paint and sealer will work on concrete interior walls as well……
Great tutorial! We are about to paint our lower level concrete floor. Our lower level is a walk-out to our beach and the only thing I’m worried about is that top coat. I know I’ll love the look of it, but I wonder if I come in the room with wet feet if I’ll wipe out! How have your kids made out with wet feet? For sure I won’t add non-skid. I’d rather skip the top coat! Would love your feedback.
Great post! Been reading a lot of tips on how to do this. Thanks for the info!
What an awesome tutorial! I feel completely empowered to take on the floor in my (soon to be) craft room. Thank you so much!
Love love lived your tutorial on how to paint concrete we are doing our game room and this helped tremendously!!! We couldn’t decide on staining or painting! You won me over!!! We ran into the same problem with our laminate hardwood!!! Love your full blog too!!!! I’ll be sure to pass your blog on!!! Thanks again!!!!
I’m currently going to embark on painting my concrete floor too, but I’m concerned about the cleaning part.
It’s a bare new floor unit, so far what i did is robot vaccum (almost 3 full bins of dust and powder) and mopping up a storm.
However, after doing this 3 times, the concrete floor still have some powder residue when i use my finger to swipe across it.
My question is ” how clean is clean? ” before i paint the floor with Sherwin Williams Water-based Epoxy?
How is your floor holding up so far? any peeling or scratch?
Really would appreciate sharing your experience, thank you.
A few things. First, I love your post! Secondly, we just pulled up carpet that had been peed on by our old (rest his soul) dog over and over again. The smell is still in the concrete. Any experience with that? I don’t want to paint the smell right into the floor! Also, I keep reading that I need to acid wash/etch the floor for the paint to adhere. Did you do that? If you did, which product did you use? Thanks!
had the same problem with dog, did you get an answer to this question?
I was told that bleach is the ONLY product that will take away the smell of skunk spray. The professional cleaner said it is the one product that will breakdown the urine. Unfortunately, bleach is too harsh for most applications; but I would think a mixture of bleach and water would break down the smell in the concrete. At least it would be a simple and inexpensive option to try. Good luck!
I have used Anise oil mixed with distilled water in a spray bottle to remove skunk order from the dog’s fur and also off hunter’s clothing and truck/car tires. I mix it 2pts water to 1pt anise oil. I stayed the dog, a German Shepard and rubbed it into his coat with my hand. My hand did not get the skunk smell, just smelled like black licorice.
Goodness this post is great! I have a retaining wall immediately behind the house. In 1900 the house was built on a slope and thus the need for a retaining wall. It is still in its usual gray cement color. I have been toying with painting it green. Grass green! After reading this post I now am convinced that cement paint would make a difference! Thanks!
Great post! Been reading a lot about painting my walls. Thanks for the info here!
Hello!
I used the lacquer thinner to get the glue up and then I sanded like you said. My question is, “Do you need to wait 24 hrs after using the lacquer thinner before painting?” Thank you!
Does the Sherwin Williams “Floor & Deck Enamel” work on basement concrete floors? Our house is not new, but the basement floor has never been painted. It is not damp – we run a dehumidifier in the summer for moisture. We want to paint the basement floors, but am concerned about the odor.
Hello I just recently read your article and decided to tackle my living room floor , I am fairly pleased with the results but unsure of what to use for the spaces where my floor is meets the walls and my other floors ……what would you suggest ?? BTW my floors are white . Thanks !!!
Thank you for your photos on painting concrete flooring. We painted our daughters concrete floor 6yrs ago a bright pink. Very easy to clean and care for! We also chalk the space between the base board and the concrete to fill the small gap. It is the best and cheapest flooring for kids rooms. We could not be happier with it!
Great article. BTW, I think you meant “thorough”, not “through” at the beginning of your post.
Hi!! We moved into the pee carpet house from hell and we have everything for this but the right kind of “Quikrete”!! I’ve sent my boyfriend twice to home depot with this name and he has purchased the wrong stuff with help of the employees each time. Now we’re here and can only find a Quikrete in a 60lb bag.. And this Quikrete says over 2″ thick jobs. I’ve been advised that it will take loads of work to get it done correctly so it doesn’t flake. Please help with the type of Quikrete!
My husband and I followed your instructions and advice to paint our entire downstairs concrete floors; we love the look but definitely made some mistakes. There are already a few chips in the floors from where we were a little too rough putting our furniture back in. Also I used a magic eraser to clean up a couple of spots and the top coat RUBBED RIGHT OFF! I think now there is no way we can do the whole process again ( we have 2 cats and 1 dog and keeping them of the floors for 3 days was a challenge) so we are just going to go over the chips with more paint and top coat and cross our fingers. The biggest part of this job was the cleaning and sanding. I broke down into tears a few times because the amount of dust from sanding seemed ENDLESS. We rented a diamond grinder from home depot. Have you had any problems with chips? If so what did you do?
I purchased ‘Sakrete fast setting cement patcher’. It is some gnarley stuff that requires plastic over it to cure. Sets within 20mins, walk on within 4 hrs. I’m going to just apply a few and see how the patch works. Jenny, how much was the rental for the sander? Do you think its worth it considering what yore dealing with now?
Mandi, how did you get the concrete up to the baseboards using a roller? Did you remove the baseboards before pouring the paint onto the concrete? Thanks!!!
Yep! The baseboard went in after it was painted! xo
love this! totally going to try it. also….where did you get those hang pull knobs?!?!
Hi Mandi, thank you for a great tutorial! Love your style. I see this is an older post, so hopefully you are still answering questions on it. I was wondering how slick the floors are, and if there is a way to prevent that besides a rug. I’m looking to paint the bathroom floor of my husband’s business (warehouse) where lots of messy guys work, so a rug just won’t work, but I want/need to prevent any injuries. Thank you for your time!
Hi! I just read your article on painting a concrete floor. I will be doing this next week! I was wondering what your thoughts were about painting the floor black.
have you had problems with the white paint scratching? I’ve heard horror stories about people redoing their stained concrete because of so many scratches?
I was wondering if this would be ok to do if you have two large dogs… sometimes 4 large dogs, when I “babysit”? Especially during the 30 day curing time. I want to get rid of my carpet so bad and can’t afford to replace it with… well, anything. But, this seems doable.
Thanks for all the great ideas!! I’ve started the process and have all the carpet pulled up in my basement and have begun trying to get up all the adhesive… It appears that in some fairly large sections, the adhesive has just completely absorbed into the cement (the surface is level and you can feel the grain of the cement)… How do I/or do I even need to get all of that off??
What an AMAZING idea. I’m 53 and have never heard of doing this. What A great plan! I’ve prayed that I could have new carpet or vinyl living room(the size of a bathroom :), because my husbands stinky dog. Got a quote today for 750$ for vinyl in such a tiny area! No way! So I than The Good Lord for this idea! I’m going to read, study, and know what I’m doing when I get started! Thank you so very much! God bless! Carmen
When you removed your carpet and noticed that there was a gap between the trim and the concrete floor did you remove the trim and make it flush with the floor or did you use a filler? I’m kinda stuck on that part. I’m not sure how to go about the gap between the trim and the concrete.
Hey Heather!
We took out the baseboard and replaced it with something new (and dropped it all the way down to the ground)
xo
m
Same process and product to REpaint a concrete floor?
when using any paint or glue solvent, provide adequate ventilation in the room and adjoining rooms. gas appliances that are old enough to have a pilot or newer ones use a starter to ignite the burners. this can have explosive consequences when using flammable solvents that evaporate into gases. most epoxy paints should also be applied where ventilation is adequate as their off gassing can be toxic to humans and pets.
great job on the floor!
I have (hopefully not mistakenly) prepped a previously painted concrete floor with Kilz2. Can I use the Porch and Floor Enamel over the Kilz2?
I painted my outside concrete patio several years ago and now it peeling. Any easy tips on removing old concrete paint and repainting? The paint I used was supposed to be for outside concrete so Im not sure why its now peeling. Thanks
How did you get that design look on Ivie’s floor?
Loved your project and the tips were very helpful. I have a question as I’m coming up empty handed mid project….I recently painted (stenciled) my front concrete porch and walkway with an exterior latex porch and floor paint…it looks gorgeous….I also used a wet look sealer (different brand) but was told by the manufacturer after that I should not have used the wet look sealer over latex paint on concrete. It worked out fine and looks good but I’m worried that it will come up or peel off in wet weather now. I really want to seal the walkway (that has the same stencil on it) but am worried to use the wet look sealer….were you told you can used this sealer over latex paint? Do you have any suggestions?
i am pregnant. is it safe for me to be around inside concrete paint after its been painted?
You’ll need to check with your Dr. on that one 😉
xo
m
Great project! If I wanted my design to be something similar to tye-dye type pattern, how would I go about that? Since the room I’m doing is so large I’d like to do something more exciting than just one plain color, but I’m not so inspired as to try a pattern.
We love your tutorial and I just contacted the new local SW store, turns out they are having a sale tomorrow. For health reasons, we just pulled the carpet in our 400 sq ft room, the only room of the house right now I can be in due to extreme daily migraines and consequent photo sensitivity. I “live” in this room with my two Giant Schnauzer companions, Élan and Brio, the latter is new to our family and is just 16 weeks old. So, it is a challenging project, these facts plus facts that neither myself nor my husband has ever attempted a huge home improvement project before. Our home was built 10 year ago in the high desert mountains of NM. People who do concrete (and other jobs) well here, not possible to find. Our floor, unlike your children’s floors have long cracks, not sure how to fill those, any suggestions? Also, there is no product I can find called Qwickcrete, only one called Qwikrete which requires a vast array of tool, steps, etc. My husband is worried that some of the holes are large, and that the product he is hoping to use for the cracks will NOT work for the holes. What can you tell us about that step of your process (hole filling)? Your sanded floors look pristine and that part sound like combination of the right tools plus elbow grease and then painting is the fun part. Really hope you can help us. Thank you in advance. BTW LOVE your color scheme, creativity in kids’ rooms, my kids now grown, nor I now middle age, had privilege of living in an environment so cheerful.
Our house is only about 13 years old, so the foundation is still in really great shape. I would ask the guys at Sherwin Williams or Home Depot about concrete crack fillers, I didn’t have to use them so I don’t really have much insight into it. Hope this helps!
xo
m
Mandi,
I just found your concrete article from Pinterest! I am planning on turning a single car garage into a tiny apartment. I’ve been concerned about the price of hiring a flooring company to change the concrete garage floor. Painting the floor on my own sounds awesome. Your flooring started with carpet. What step would I start on if I was doing a regular garage floor that has always been concrete? Do I still need to sand the floor?
I just finished my daughters bedroom. I followed your directions and couldn’t be more pleased! It really was quite easy especially since our nasty carpet didn’t have any carpet glue underneath. My older daughter (the cynical teenager) came in and said, “Wow, it’s beautiful! It looks so fresh and clean” Having the floor so white and shiny really does add something to a room. Can’t wait to do more! Thanks!
There are so many posts on the internet about “properly preparing your concrete before painting.” They say to grind or etch it. I am not sure how anyone could chemically etch an indoor floor (unless it’s a room with a drain). The info online different places says if your concrete is too smooth, the paint won’t stick. My concrete is very smooth to the touch. I sanded the floor with 80 grit sandpaper (suggested to me by the gal at Home Depot). The floor is still very smooth after sanding. (except for the holes I filled – I can’t get that part smooth!).
I put some water droplets on the floor and they did sink in so I know I have sanded away any sealer that might have been on the floor.
Should I get a rougher sandpaper and re-sand before painting?
We are looking to paint our living room concrete floor, that was once a garage. Is the step where you put the chemical a must step? I really try to stay away from harsh chemicals and fumes, but want my floor to be long lasting…thanks so much for your advice, Megan
Thanks for this great idea and very detail explanation. We did the same to our room and added color flakes on our second coat of paint. We finished with 2 layers of clear. My wife loved this, and I did as well but I think the one to love it the most was my wallet.
I just came across this….so a bit late in commenting….but I’ve just been researching concrete floors for my house I am about to start building…..and this post has given me some inspiration….so thanks a lot.
Great tutorial! I am thinking about doing this in my bathroom. Would the same kind of paint and sealer work for that or would we need something more suited to getting wet regularly (due to people stepping out of the shower?)
Do you know if your concrete floors were sealed prior to you painting them? (my floors like exactly like yours and I did the test to check if they were sealed and the water beaded up which means they are sealed.) Supposedly the paint won’t stick if they are sealed.
How are your floors holding up now? Any chipping?
We have pulled the carpet up in half of our basement… so excited to get started. As mentioned above the glue on our concrete has dried up and basically turned to concrete – so do you think we would need to try to remove it before painting????
Did you use a stencil or something on the floor to achieve that neat pattern?
A few years have pass since this post, are you still happy with it? Has it held up well? Thank you very much for this also, I am getting ready to do this in my home office room and you were by far the best instructions, hopefully I will still think so AFTER my project is done!! xD
I always say, the beauty of concrete is it can be repaired and transformed into any look you want. Great advice on how to paint it so it lasts.
Thank you for your straight forward tutorial. Simple, step by step and not too much extra fluff. So nice to read something without a lot of commentary. I’m a Math teacher, so I could write everything in “bullet” form. Pictures were perfect too. Thanks again. Kb
Can I use this same method if painting a concrete floor in the garage? Thanks
Could you paint the concrete sealer wet look over painted tile on a floor?
I just painted a room to use as my office and faux painted it to look like marble. It appeared to be fine and then i had to scrap it all up after spending 150 dollars to paint and prepare it. Then I was told you could not paint concrete period unless you etched it. I cleaned and prepared the floor like I was told. Now I have taken it all off. Did you etch the floor? That is the only thing I did not do. Thank you.
My favorite part about working with concrete is that it can transform into almost any look you wish for. All your hard work will pay off. I always say, repair instead of replace concrete, you can save big.
It looks like in your son’s room or daughter’s room you have like a wood grain over the top of the floor how’d you do that
Thank you so much for the great info. I currently have my living room carpet ripped up and was planning to do a concrete stain but after reading this I’m thinking about painting it. How does it hold up to moving furniture around?
Great tutorial. We want to paint our laundry room floor that is presently covered with asphalt tiles. Any suggestions on how to remove them and the glue that may be left behind before painting the floor. The house was built in 1958 and I think these are the original tiles. Since it’s a high traffic area would you recommend using the same paint and do we need a sealer? Thanks.
We just painted our concrete patio outside and used the Sherwin-Williams paint and sealer that was suggested now the floor is very tacky when you walk across it, what are we supposed to do? We call the people at Sherwin-Williams and they suggested using a cleaner we tried that and that did not take off the tacky sealer either what can we do?
Hey! We painted a concrete floor in our office at shop but my husband was in a hurry and we didn’t treat the floor so now it is coming up what is the right way to go back and treat this floor do we need to strip all paint off floor and redo the right way?
In my photography studio we painted the concrete floors, and did not use a top coat. Needless to say it needs to be redone! I thought I needed to do a poly over it but you said with white it will yellow? SO is a sealant paint like you mentioned above good enough to get a gorgeous shine that won’t ruin quickly? We have furniture being moved all the time and lots of people walking around d in heels (boudoir photographer here 🙂 ) I have never done anything this large since someone else did it before lol. Any guidance would be appreciated!
Ok, my question is: You mentioned to sand, sand and sand to rough the concrete. If it’s rough when applying paint isn’t is rough afterwards? Or did I miss something? Also, if the concrete has cracks it in should I fill in the cracks the same way as the holes from the tac nails and sand, sand and sand again? I’ve been threatening my husband for too long that if we don’t redo our floors I am going to pull up the nasty 25 yr old carpet up and paint them. After your post, I think that is what I’m going to do.
Hi Mandi!
Thank you for the detailed blog post. I love this idea. I see that it’s a vintage post at this point but hoping you might still be answering questions…
I am considering this for our basement laundry room. I am wondering, now that it’s been several years, how the paint held up? Any trouble with chipping? Or scratching in the top coat from wear and tear?
Thanks so much.
I stained my concrete floors and used the wet look sealant from SW same as in your picture. The finish is not wet looking, at first it was. Now two years later, the only time it looks wet is when it actually is wet. I was hoping to get your perspective on it. Thanks in advance.
Oops. Your $6 pole sander noe $31.89. Lucky to get a $4 coupon.
Hi Mandi!
I’m interested in doing something to my basement floor. While browsing through Pinterest I found your blog. I realize this is a few years old but, how does your floor look now? Would you paint again or do something different? How did you get the wood grain look?
I appreciate any feedback you can give me.
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I know I’m not Mandi, but if I remember correctly they moved out of that house earlier last year! You can also search “faux bois” in her blog and you should get the tutorial for the wood grain. It’s pretty simple but looks really complicated- my kind of project, tbh. I hope this helps!!
Do you still need to sand if there was nothing on the concrete floor in a basement?