Any advice for painting concrete?

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slantflat

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Hi everyone.

I want to paint the concrete walls in my basement. They are poured concrete.

Do I need to prep the surface with a primer first or can I just start painting? Is there a concrete specific paint I should use or should I use a good exterior paint? I want to use gloss paint. I'll be using a roller and brush. Yes spraying would be ideal but not what I'm doing.

Thanks everyone.
 
My concrete basement walls were painted when I bought the place, most of it peeled off.

I scraped off the rest then attached 1 1/2" thick foam insulation with furring strips over that so the walls could be finished properly.
 
Your best bet would be to go to a REAL paint store, like Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams, and ask them how to get it to stick. You may have to etch the solid concrete with something first. My garage is built out of concrete block, and when we painted it we used block sealer on it first (2 coats) then paint. Except for the paint booth part, it looks as good now as it did in 2008 when we painted it. Rolling it will be easy. Just get one of those screen things that hangs in a 5 gallon bucket to drain the roller a little after you dip it in the bucket....and roll on! Good luck with it. :)
 
You're working against 2 problems. First is the concrete itself, you'll need a concrete specific paint and primer. Second is the fact that it's a basement. Sub-grade concrete is a different story, concrete is porous and being sub-grade means that moisture is going to be an issue. That's going to be a much bigger issue than just painting an above grade concrete wall.

I second JDMopar, go to a real paint store and make sure you tell them that you're trying to paint concrete walls in a basement. There's going to be a several step process to get that done so the paint actually stays on the walls. You may also want to talk to a contractor that does finished basements and see what they say.
 
"Paint it" pink and then drywall...
basement20212022pt2 084.JPG
 
I went to Sherman Williams and got a primer and paint for concreate.
One coat of primer and one coat of paint and that was an outside retaining wall.
No problems looks great.
 
Thanks everyone. I've got a Sherwin Williams place in town, I will stop in and have them set me up. Really appreciate all the responses.
 
I don't know who diff mine but they used white and sprayed it, and it's stuck so far. Now that I say that it'll peel off. For my patio, imma epoxy I think. With grit for traction.
I would call some basement people or concrete people before I spent a dime
 
make sure its dry and clean, dehumidifier will help drier the better then block sealer, prep is the answer for good bonding.
 
I don't know who diff mine but they used white and sprayed it, and it's stuck so far. Now that I say that it'll peel off. For my patio, imma epoxy I think. With grit for traction.
I would call some basement people or concrete people before I spent a dime
I wouldnt trust spraying for long term unless you back roll it. And...prep, clean, rinse, prep, clean, rinse.
 
If it's still made Bondex concrete paint is the bee's knees. Comes in a bag like flour. Mix with water and apply. We put it on our basement walls back in the 60s and it is still perfect.
 
I'll second the use of Drylok. Used it on my poured foundation outside (where it's exposed ) over 10 years ago. Has held up real well.
 
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