A single slip-up when painting concrete floors can waste valuable time, effort, and resources. To ensure you do the project right the first time, it's worth learning about common mistakes to avoid.

Is Painting a Concrete Floor a Good Idea?

Painting is one of the easiest and most cost-effective concrete floor covering options. It also offers many benefits. Painting and sealing your concrete floors can increase their durability, extend their lifespan, and transform your space. But paint also has downsides. It requires more frequent reapplication and can be damaged easily by heavy foot and vehicle traffic.

If you choose to paint your concrete floor, note that the process involves many steps. There’s more to this task than simply pouring paint over your floors and hoping for the best.

Successfully painting your concrete flooring requires significant preparation, sufficient supplies, proper technique, and more. For these reasons, it’s usually best to hire professionals who specialize in concrete floor painting. If you’d rather tackle this project yourself, though, it’s important to do your research and pay particular attention to common errors made by DIY-ers.

Common Issues When Painting Concrete Floors

Before discussing what to avoid when painting concrete floors to achieve a quality, long-lasting finish, let’s first look at the common issues with concrete floor paints.

Paint Not Sticking to a Concrete Floor

Paint not sticking to a concrete floor is one of the nightmares you can experience when you DIY your concrete floor painting project. This problem is annoying and costly, especially if you’ve painted a large area and used tons of paint. It happens when you don’t prepare the surface properly, don’t apply the primer the right way, or choose the wrong paint.

Paint Peeling Off the Concrete Floor

Concrete paint normally peels over time after years of wear and tear. But this can also happen to new concrete floor paint. The only way to fix this problem is to start scraping the paint and redoing the job. If you’ve caught yourself wondering, “Why is the paint peeling off my concrete floor?” it’s usually due to a combination of factors. It may be caused by the high moisture content of the floor, a dirty and poorly prepared surface, a surface that is too smooth, improper application, or other issues.

Blistering Paint

It is also fairly common for unsightly blisters to form on a newly painted concrete floor. The moisture in the concrete commonly causes this, which is why it’s important to test the moisture content of your concrete before painting. Prevent this issue by installing a moisture vapor barrier or ensuring the proper application of quality primer with moisture barrier properties.

Painting concrete floors requires money and effort, so make sure you do it right. The best way to ensure your concrete floor paint stays durable and aesthetically pleasing for years to come is to let the pros handle the painting job. Should the paint fail, you won't have to worry about repainting costs if the contractor you choose offers a satisfaction guarantee and job warranty.

What Not to Do When Painting Concrete Floors

If you’ve decided to DIY, here are five mistakes to avoid when painting concrete flooring.

1. Failing to Properly Prep Your Floors

Surface preparation is at least half the battle in any paint job, and the same goes for concrete floor painting. In fact, concrete floor prep for polyurea coatings is especially important considering the porous nature of concrete. Dirt, dust, debris, moisture, and more can easily enter the pores and cracks of bare concrete, and pressure from above and below your floors can lead to fracturing, pitting, spalling, and other issues. If you don’t address these problems prior to painting, you’re only prolonging the inevitable. Make sure you tackle the necessary prep work before you paint, including:

• Clearing the area

• Sweeping and cleaning the floor

• Scraping and sanding away old paint

• Vacuuming residual debris

• Filling cracks and holes

• Priming your floors

The point of this prep work is to cultivate a smooth, clean, receptive surface for the incoming floor paint.

2. Painting in a Suboptimal Environment

After you’ve prepared the floor itself, you’ll also want to prepare the surrounding environment to create the optimal climate for application and curing. If the room is too humid, dry, hot, or cold, you may run into issues and end up with poor results. Different types of coatings will have slightly different instructions in this regard, but generally speaking, your floor should stay at a minimum of 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and the ambient air temperature should be between 60 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit for the best results.

Also, your relative humidity level should be about 35%. If your climate conditions are far off these marks, you may need to install humidifiers or dehumidifiers and find ways to adjust the temperature (if indoors). If you’re painting an exterior concrete floor, you may need to wait until the outdoor conditions are in your favor (such as mid-spring, early/late summer, or early fall).

3. Choosing the Wrong Product for Your Application

One of the common mistakes DIY-ers make when choosing concrete floor paint is prioritizing low cost over quality. Painting is one of the most affordable options for transforming your concrete floor, but that doesn’t mean you should go for the cheapest option available. Doing so may cost you more money in the form of frequent maintenance and repainting. Ensure you research and get the best concrete floor paint. We’ll emphasize here the importance of ensuring the paint you buy is made specifically for concrete.

With so many different brands and variations of concrete paints on the market, it can be difficult to choose the right one for your needs. At the very least, make sure that your product is designed for exterior or interior use, depending on your concrete’s location. Exterior concrete floor paint tends to contain more volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can be detrimental to your health when inhaled. So, if you’re painting indoors, make sure you go with a zero- or low-VOC indoor epoxy floor paint to minimize this risk. The more research you do on these matters, the more confident you’ll be in your decision.

4. Skimping on Coverage

As is the case with painting any surface, you want to purchase the right amount of product to provide a full, even coating. If you undershoot this estimate, you may find yourself stretching out the paint to compensate. Doing so will result in a less glossy surface and a weaker coating overall. To avoid this mistake, take precise measurements of your floor’s surface area and carefully look over the coverage rating of the floor sealing products you plan to purchase. Well-prepared floors will absorb some of the paint, so it’s best to overshoot this estimate and store whatever is left over rather than rush back to the store and run the risk of messing up your flooring.

5. Not Giving Your Floors Enough Time to Cure and Dry

After you’ve successfully painted your concrete floors, you might feel that the job is complete. However, you’ll need to practice caution around your floors to allow the coating to properly cure and dry. It can take as long as 48-72 hours for epoxy concrete floor paint to fully dry, so plan on avoiding this area for a few days before using it. If you don’t allow the coating to rest, you might contaminate the surface or smudge its topcoat. Once again, read the instructions of your product so you know exactly how long to wait before using your floors.

Another way to check if the paint has cured is to press your fingernail into the painted concrete floor. If your fingernail leaves a mark, the paint is still wet.

Leave It to the Pros

You can paint your concrete floors yourself, but don't forget that there are experts who are more than willing to lend you a hand. With professional painters, you don't have to worry about making mistakes and wasting paint and other valuable resources. However, choose your contractor carefully to avoid a botched paint job.

Ensure the contractor is licensed and insured. Then, find out more about their service by reading customer reviews. Contact the contractor and ask them about their experience painting concrete floors. You may ask to view their portfolio to see whether their work meets your standards and preferences. Also, look into specific details like the concrete floor paint and other materials they use. A trustworthy contractor will be transparent with everything, including materials and pricing.

Afraid of Messing Up Your Floors?

Painting your concrete flooring on your own can be rewarding, but no one said it’s easy. If you don’t feel confident in your DIY abilities, Anderson Painting specializes in installing Penntek polyurea coatings on any and all concrete surfaces for those in the Raleigh and Wilmington, NC areas. To learn more about us and all we do, call today at 919-610-1855 or email us at info@andersonpaintingnc.com! You can also request a free estimate.