Can Paint Over Sodium Silicate Treated Concrete

Simple 5-Stride Guide to Concrete Painting

Painting a concrete floor in a home's basement

Image: Carolyn Lagattuta/Stocksy United

Painting concrete surfaces requires more skill, tools, and time than throwing a coat on drywall. Hither's how to do information technology right.

Concrete painting is trickier than painting nigh surfaces: Information technology breathes, transports moisture, and sucks up pigment.

While you lot can paint drywall in a day or two, you lot'll need a week or more to cease painting physical. Continue reading beneath for tips -- plus costs -- on how to pigment concrete surfaces:

ane. Clean the Concrete

Cleaning concrete is a vital starting time step because the porous surface tends to trap clay, grease, and oil.

one. Remove clay and grease with trisodium phosphate ($half dozen.30 per quart concentrate), or choose a more than World-friendly cleaner like Krud Kutter'southward pre-paint cleaner ($10 for 32 ounces).

2. Yank off vines and moss growing on the foundation. Use a pressure level washer to finish off remaining roots and dirt.

3. Remove efflorescence, a white powder that forms on moist concrete. Endeavour Krud Kutter Physical Clean & Etch ($8.fifty for 32 ounces); if yous need more than cleaning muscle, try phosphoric acid masonry cleaner ($27 per gallon).

2. Strip Old Pigment

Strip peeling or blistering paint indoors with a wire brush ($iii to $5), a paint scraper ($10 to $xx), and lots of elbow grease.

Outdoors, go rid of old paint with a ability washer (rents for $forty to $75 per day).

3. Seal Interior Concrete

Water moves hands through porous physical, so sealing interior walls is necessary to prevent moisture from seeping in, promoting mold growth and that common cold, damp basement feel. Use a masonry sealer, such as ThoroSeal, that also patches cracks ($35 for a 50-pound bag).

Carefully follow directions for mixing, applying, and curing the sealer. ThoroSeal, for example, requires 2 coats; the manufacturer recommends curing for 5 to vii days before applying the second coat.

4. Prime number the Concrete

Concrete primer, chosen block primer, fills pores and evens out the surface. For exterior foundations and walls, utilize exterior-grade cake filler, such as Behr'south Concrete and Masonry Bonding Primer, which also is good for interior concrete ($17.98 per gallon). Primer dries in two hours; wait at to the lowest degree eight hours, but no more than than 30 days, to paint.

5. Pigment the Concrete

Masonry paint (also called elastomeric pigment or elastomeric wall coating) is a proficient pick for concrete painting because information technology contains binders that contract and aggrandize with the concrete. Exterior business firm paint can fissure and peel on concrete.

Masonry paint ($xx per gallon) can be tinted and is much thicker than exterior paint. Apply it with a masonry castor ($5 to $8), a loftier-capacity (three/4-inch or college) roller, or a texture roller ($5.50).

Some masonry paint is thicker than outside paint and contains fine particles that can clog air sprayers. If you want to spray-paint cement, ask your local paint store for a product that will work well in a sprayer ($300).

No matter how you apply paint, let it dry for a twenty-four hours betwixt coats. You lot'll probably need 2 to three coats, and so bank check the long-range conditions forecast earlier you begin.

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