[Closed] Painting a concrete floor...anyone done it?

hoover then paint, you will be brushing for ever 🙂

^This

a good hoover will help. I cheated and poured pain out onto the floor and then roller'd it about a bit, using a brush for the edges.

I just got 2 tins of the BAUFIX rubber floor paint from LIDLs, but in the small print it says not suitable for garages, not sure why?

Floor paint should only be applied to dry concrete or cement screed surfaces.
- Any dirt, dust or other loose / friable materials must be removed.
- Any surface contaminants such as oils, grease and anyr other past spillages or old floor polish residues etc. must be removed.
- On new fully hardened concrete and cement screed surfaces any curing agent residues or any cement laitance must be removed (see New Concrete and Cement Screed Floors below).

The whole reason I painted my workshop floor was because concrete is a supply of dust waiting to be made. Sweep, vacuum then get painting. Try not to end up in a corner 🙂

Problem is having a decent hoover... Everyone in Italy have tiled floors so very little hoovers about.

I do however have a petrol leaf blower with a suction parts and sack to it... May choke on the fumes though!

I know at work they added fine sand to their floor paint, to extend the 'grip', though obviously there will be fine line between extra grip and sandpaper on the floor....

[i]but in the small print it says not suitable for garages, not sure why? [/i]

Maybe it won't handle oil spillages etc very well.

not suitable for garages, not sure why?

Because when you park a car in a garage you've got all that weight sitting on 4 sticky rubbery tyres, leave it there for a few days then drive off and the paint will come away with the rubber. Thats why there is 'Floor Paint' and 'Garage Floor Paint' which usually costs more. The latter seems to have a much slicker finish, I was working in a freshly painted warehouse recently and it was like an icerink - I was trying to lift you plywood panels they'd just slide away from me.

so if I never put my car in the garage then it shouldnt be problem then?

what about bike maintenance? do I need to keep oil/grease off it?

bit late now, but I tend to lay carpet on mine, mainly as it's never got a car in it and it so much knee friendlier

My wife accidentally painted part of the garage floor at our last place.

I say painted. She actually dropped a tin of exterior masonry paint on the floor and then moved it around a bit before it dried.

I second the carpet route. Bought 2 cheap offcuts initially and then put the old lounge carpet in when it got replaced.

My garage now has underlay and 2 layers of carpet. 🙂 Soaks up all the spills and is warmer and more comfortable to walk/kneel on.

think about where to start painting with a view as to where you will finish

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I was once given the job of sealing a rough concrete walkway in a school - I was 16 and was keen to do a good job so put loads of sealant and got a smooth finish which I was proud of. Problem was the walkway was from the changing rooms to the playing fields and when wet it was like ice, one broken ankle later and it all had to be roughed up again. lol

Wire brush floor.
Brush and hoover up.
Use Sealer then two coats of

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I used a roller and a brush for the edges

International has a little guide here

http://www.international-paints.co.uk/how_to/articles/paint_garage_floor.jsp

Some of the floor paints I have used recommend thinning the first coat down about 1 part white spirit to 5 paint to help it soak in to the concrete.

Spread the paint as thinly as you can and do several coats instead of a couple of thick ones.

Just to revive this thread a little bit. What makes and models do people recommend for sealer and actual paint?

Acid etch then an epoxy floor paint. Last forever 😉

Or just 4/1 unibond the whole ****in lot. Also something we use called adocure, not sure of its "ability" on older concrete but use it to seal and harden all our newly laid concrete floors.

stans

you can attempt to seat a nobby nic with a deformed bead and use that as a sraygun mechanism

Eh????

Wash floor first, allow to dry, then vacumn the dust up, thin first coat of floor paint down to almost water consitancy, brysh or roller out well, allow to dry, then a nother coat without thining.

OK got 40 litres of paint and some thinners.

I have wire brushed bits of the concrete and basically fired up a Stihl BR600 leaf (dust) blower and not a patch of dust or anything.

Questions are, how much should I thin the first coat?

Secondly what type of roller, the fluffy ones?

any instructions on the paint? If you need thinners you can't use a synthetic roller (normally) as the solvent will destroy it.

Thin it 5%, no idea why but that always works. Maybe try a bit in a small tup first before you throw the thinners into the pail.