prep to paint cement floor.

[cmw]

I currently have a below grade vinyl tile covered floor (20'X20'). The tiles are removed & I am left with tile adhesive on the floor. I would like to avoid removing the adhesive and just paint over the adhesive. Not trying to get perfect results. Is there a paint/primer system that will bond with the adhesive and not peel off?

[Duane Smith]

Muratic acid will take care of it. Little caustic want to wear rubber gloves. There are other items that will remove it. Check with a few flooring guys.

[prashster]

The floor will be ok as long as you don't put anything point-heavy on it - like a table saw. I painted my floor and it tends to peel up at points of heavy load.

If you really want to do it right, you have to power wash it, etch with muriatic acid, and paint it with an epoxy paint. But if you can tolerate a little peel or don't mind touching up every couple years, it's a whole lot easier to use normal porch and floor primer & paint.

[Mike50]

FWIW Kemiko concrete stain carries a Rembrandt line of polymer paints/stain which will give you many choices for a custom colour not available at the local big box store. Scofield probably does to.

http://www.kemiko.com/rembrandt.htm#

[master plumber mark]

dont waste your time at LOWES looking at
cheap basement floor paint

go to SHERMAN WILLIAMS if you have one in your area


they have some MEAN epoxy paints that you can sprinkle those

flakes into to hide the inperfections in the floor


they also have some pretty mean commercial grades of concrete paints

that you simply wont find anywhere else...which you can have shaded to whatever color you choose

[Snowman]

I just cleaned my floor with some TSP, rinsed and painted with Floor and Porch waterbase latex. Used 1/4" making tape to make the lines. Finished off with a waterbase sealer designed for painted concrete.

[Mike50]

Sweeeet!

[Snowman]

Well, Cookie all I need is some encouragement from a nice good looking young lady .... (thanks to you too Mike)

So here's my back porch..... same process....

[Snowman]

For some reason I have to make another post for the next picture..... Anyway..... I used a base coat of "Off White" and again used 1/4" masking tape for the grout lines....

[Snowman]

Finally, made some faux tile paint using :
1. Latex floor and porch (three different colors)
2. Dilute with a little water
3. Added latex paint conditioner

I then used an old 4 inch paint brush to stipple the finish..... Used brownish red, gold and black colors then stippled them together... Oh yea, I sealed everything with a clear coat made expecially for painted concrete... Same stuff I used in the study.

[sulconst2]

snowman showing some range!! very nice work!!

[Terry]

That is way cool.

I don't understand about the masking tape though.
Do you just leave it on for one coat? And then peel it off?

That could look good for my garage floor.

[Mike50]

I agree..and have the same question as Terry.
You manged to get a leathery 15 year old look Snowman and that
requires artistic talent to produce a product like that.

This an example of why people are seriously looking at the whole concept of decorative concrete as an indoor option also.

Truthfully, I have never cared for the faux tile look-just a personal preference.
But this is a lot better than good-it's a knockout. kudos...


Mike

[Snowman]

Thanks to both of you. Warning: Details to follow, sorry I can't do this in 20 words or less OK, the tape was a very difficult thing to deal with when we got started. Had to look around a bit to find 1/4" masking tape. The way the process was "supposed" to work is this:
1st you clean the surface the best way you can . TSP or Mur. Acid , and/or both. Of course one after the other. I took a chance and just used TSP. A year later it is still doing fine.

2nd. You would normally put down a base coat of an off white floor and porch latex and allow that to dry for several days.... Did that too...


3rd. It is not difficult using a t-square and then a chalk line to lay out your squares. Followed by putting down the 1/4" tape. Our first project was the back porch.

4th Create your faux tile look with several colors of very very "watery" faux paint that you make yourself. Then, when that is dry, you pull up the tape and you have your off white faux grout lines which you can paint with an artist's brush , if you want.
That's where things didn't go as planned or as predicted. You can probably guess what happened. Even though we gave the base coat extra time to dry, as I pulled up the tape, it started pulling up the base coat with it. That might have been OK, but it did not pull up the base coat evenly. It was going to become a mess. So, I stood back looked at the tape, which looked like real grout lines and said to myself, "what's the worst thing that can happen if I leave the tape down?" So I left it down.

5th After I gave everything plenty of time to dry, I covered the whole thing with this: BEHR WET-LOOK SEALER is a clear, non-yellowing, high solids, acrylic-based masonry sealer. It is formulated to seal, protect and beautify concrete and masonry surfaces with a hi-gloss, wet-look finish. BEHR NO. 985 WET-LOOK SEALER is also an excellent topcoat for paints and stains. Plus it is a water base sealer.... Nice and easy too.

I happened to talk with the Behr Paint Factory Rep here at the local Home Depot a few weeks later and told him what I had done. His reply was: " what?? and you expect that to keep the tape down? As soon as the adhesive dries out, that tape is coming up." He might be right, and if it does, I'll just paint in the grout lines... Well, it has been a year now and I've put on 3 coats of the sealer, each coat makes it look even better. The tape have not come up at all, anywhere. even at places where the patio furniture has been drug across it. Also, my back porch is covered. That might be one reason it has done fine. In my next post I'll tell you how we did the study (red floor) and we were able to get the tape up without pulling up the base coat. We did it a bit different.... after what we learned.


Wow, this has become L O N G. Sorry 'bout that.
See ya, Tom

[motherbeardancing]

I just cleaned my floor with some TSP, rinsed and painted with Floor and Porch waterbase latex. Used 1/4" making tape to make the lines. Finished off with a waterbase sealer designed for painted concrete.

Dear Snowman,
Your floor looks gorgeous. Can you tell me what brand paint and color you used in your den? Also, my concrete floor was just recently poured, so it's still curing. It hasn't been sealed. Should I seal it before I paint it? Or just paint the raw concrete? I love your results. Is your floor holding up well three years later?
Thanks very much, motherbear