I want to pull up the carpet in my condo and expose the concrete floors. Can I paint/stain concrete floors?

Question

I was told you can do this but I don't know the type of paint/stain to use. Does anyone know how to do this?

Answer 1

go to your local hardware or paint store and they should be able to tell you! But take this advice don't paint yourself into a corner! lol

Answer 2

One big thing to take into consideration when removing the carpet and painting/staining. You will have damage around the walls when you remove the tack strip which anchors the carpet. When these are removed there will be holes where the concrete nails are removed, these will have to be patched. So staining will allow these to show. Priming/sealing and painting will go OK if the floor is smooth and slick. I'm not too impressed with some of the concrete floors in condo's with carpeting. It seems if a concrete contractor knows carpets are to be installed, they do take excess care in a good smooth finish.
Good luck.
Hisemiester.
Note: These paints can be highly toxic and some are extremely flammable. Be suprised how much air from your unit flows under the walls into the adjacent units. You will surely find out when using these paints. As one other answerer stated. You would be better off staying with the carpet.

Answer 3

I'm sure your concrete floor is smooth and will take a stain just fine BUT to make sure use an etching solution with water and wash the floor first and make sure you rinse well. I don't care for home depots Bher paint but I will give their concrete stain a plug, yes I've been using about 10 yrs and it's an excellent product. Here in the northeast only your basement floor is concrete but I've used this on concrete pool decks and basement floors with excellent results. Just used their Bher concrete basement epoxy paint and wouldn't use it again so I highly recommend the stain and stay with a stain cause down the line you'll have less prep work vs. stain in ALL situations. good luck Les the painter thats the problem with paint if moisture(water) sits for a little bit the paint comes off.

Answer 4

Yea, you need what they call epoxy paint. It's a multi-step and very messy project. You can get the product at Home Depot.

I did this in my basement, so I have first hand experience with it. My goal was two fold. One, a lot of the dust in your home is sourced from exposed concrete - I hoped that by sealing it we would keep the dust down. Second I wanted to finish a section of the basement, and a painted floor would, imho, make the unfinished part blend with the finished part better.

You first wash the floor with an acid etch. Then you need to rinse all the etch off. If you don't use the etch, the paint won't stick, or at least won't stick for long.

Since I didn't have a drain or any easy way to get the water out of the basement what I did was wash it with the hose, but in small sections at a time. Then I used a shop-vac to suck up all the water. Since I didn't have finished walls to deal with having water all over the place wasn't a problem other than getting rid of it. My basement is about 1200 sq ft of floor, it took all of a weekend to do the first step.

Once the floor is etched, and dry, you apply this epoxy paint. Once it dries it's there for good. I've had it on my basement floor for ~6 years and other than where something got spilled on it, it still looks great. Hasn't peeled or faded or gone chawlky or anything.

PS -

My basement flooded with about 6" of standing water during a mega rainstorm 2 years ago. You would never know it by the painted floor. The finished part of the basement, with it's laminate floor - different story.

Answer 5

Concrete paint is the way to go with this new venture of yours.People do some fantastic things on concrete floors.You are limited only by your imagination,so take your time and think about all your possibilities.You can also put a clear coat over your finished work to help the life span of the painted floor.after all ,you will be walking over it and time will wear it down,as it has in my basement.Go to some paint stores and maybe even go to some websites such as the ones you see on tv (Pimp my house) sort of idea.Hope this helped,now create .Have fun.

Answer 6

If your floors are in good condition (no cracks or bad stains) you can pull up the carpet and paint the floors.

You can paint the cement, but your going to want to seal it afterwards. Cement is very porous, so if you don't seal it, stains will set in permanently.

You can go to your local hardware store and ask for cement sealer or a paint that can be used to paint floors. Specify that it is for indoors, as the paint used for outdoor cement floors is entirely different. They can recommend a good type for your area, as brands vary by location.

Sounds like you have a fun project in your hands,

Best of luck.

Answer 7

Absolutely. There are varying shades available and different types depending on what you are looking for. Home Depot could help you choose what's best for you. I plan to paint my garage floor soon to cover up stains over the years.

Answer 8

you can find a lot of different ideas for finishing concrete floors - as it has become very popular for homes and businesses - i would look for ideas that you like on hgtv.com or diy.com and then go to home depot or lowes and find the supplies yourself. there are paints, stains and waxes that can be used to create different looks.. professional finishers will charge you $25 or more and hour to do the work so do the research and the work yourself!

Answer 9

Call any hardware store or a paint store. They can help you with the correct paint. By the way - yes, you can paint a concrete floor

Answer 10

yes you can their is a special paint for concrete floors that should look pretty cool. try Home depot or lowes any hardware store should be able to help you out

Answer 11

Concrete floors can be stained using an acid, that is then neutralized with a base. Do a search for acid staining concrete floors on the web for more info