Painted concrete? Inside the house? I was skeptical at first, but once I saw this post from Vintage Revivals I decided I needed to try it out for myself. It’s been a few months since I painted my floors, and here’s what I love about them:

• They’re super easy to clean. I use water and a little bit of dish soap.
• They’re very cost-effective when compared to stained concrete and other industrial/modern flooring options. Stained concrete is goooooorgeous, and if I had the money, I would do it in a heartbeat. I called a local contractor to get a quote, and the absolute minimum is $7/sqft. Our house is 1300 sqft, so 1300 x 7 = $9,100. Ouch.
• They’re super cool in the summertime, and if you hate the idea of stepping onto cool concrete in the wintertime, it’s easy to cozy them up with rugs.

Bedroom floors in progress! Two coats of paint, ready for sealant.

Are painted concrete floors for you?

While I do love my floors, painted concrete definitely isn’t perfect. Here’s what I’ve discovered after going through the process and living with them:

• They are prone to scratches and scuffs. So are other flooring materials, but in my experience, painted concrete is definitely more delicate than laminate and harder woods. I’d recommend putting down rugs in high-traffic areas immediately after the floors are done drying. Especially if you have dogs that tear through the house, like I do!
• The process is pretty labor-intensive if your slab is old and/or dirty. We had to rip out the carpet and tack strips, remove carpet glue, fill in the tack strip holes, and sand the floors to make them smooth – and that’s just the prep work. Then comes primer, at least 2-3 coats of paint, and sealer.
• It takes forever to get them done. I’m sure it takes a while to install hardwood or laminate, but it took us many weekends to get all the prep work done. The actual painting process is a long process too, though it’s not active time, more like waiting for the paint to dry between coats.

The bottom line is that if you need a cheap flooring solution that looks clean and modern, painted concrete is absolutely the best option. You can also pick fun colors or do a stenciled pattern!

Materials

• Tools to get rid of carpet, tile, linoleum, etc. For the carpet, we simply used a pry bar to get the tack strips out, while wearing gloves and eye protection. For the linoleum, our contractor rented a scraping machine from Home Depot.
• Paint thinner and trash bags. The leftover carpet glue and linoleum glue were nasty. It was no longer sticky, and I couldn’t scrape it up no matter what. In the end paint thinner covered by a trash bag worked like a charm.
• Premixed Quikcrete concrete patch. It’s a pain in the ass to mix this stuff yourself. And you don’t have to use it up all at once.
• Concrete smoothing tools. Grab these in the same section.
• Detail sander and sandpaper in 80 and 120 grit. For sanding the edges of the floor where you filled in the tack strip holes.
• A respirator or dust mask, to wear while sanding. Safety first!
• Commercial degreaser if your floor is dirty. I used Eco Procote’s Soy-It Degreaser, available locally at Treehouse.
• Concrete primer. Whatever brand you prefer, always use coordinating primer and paint. I used BEHR Concrete and Masonry Bonding Primer.
• Concrete paint. Anything meant for interior use is great. I used BEHR Porch & Patio Floor Paint in Gloss Enamel, in the Slate Gray color.
• Paint rollers, paint tray, and a pole extension. So you’re not all hunched over. I wouldn’t recommend pouring paint directly on the ground, I tried that and it was a lot harder to spread the paint around without leaving gobs behind.
• Acrylic sealant. If you use polyurethane with lighter colored floors, it will yellow, and nobody wants that! Don’t skip sealing your floors, it will make them more durable. I used Eco Procote’s Eco Florz Sealer in High Gloss, and it is incredible. It made the floors so smooth and shiny, and provides a no-VOC protective coating. It’s available locally at Treehouse.
• Optional: A floor polisher machine if the area is large. Our slab was really damaged, so we had filled-in holes to sand everywhere, and the floor polisher helped with making the whole area smooth and uniform.

Instructions

1. Remove or tape off baseboards. We also had to fill and sand tack strip holes, and it was so much easier to do this without worrying about damaging the baseboards. Plus, we wanted to replace them.
2. If you had carpet, fill in the holes left by the tack strips with concrete patch. When you pull the nails out of concrete, it takes a chunk of the surrounding concrete with it.
3. Prep the rest of the surface. After you’ve filled in the holes and are waiting for them to cure, scrape off any remaining carpet glue. First, scrape off as much glue as you can without using any products. Then pour on a bit of paint thinner over the offending spot and cover it with a trash bag. Let it sit for 15-30 minutes, then uncover and scrape again. Paint thinner is magical, but it stinks. Don’t forget to open a window and wear a mask while you’re doing this. Whew!
4. Blend in the filled holes. When your concrete is fully cured (my can of Quickcrete said to wait 30 days) you’re ready to sand the floors to blend in the filled spots with the rest of the floor. Use the detail sander to sand the filled holes smooth, first with 80 grit sandpaper, then 120. Be sure to wear a dust mask!
5. Clean the floors thoroughly. Sweep like your life depends on it. It will be dusty. SO DUSTY. We used a shopvac with a HEPA filter. Then mop with a commercial degreaser.
6. Allow the floors to dry for 24-48 hours. Some say 24 hours is sufficient, but I waited 48 because the weather was humid.
7. Apply concrete primer. Concrete primer, much like regular primer, helps with proper adhesion. First use a paintbrush to apply primer to corners and edges. Then coat the floors using a roller and paint tray, starting the furthest away from where you eventually want to stop and working backwards. Allow the primer to dry according to the product instructions. If the weather is humid, allow extra time!
8. Apply concrete paint. Once your primer is dry, it’s time for paint! First go around the edges and corners with a paintbrush. If you are coating a large area and need multiple cans, mix them all together in a large bucket for color uniformity. Don’t worry if your first coat doesn’t look very good and like it’s being absorbed by the concrete. It’s totally normal. As for technique, use a paint roller the same way as you would painting a wall. It’s pretty fun.
9. Recoat, recoat, recoat! I applied three coats of paint to make extra sure the coverage was good. My paint recommended that I wait 4-6 hours between coats, but I waited at least eight. Wait until the paint feels dry to the touch.
10. Apply sealant. After your floors are completely dry, I highly recommend sealing your floors with an acrylic sealer for durability. If you use a polyurethane sealer, your floors may yellow if they’re a lighter color.

Cost Breakdown

The saga of concrete floors has been a long one for me, and I wish I had been diligent about keeping receipts. But here’s a close estimate on what my floors cost.

• Paint thinner – $3.00
• Concrete patch – $7.00
• Concrete smoothing tool – $5.00
• SKIL detail sander – $30.00
• Sandpaper – $30.00 (we used a TON)
• Dust masks – $7.00
• Eco Procote degreaser – $30.00
• Painting supplies (rollers, etc) – $35.00
• BEHR concrete primer – $20.00
• BEHR concrete paint – $30.00*
• Eco Procote sealant – $50.00

*We got 8 cans for $30.00 on super sale because the store was transitioning this paint to be sold online only.

Total: $247

Cost per square foot: 19 cents