Today I’m showing you how to paint a concrete floor – or, more specifically, how I painted my concrete laundry room floor turquoise!
Nothing like a looming MLS listing to light a suitably sized fire under our butts when it comes to projects. We prioritized our to-do list and because the rest of the house has been updated over the years and looks quite spiffy, we tackled the dragged-on-for-eighteen-months basement makeover first. People have built houses in the time it has taken to paint and tidy our basement! Our house is to be listed as a partially finished basement because about one third of it is taken up by a walled off, unfinished storage room with a door, but a “partially finished basement” doesn’t mean we can literally leave our projects partially finished (darn). We started on the floor right away, knowing it would take a week to fully cure.
Here’s what I learned about how how to paint a concrete floor – plus I’m sharing the colorful before/after of my turquoise laundry room floor!
Supplies for Painting a Concrete Floor:
We used Sherwin Williams Porch and Floor enamel in satin, which I bought un-tinted during a sweet 50% off sale and brought back to get tinted once I was ready with a plan. After we narrowed down floor colours, I combed through my hoard of turquoise paint chips to find a shade that looked right in the window-less laundry room and Valspar’s “Dive in”(CI 249) took the cake. It’s vibrant and not too green but not too blue – the perfect turquoise. In the photos it looks pale, but in reality it’s richer than even my turquoise chair makeover.
We also used a roller designed for applying paint to concrete, and one of those extenders for painting ceilings – it makes painting a floor less back breaking! But we also grabbed an angled brush for the perimeter of the room. Other than that, the supplies required for painting a concrete floor are minimal.
How to Paint a Concrete Floor:
First we vacuumed and washed the poured concrete floor really well (the old carpet that was there wasn’t glued down at all – whew, no sticky residue). We let the wet floors dry overnight. Then we moved the washer and dryer to the middle of the room and painted behind them. The enamel cured quickly, so we pushed them back once the paint dried, and then proceeded to paint the rest of the concrete floors.
A paintbrush was needed for the edges, but then a roller made for concrete floors made light work of the rest of the room. Although we walked on it later that day, we planned to wait a full week to return the laundry hampers and other stuff to the room. A few days later though, I noticed one coat wasn’t enough (some patches of the original grey peeked through) so we swept it quickly and applied another coat. We had to start the clock again and wait another full week, so it was a good thing we started as soon as we bought the lake house! If you’re looking for my best tip on how to paint concrete floors, here it is: just apply the two coats, don’t try to skimp on time or paint!
This was a smelly job but only took an hour or so to apply the first application and only twenty minutes for the second coat. So far, it still looks perfect! This isn’t meant for garage floors (shame) but it works well for a concrete laundry room floor. The gallon we bought was twice what we needed, just FYI.
Handy Hubby was such a cutie during the painting process. We painted the walls together but then he painted the floor while I worked on making the rest of the basement livable. I tried to snag a few good photos of him, but he likes to remain as anonymous as possible. He jumped out of most photos, or looked really, really pained.
The fruits of his labor are what you’re here to see anyway! With the walls freshly painted the same colour as the rest of the basement (including the stairwell), the new floors make a formerly grungy space look fresh and cheery. I’m so glad it was easy to paint a concrete floor – I just wish we’d done it sooner!
The walls, floor and light fixtures are all looking sharp but let’s be honest: our washing machine and dryer are work horses, not show ponies, and the paintbrush-rinsing-sink (it serves no other purpose), water heater and mess of plumbing and wires really seem to pop out now. I asked Hubs to paint the rusty legs of the old sink and that was a super quick fix that made it look less sad, but there’s a bigger, better, beautiful solution my Mom and I cooked up . . .
UPDATE: See how we hid the unsightly washer, dryer and hot water tank with a pretty set of curtains made from old bedding by clicking here. You can also see more of the basement here and here.
Wow – this looks seriously amazing!!Jenny http://Www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com
Thanks Jenny! I hope buyers think the same thing!! It was scary before.
Cute colour. I like your Finnish flag magnet too…
Thanks! We also had a pirate magnet up, lol. They will all come off later today to make a more neutral space. But I have to represent!
I would never have considered turquoise, looks gorgeous! Love how you guys painted the sink legs too.
Turquoise is my default colour, lol. Painting the sink legs really makes it look less noticeable. Once the floor was painting, the rusty legs really "popped" and they so are not a feature! It was a quick fix because a new sink just isn't in the budget (plus I'd wreck it in two minutes anyway, lol).
Looks great! We painted our basement floor of our new home just to keep dust away (kind of like 'sealing it') because concrete continusously makes dust. We put a tiny bit of vanilla in and it completely took away the smell 🙂 ZERO smell! We painted a HUGE basement with it and you wouldn't tell walking into the house when we did it 🙂
SUCH a genius idea!! I wish I'd known that tip. Our basement was fowl smelling for a day or so. Just FOWL. The only thing is the dirty floor colour hid the dirt better. Now I feel compelled to sweep it every day because every little fluff of dust or lint shows so easily.
My husband is curious as to how much vanilla you used. I want to paint the basement floor this spring/summer and there is no ventilation. Thanks.
Hi Jennifer, I'm not sure how much Jazmyn used – it sounds like just a few drops. But you can probably contact her via google+ to find out. Happy painting!
Looks SO good! Way to go!Curious, how did you finish the walls down there? My basements walls look similar… and I'm curious how you hung the drywall? Thanks!PS. can't wait to see what you and your mom cooked up!
Thanks Amy! The walls were Hubby's job. He did the framing, the screwing in of drywall and then the taping. It was such a beast of a job but we muddled our way through it. I asked him to help me do a tutorial for the blog, but he said it's better to consult google or a pro because he just isn't equipped enough to provide a good tutorial. Darn.
I LOVE that you picked turquoise for the floor. What a fun choice. Painting the sink legs was a great idea and looks so cute.
Thanks! I took forever agonizing over the right shade, but I'm in love with the one I chose. So perfect with the greige walls (that read a lot more beige in the laundry room).
love love love that color! just a little paint goes suchhh a long way sprucing up a room!
I never tire of seeing makeovers where a can of paint made a world of difference!
You've really done a great job with the basement. Those before and after photos are pretty impressive.
Thanks Dana, wait until you see the rest 🙂
This is inspiring! We have a scary laundry room that will never be one of those beautiful space you see in magazines, but you've shown me that some paint will go a long, long way to making it a much more enjoyable space. Good luck with the sale!
Thanks Amelia! I had the same issue: so many makeovers involve fancy tile, tearing down walls and new washing machines. It was hard for me to form a plan. Hopefully when the room is all done and I can share a full reveal, people with similarly awful laundry rooms and similarly tiny budgets will get some ideas!
Hi, we're about to paint our concrete slab floor with SW Porch & Floor Enamel, too. How was the smell? It's supposed to be low VOC, but we're VERY sensitive to paint smells. Just wondering about your experience…
Really, really smelly!! But it dried quickly and once it dried the smell was gone (a couple hours). But the space was very small with no windows. If we could have opened a window, I'm sure it wouldn't have been so bad. It wouldn't prevent us from using it again, although we're both only slightly sensitive to paint smells. Hope this helps. Happy painting!
So, the paint smell was totally gone after the couple-hour dry time? We have plenty of windows to open, etc.
I did not smell it after it dried (but there's a chance I got used to it). It does dry really, really fast. But when it's wet, super smelly.
I am totally going to do this in my house!!!
Awesome!!! I'd love to see photos when you're done 🙂
Hi Tanya, looks great!! Can I ask if you painted over the old tiles also ? I have a 100 yr old basement I'm painting, bought the same paint, Have asbestos tiles in parts, I's a mess. Trying to clean as best I can without pulling up the old tiles. Yours looks so nice! I hope mine sticks to the tiles as well as the cement. Any advice?? Thanks, Elissa
I didn't paint any tiles in this laundry room, but I did paint the tile in my bathroom (over the vanity) with Rustoleum's tile transformations kit. It is awesome stuff, but you need to work quickly and follow the instructions to the letter. I've also heard primer and floor/porch enamel together can work – I've seen it done on the blog Little Green Notebook. I'd talk to a paint professional at your local paint supply shop and see if they recommend that paint for your tile. You might need to add a primer. I hope it works out!
Just curious how the floor is holding up & the amount of foot traffic you guys get down there?
Sorry, we've since sold the house and moved. In the time we were there, no wear but the foot traffic was light.
I cant wait until you tackle the walls! VERY GOOD BLOG!!! I will definitely be following suit in my laundry room.
I am terrible at picking colors! TERRIBLE I tell you!! can you please tell me the name of the wall and floor colors? Absolutely LOVE them, it looks amazing! My laundry room for many reasons, has been relocated to a very dingy space under the stairs and plan to make the best of it. Your colors will be perfect. Thank you!!
I will be honest and say that picking wall colours isn't easy for me either! I always end up with something too bright (I have kermit green walls in my past, lol). But I was very happy with this beige – it had a real Martha Stewart feel about it. It is called "glacial till," by Benjamin Moore.The floor was Valspar's "Dive in" (CI 249).I painted both the walls and floor a couple of years ago, so I hope those shades are still available.