Any reason not to have a painted concrete floor?

[Grian]

Not polished, but just ordinary concrete made as level and smooth as possible and painted - is there a reason not to use it as a floor? I have wet underfloor heating in the slab so it wouldn't be cold. I don't see it being any harder or more slippery than tiles, and an advantage being it can be repainted for a change of colour.

In practice I've only had this on utility/garage floors, but it seemed fine there. I must be missing something or people would have this...? Thank you!

[joe90]

I don’t see why not if it’s what you like, you can always change it in the future for tiles, wood or a different colour ?

[Grian]

5 minutes ago, joe90 said:

I don’t see why not if it’s what you like, you can always change it in the future for tiles, wood or a different colour ?

 

That's good to hear! Thank you.

[saveasteading]

Nobody will notice as they will be looking at the view.

Just make sure the concrete is dry before sealing it.

[Grian]

2 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Nobody will notice as they will be looking at the view.

Just make sure the concrete is dry before sealing it.

 

Am hoping that applies to my painting too! Thanks.

[nod]

No reason at all 

There are some nice anti slip floor paints and as Joe says You can always tile or wood at a later date 

[saveasteading]

It will show up the dimples and swirls, unless you get a matt finish. I might worry that it will look like a garage floor, but with plenty of rugs and furniture perhaps no problem.

 

There are all sorts of options, from single coat to 2-part epoxy, that can be microns or mm thick. Prices accordingly. I have found the cheapest 2 part works fine, and clients happy to have the huge saving and a spare pot for touch ups where wheels wear it out......ooops still thinking garages.

[Bitpipe]

+1 to covering with some self levelling compound and then painting that.

 

Our basement floor was tamped flat and was still quite rough underfoot. The flooring guy poured a few mm of self levelling compound (aka laytex) and it looked like polished concrete. 

 

We put Karndean on the top but it was poker flat so it could have been painted.

[Dave Jones]

one word. dust.

[joe90]

39 minutes ago, Dave Jones said:

one word. dust.

why?

[saveasteading]

another word. hoover.

third word, instructions

[wozza]

As Saveasteading, has said, it will show all of the imperfections  - It might be worth using a SLC first - when I did my old garage I ground it as flat as I could (mega dusty job), I then used car body filler to fill any deep holes. I then did two coats of epoxy floor paint in battleship grey (need a drill paddle to mix the two components) from a local specialist - lasted for years - the only thing I noticed was the small area of the slab that was outside of the garage door and exposed to the sun faded quite a bit. 

 

It will chip if you drop something heavy / sharp on it and it can scratch with something sharp, sand grit etc.

 

I watched some professionals do the floors at work a few times and then basically copied them - we have had areas patched / repaired at work (ground off and repainted) in exactly the same colour but it sticks out like a sore thumb, the colour never matches.

 

 

 

[dangti6]

16 minutes ago, wozza said:

As Saveasteading, has said, it will show all of the imperfections  - It might be worth using a SLC first - when I did my old garage I ground it as flat as I could (mega dusty job), I then used car body filler to fill any deep holes. I then did two coats of epoxy floor paint in battleship grey (need a drill paddle to mix the two components) from a local specialist.

 

 

 

Interesting tip on the car body filler! I am looking to epoxy mine soon and have some small holes that need filling and was begrudgingly going to buy a massive tin of particular ‘concrete filler’ the epoxy paint company offer. 
 

Do you remember which epoxy brand you used or if it was water based or high build/solids. 
 

Latter is twice the price - which is fair enough and in an industrial environment probably night and day but wondering if I need to buy the best for what is just a garage where I could get away with water based stuff at half the price. 

Edited August 21, 2021 by dangti6

[wozza]

1 hour ago, dangti6 said:

Interesting tip on the car body filler! I am looking to epoxy mine soon and have some small holes that need filling and was begrudgingly going to buy a massive tin of particular ‘concrete filler’ the epoxy paint company offer. 
 

Do you remember which epoxy brand you used or if it was water based or high build/solids. 
 

Latter is twice the price - which is fair enough and in an industrial environment probably night and day but wondering if I need to buy the best for what is just a garage where I could get away with water based stuff at half the price. 

 

Hi, I got my paint from a local supplier Industrial Flooring by Reepol | Epoxy Resin Flooring

 

It was a few years ago now so I cant remember what the actual product was, they were very helpful at the time so perhaps give them a call.

[IanR]

6 hours ago, Grian said:

Not polished, but just ordinary concrete made as level and smooth as possible and painted - is there a reason not to use it as a floor?

 

My poured resin is straight on to the reinforced concrete slab, although my slab was power-floated.

 

The process for the poured resin is to grind the surface to key it and expose any cracks. Clear out any loose in the cracks and fill with epoxy to stabilise. Roller on an epoxy base coat, and then pour on and trowel out the PU resin and finish with a rolled on lacquer coat. It's 3-4mm thick overall.

 

Even our UV stable resin will show slight differences in colour where rugs are, although that difference fades when uncovered. I feel you need to get rid of the ridges for comfort and the finish will wear quickly on the high spots.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2021 by IanR

[dpmiller]

I see the view, and don't care about the floor covering. It's gorgeous, I'm  very jealous.