Painting Concrete Front Steps? Help (1 Viewer)

Okay my steps when I first painted them last year were new-with no exsisiting paint on them- I used Beher Concrete latex paint (for floors-patios etc). I don't use the steps that much but just about all the paint has flaked off and is peeling-now it looks pretty crappy. I went to a local paint store (B.Moore) to ask them for any advice- they were not that much help (maybe I picked the wrong time to go in-the guy didn't seem to know that much). But has anyone had any luck in painting exterior concrete steps or floors? If so what products did you use-any is there anything special (besides powerwashing off the old paint) that I could do to make it work this time? Any suggestions appreciated
Tim

Tim, There is a red flag when you say your steps were new. Seems to me most concrete paint I have seen requires one year of curing before applying paint. Other than that, your problem is almost certainly in the preparation phase as opposed to the paint. When you powerwash off the old paint, give the concrete plenty of time to dry (a week in the sun). Wash with muriatic acid, rinse, let dry again and paint. One caution; muriatic acid can be dangerous stuff. It requires gloves, eye protection and good ventilation. I'm no expert, but we occasionally paint concrete at work and that seems to be the system that works. I'd also check with a more helpful paint store. Those guys should be the experts.

If I were you I would stay away from paint and try something different like the following product:

techstone granite

It looks nice and should be much more durable than paint. Will cost you more and take more work to apply but should produce very nice results.

** I have never used this product or one like it, but if I had concrete steps I would definately try it out.

Have you considered staining instead of painting? At our old house we had a concrete patio that we stained a terra cotta color. As it aged the color faded a bit but we never did have to restain it or deal with any paint flaking. When we moved it had been in place for about four years.

Ed: I painted the garage floor of a house I had built and the concrete patio slab according to the directions on the product I used - six weeks after the contract was laid down. None of the products I looked at recommended anything like one year of curing before the paint/stain could be applied.

Tim:

Don't know where you're located, but American version of Ken's link can be found here: Spread Rock. I haven't used this product either, but I'm considering it as a way to upgrade my current shabby countertops to "granite" on the cheap. I think it would be work looking into for your application as it seems much more durable than any paint or stain.

Regards,

Joe

Yes I was reading about the acid treatment to make sure it is vey clean of any kind of debris. I have used stain before on a pevious garage floor- it was Behr also (you'd think I learn my lesson) it was okay but didn't hold up as well as expected. Joseph that Spread Rock seems interesting- it looks pretty good. When i first painted them I did wait close to a year- so it should have been pleny of time- and besides hey were pre-fabricated steps so the concrete was surely det-up by then. I'm going to have to dig a little deeper here to find some more info- I don't want to go through this again- thanks for the replys
Tim

Joe, Thats what I get for talking off the top of my head. The product I am most familiar with is a clear sealant, it is alkyd based and the instructions do recommend 1 year for new concrete. Sorry Tim to mislead you if that's not typical. There are obviously many ways to top coat a cement surface. I stand by my recommendation that the best source for advice are the PROS that sell the product. I'm surprised that B.M. wasn't more helpful, but there are a lot of paint stores that stake their reputations on a good product properly used.

as far as i know when the cement is new assuming it's all dried up, that's the best time to paint it because it's free of dirt or oily stuff.. i used epoxy paint and it works well on my garage.. didn't work well on my patio so i just tiled it up..

I may go to another store- or try them again-hopefully someone more helpful will be there- but I am very leary abou using any type of paint again-it was very clean the first time and it didn't take-so I am not one to tempt fate twice -too much work getting it all off-I have paint flakes all over my mulch now and have to remulch now-I am going to look into some local company that can treat it somehow with some type of look besides dirty concrete-haven't seen anything yet-but there has to be some method on it- I've searched the web also- couldn't find much on the "How To's" of concrete step painting (that could be a red flag). The search continues
Tim