Has anyone painted a concrete floor?

[lavenderblue]

The only room in my house with wall to wall carpet is the basement. The basement is where our tv is and also where my kids hangout with friends when they come over. My plan has always been to keep it available as a teen hangout and maybe even add a pool table. I've been wanting to replace the carpet and put down something like LVP, but new flooring isn't in the budget right now. That said, my older dog was recently diagnosed with Diabetes and has started having occasional accidents in the house, and of course only in the basement. I'm considering ripping out the carpet now and was thinking about painting the concrete. I would add area rugs which is something that I would/will also do if/when I put down LVP. Just wondering if anyone has actual experience with this and how it turned out. Of course, I have no idea what the actual concrete looks like underneath the carpet and this might end up being a non-option, but would love to hear from anyone who did this and it turned out well. 

[momin2013]

I have not done this, but in the 2 houses we’ve bought with unfinished basements, the concrete floors were so freaking cold and hard on the feet that I couldn’t wait to finish them and add flooring (carpet in one, laminate in the other).

I realize that may not be very helpful, just saying that if you end up deciding to paint, I’d be prepared to get lots of area rugs.

[bee20]

I have! I had a creepy unfinished basement with all sorts of stains and spiders. I painted the floor with Behr porch and floor and the walls with flat white Behr paint.

The biggest hassle was the prep, the floor was gross and had some old peeling paint on it (the house was 70 years old) as well as weird goops and stains. I scraped most of it with a paint scraper (but you could get a stand-up scraper), then mopped with whatever they sell you that isn't TSP anymore, then rinsed it all, primed with behr concrete primer, and applied the paint with a roller. I did not do any kind of sealant or topcoat. The whole project probably took a week of evenings after work doing prep and then the weekend to get the primer and paint on. I had laundry and big shelves down there, so I painted half, let it dry overnight, and then moved things back the next day and painted the open areas.

The basement had a bit of a moisture problem but the paint didn't peel or blister in the 3 years I lived there which I sort of expected. (The basement sometimes had standing water after a hard rain). It was also the passthrough from my garage and backyard, so it would pick up dirt and I would sweep or mop it like any other hard flooring.

It felt a little nicer than bare concrete underfoot, the floor paint is pretty thick and felt maybe like very thin vinyl versus straight bare cold concrete, but rugs are a good idea for a lounging area.

[simpsongal]

I did in our gym area - I used the epoxy style paint with the flakes you toss on the floor. It's held up very well. I've painted other floors with "floor paint" or "porch paint" and it didn't hold up nearly as well. You don't have to use the specks if you don't want that look. I'd recommend it though b/c basements always seem to attract bugs, dirt and ick and those specks really help hide it.

Agree that the prep and labor is quite a lot - usually you use a particular solution to wash the floor (maybe citric acid?). You can fill in cracks, I wouldn't worry too much about that.

[orval]

I also have the epoxy with the flakes in my basement. We had it professionally done and they used something like a giant sander to smooth the flaws in the concrete. Mine is a workshop for my floral business and it has held up perfectly for 20+ years.

[glw]

I have a screened-in porch with a concrete floor and I've painted it with good results. I used the solid color Behr Concrete Stain and applied with a large roller. It goes on really thick and has a bit of a rubbery feel under your feet (not like I'd expect a "stain" to feel).

[sonrisa]

We just sealed and epoxied the floor of our garage and built an office into what used to be a side portion (it exits to the garden through a sliding door.)

It looks fantastic. We were going to put down an area rug in the office portion but so far my husband prefers it as is.

[sonrisa]

Oct 1, 2024 9:08:07 GMT -5 orval said:

I also have the epoxy with the flakes in my basement. We had it professionally done and they used something like a giant sander to smooth the flaws in the concrete. Mine is a workshop for my floral business and it has held up perfectly for 20+ years.

this is what they did, but we asked for no flakes in the epoxy because we like the plain color better.

[treedimensional]

Yep, Behr porch and floor paint; happy with appearance and durability for about 30 yrs.