How to paint concrete basement floor?

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Master Baiter Joined: 24 Apr 2009 Posts: 107

We are in the process of trying to sell our house. Unfortunately, our cat had decided to use our basement utility room as a litter box and peed in places on the concrete floor. I have cleaned it very well with bleach, etc., but the stains still remain visually. I have come to the conclusion that painting over it may be the only way to make it aesthetically pleasing as well as sealed. I bought some Dutch Boy concrete paint last night, but will I need to etch or prime it? I'm sort of in a hurry with an open house in a couple of days, so I would like to skip unecessary steps, but at the same time don't want to skip essentials.

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:05 pm

Our basement has a concrete floor and gets wet once in a while. Mr. Bohigal painted it with an epoxy finish that I think is for garage floors. We spread it with a floor-painting sponge on the end of a broom handle and it dried in about 1.5 days. No pretreatment except for a good scrubbing with Simple Green. It came with sparkley flakes that I tossed onto the wet paint to make it more attractive (he said I looked like I was tossing fairy dust). The flakes are good for hiding imperfections in the floor or paint. So far the finish has held up to kids, dogs, dragged furniture, water, and a stack of cedar decking. Sorry I do not remember the brand, but we got it at Home Depot.

eta: Also sorry, I did not see that you already had the paint. I don't know about priming or etching concrete.

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:26 pm

I painted the basement in my last house using a product from the makers of DryLok. It says you should do that stuff for the prep work but it's just a basement so I just swept it and maybe mopped it (it's been 10 years) and it came out fine. The etching is really just to ensure the surface is super clean, as if you had something like say oil on it where it would interfere with adhesion of the paint. As long as you don't have anything like that, I would guess you'd be fine. Plus you aren't going to be there much longer anyway.

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:49 pm

Yep, if the floor has a glaze it would have to be etched, but since the cat pee was able to soak and stain, I don't think you need that step. Along the lines of etch, I have a driveway that the previous owner would wash and wax the car on. Its on a slope, was glazed over and people would slip on it when it was wet. Contractors said that it would have to be broken out and repoured with a broom finish. I brushed on a gallon of HCl (muriatic acid) from the pool supply and let it fume for about 20 minutes. The entire section was etched and solid white. It looked brand new. I then bought 3 more gallons for the rest of the driveway so it would match.

Priming would be needed if the paint soaks into the concrete before it dries. You will know and will just have to paint again. Its not a big deal, but the primer is generally cheaper than the paint.

Master Baiter Joined: 24 Apr 2009 Posts: 107

Thanks for all the tips.

I'm amazed that I've gotten more responses in a shorter amount of time from this forum than I actually have from home improvement forums, and better answers too. You guys rock! Just another reason why I love 419eater! Very Happy

Elite Baiter Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 1407

I wouldn't paint it. Especially with an open house coming.

Paint can take DAYS to set up. Not going to look good with folks tromping through and big sheets of paint sticking to their shoes.

A better bet would be some very inexpensive carpet. Cut to fit the treads and put that down.

This has the potential to be a HUGE mess for you and the future owners.

BTW I ran a professional Paint Store for 8 years that sold over $1.5Million in paint per year. I know what I'm talking about. And I visited MANY basement paint failures. They never worked out well.

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:17 pm

^^^ Good advice in most locations. I live where everything is dry all the time. I have a brother in a wet location that has an electric sump pump and a hydraulic jet backup system that will pump water out even if there's an electric failure. He has an outdoor carpet on his basement floor and nylon fabric held off the walls with plastic shims. Paint due to the salting is an epic failure.

How to paint concrete basement floor?	View next topic View previous topic