Painting your porch concrete floor will be a lot cheaper than giving it new tiles. Depending on the style, tiling can be very expensive. Instead of tiling your concrete floor, painting it will be a lot cheaper without giving you limitation on term of design. Here is how to do it yourself.
Step 1: Clean Your Porch Floor
Before we start painting, it is extremely important to make sure that the area is clean from furniture, plants, and dirt or debris.
- Remove all of the furniture from your porch. Don’t just set it on one side of the porch because you need a clear area to make sure you clean it through. You also need to remove all decorations, potted plants, toys, and any other possible stuff you put in your porch. Remove them to the storage because this project can take several days.
- If there is landscaping in your porch, it is important to cover them using tarps. You are going to hose down the porch and use cleaning solutions so covering it will keep it condition.
- You may also have cracks in your concrete, fix them. You need to clean it first from all dirt and debris. You can use the broom, wire brush, as well as vacuum if you want to. Then, you need to fill the crack with masonry crack filler. Normally, you will be advised to fill 6 mm area (a quarter of inch) per application. Wait until it gets dry, and then apply to next side. Check on the instruction label for more detail recommendation.
- Clean every vines, roots, and moss you have in your concrete. Make sure to pull of everything and fill the crack resulting from this if there is any.
- When you are ready, we can start the big cleaning. Prepare the solution you buy and read the instructions. You may need to wash down the concrete floor a little bit, and then use the cleaning solution. You may need to pay attention on your safety as well so it is better to use needed gears for this step.
Give it a good scrub. It should remove most of the debris and dirt, and pull off those that are stuck on the floor. If you use a solution that contains phosphoric acid, muriatic acid, or trisodium phosphate, this should help you removing the old paint, if there is any, a bit.
- Lastly, you should hose down the floor. For perfect cleaning result, it is highly recommended to use power washer. It has enough power to really wash away all kinds of whitish salt deposit, efflorescence, old pain, and debris.
If after this step you still find old paint remaining, it is recommended to brush it off using wire brush. It will remove the old paint. When you are done, wash again using the same technique to remove the old paint dirt.
On this step, your cleaning step is done. Leave the floor to dry before you start to do the next step.
Step 2: Make Some Preparation to Start Painting
To prepare the painting phase, we urgently need to check on the concrete floor moisture. Concrete floor naturally absorbs moisture and it is porous so it is highly possible that the floor is to wet for the painting process.
- Use an aluminum foil square in 18 inches size. Put it on the concrete floor and tape the sides. Leave it for around 24 hours, and then remove the tape. If the concrete is still felt damp, it is important for you not to proceed to the next step. Wait for the floor to get completely dry.
- While waiting for the floor to get dry, we can start selecting our paint. When it comes to your porch, nothing is better than the latex paint. You can choose the oil based one or the water based one. Both will be great in any weather while it can take busy traffic as well at the same time.
- Now, you also need to choose the right color. You need to consider about your siding hue, your door and window frames, and your styling preference. If you plan to do stencil or pattern on the painting, consider the color combination. It is always great to work on a palette.
- If you are done choosing the paint color, it is also great to consider using prime. Prime is easily absorbed by the concrete floor. In addition to it, primer gives you clean and clear canvas for a nicer looking paint work.
Step 3: Let’s Start Painting
Now as the floor is completely dry and you already choose your primer and paint, you are ready to start the main chore of this project, painting the concrete floor.
- Before you start painting, gather your tools and equipments. You may need things including the paint and primer, paint roller cover and frame, the tray, brush and roller extenders, painter’s tape, brushes, as well as painter’s tarp.
- There will be spaces that you don’t want to accidentally paint like your siding or other landscaping details. Cover them with painter’s tape to protect them.
- Now, start by applying your primer. You need to apply it using brush on awkward corner that won’t be reached using a roller. When you are done with corners and awkward areas, you can start applying the primer on the concrete floor using bigger roller.
- Leave the primer to dry. Meanwhile, you can wash the brush and roller you use before and leave them dry as well before using it again.
- When the floor is ready, pour you paint on the tray, and use your brush to paint awkward corners and areas. When you are done, you can start using the roller to paint the entire floor. If you aren’t satisfied with the coloring, it is fine to do second application of paint. Make sure to wait for the first layer to dry first.
- When you are done painting, leave the floor to dry for 24 hour. Don’t add up the entire decoration, potted plants, and furniture yet until it is left alone for a whole week.
