Hello,

I need to repaint the concrete front walkway to my house. This is a picture of its current condition.

http://i1200.photobucket.com/albums/...5/photo-59.jpg

This walk is at least 25 years old. The concrete is in reasonably good condition except for two cracks that I used Bondo on -- this was suggested by two different professional house painters. Dunno if Bondo was an ideal fix but it seems okay. As you can see from the photo the old paint is very warn in most places.

I want four main things out of this paint job:
1. I want the resulting surface to be very nonslip
2. I want it to look nice and last a long while
3. I want a project that uses more time than money
4. I don't want caustic chemicals used on the concrete if I can avoid it

I have this same painted concrete surface in the back of the house as steps leading down to the basement, and it can get pretty slick when its wet from rain - hence my desire to make any new painting job I do be more nonslip (I live in Seattle - we do get rain once in a while here).

So some of my questions are:
1. Do I need to chemically remove all of the existing paint? So far I've power washed it and then used a rotating power sanding attachment via my heavy duty power drill. This has removed all lose paint that I can see or touch. Is that enough?

2. What is the best type of paint for exterior concrete? From that research I've done so far it seems to be latex?

3. I've read many times that primer is just inexpensive paint. Can I just use whatever paint I buy as the primer too? I don't mean all in one coat, I mean in separate coats.

4. Any suggestions on the best way to get some nice friction in the resulting surface? Here is my current thought based on a pretty cool nonslip surface I saw on a sailboat. I chatted with the guy that owned the boat - he is a professional boat builder - I don't see any reason why this wouldn't work on concrete? Basically, he applied a layer of paint, and while it was still wet he used a large salt shaker to shake course sand all over it. Then let it dry, and repeated a couple of times, and then finally painted over the last layer without adding sand.

What else... I have more time than money for this project, so where possible I'd rather use elbow grease than some expensive chemical stripper - and I'd rather not have some chemical stripper near the blueberry bushes growing next to the walkway.

Thanks!

 

Welcome to the forums!

#1 - there is no need to remove all the paint as long as it's bonded well.

#2 - it would be best to discuss this with your local paint store rep. They'll know which of their coatings will hold up best in your environment. I wouldn't trust advice from a paint dept. It used to be porch and deck enamel was the best coating for concrete walks but it does have the propensity to peel. IMO concrete stains do better. The biggest issue with painting a concrete walk way is there is no moisture barrier under the concrete. Moisture coming up from below is just as hard on the coating as the weather from above.

#3 - primer is formulated to bond to raw surfaces better than the top coat. It also helps the top coat to look better. You could get by with 2 coats of finish but 1 primer and 1 finish would be better.

#4 - there is a sand like additive you can add to paint that will improve traction. Sprinkling sand over the wet paint will also work but it's harder to get even coverage. The biggest problem with adding grit is it will wear away where you need it the most - it doesn't hold up well to traffic.

I don't see any reason to use a paint stripper. As long as the loose paint is gone, you should be fine. If all the walk looks like the pic, you might be able to use a solid concrete stain. I've heard of painters using bondo to repair siding but have never seen it used on concrete - time will tell if that's a viable repair method.

 

Thanks for the response!

If stain is what I think it is... you can't embed grit in it, right?

 

why ? its ugly enough now, isn't it ? doing the same thing again will only show ugly again !

there isn't any paint made that's good for conc,,, you also need to make some repairs to the spalling & jnts 1st.

bondo - a tip from house painters ? why not ck w/body shop guys ? you might also want to fit 5 gal of wtr into 4 gal bkts but it won't happen - non-slip's not a problem, looking nice & long lasting's easy, cheap's not, & conc prep involves muriatic acid & ammonia in our world - dec conc artisans.


1. nope, you can mechanically remove it w/diamond grinder;
2. there isn't - that's why its called paint;
3. dunno but that seems about right;
4. shark's grip.

he applied a marine coating, not paint,,, no respectable pro boatbuilder would ever use paint for deck coatings,,, the advice to not worry about the existing paint that's well-bonded is well meant, i'm sure,,, however, in time, that will also loosen & fall off so why not do the job right all at once ?

your blueberry bushes grow best in acidic soil,,, muriatic cut 1:8 w/wtr won't bother 'em.

if you want to color concrete, find all you need to know at concretelocator.com OR concretenetwork.com,,, & stay out of the paint stores we do conc coatings for a living - never would we even suggest your method/materials.

good luck !

 

Correct, you can't add grit to stain but stain won't be as slick as paint.

 

concrete stain is never left on by itself,,, the ' grip ' is mixed into the sealer when its applied over the stain - least that's how the pro's do it Beer 4U2

don't mean to step on anyone's toes but,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

I wasn't talking about a acid stain but rather the solid color concrete stains like H&C's. The stain is the finished coating and doesn't get or require a sealer.

 

know the material - cheap acrylic coating,,, imo, still a 1/2***ed repair w/o the proper prep but its not my driveway