I have a front porch (exposed to the elements) that is about 6x8. It was previously painted but the paint has flaked off. I spent the morning scraping it and washed it down good with water. Where do I go from here?
I liked the look of the gray paint, but if I repaint it is it going to just flake off again? Would garage floor paint be appropriate for outside use? Is there a special primer for this type of job? The floor area is big enough and flat enough that slippery won't be a problem. Also it's a porch that is rarely used,
I don't want to use stain. It makes a mess and I don't think it looks that good on old concrete.

 

Wood floor? If so, I'd go with either a deck paint or a solid body deck stain.

 

Sorry Mitch forgot to say cement porch

 

Yep, that makes a difference

Unfortunately, I am now no longer qualified to answer your question

 

Mitch
It's the thought that counts

 

I can count on less than one hand (4 fingers and a thumb) the number of times I've seen exterior concrete paint actually stick and not flake off. Conversely, there've been literally hundreds of applications of flaking paint on all kinds of concrete surfaces, in all the parts of the country I've lived in. Last summer, a guy down the street from us spent days with a pressure washer on his previously-painted driveway, removing all (so he thought) the loose paint and making it as clean as a pressure washer can. He then gave it a nice, pretty coat of gray paint. Just drove by the place this morning, and noticed that the pretty gray paint is once again flaking off, enough to be noticeable from the street (newer gray is much darker than the stuff he tried to cover).

So the logical question is: Why would anyone want to paint a perfectly good exterior concrete surface, anywhere? Doesn't make any sense. Far better to sand-blast the entire surface uniformly, then apply a concrete stain that will soak into the surface and take a set. Done. End of story. Even if it fades a bit, it will not flake off if properly installed.

 

So I guess my next question would be if stain is oil based, then why wouldn't a good quality oil based paint be just as good? I know that sounds like a dumb question, but I'm not sure what the difference is???

 

I'd use a concrete stain like H&C. It's a solid color xylene based stain. The concrete needs to have the majority of the old coating removed, be clean and dry! I've never seen the H&C stain peel over properly prepared concrete. It will wear away. Recoating works well as the stain melts the old stain and makes a good bond with the concrete.

 

Is H& C the brand name and where can I buy it. Does the big box stores carry it or should my local paint & hardware have it?

 

I think SWP might have bought out H&C but don't know for sure. I've always bought the H&C stain at SWP, I don't know if it's sold elsewhere

 

First, 100% of all the old surface must be removed. I would not recoat with H&C IMHO. I would use a 2 part polyurthane tinted to the color I like. 2 coats should do the trick, and it would never peel off, although depending on the amount of foot traffic you might have to recoat in a few years.

 

Welcome to the forums zogo12!

What are your reasons for not using H&C?
I've always gotten good results with it although the majority was on new concrete.

 

My reason for not using it is because I can't find any.

 

Have you called your local Sherwin Williams store?

 

Will have to check the phone book, not sure if we have one anywhere near us.
Thanks for the tip though.

 

2407 Monroe Avenue
Rochester, NY 14618-3119
(585) 244-0840

There are more, that was just the first return on their website for zip code 14610 (picked a Rochester zip at random).
Sherwin-Williams Paints, Stains, Supplies and Coating Solutions

 

Thanks, that's about 20 minutes from me. Maybe I'll get this thing done before snow flies