Painting a concrete floor paints can open up a range of problems. Often the paint goes on fine but then issues quickly develop, with visible damage appearing and a repaint required after as little as 12 months. Sometimes the issue lies with the paint itself, but more often than not, the root of the issue lies with inadequate surface preparation or the incorrect application method. Below are some of the biggest problems with concrete floors and our recommended solutions.
1) Blisters
Blisters appearing on the surface are one of the biggest challenges with concrete floor paints. These blisters eventually pop, causing large areas of the coating to peel away. The reason for blistering is moisture trapped below the surface of the paint.
Concrete is a porous material that contains many air bubbles as it sets. This allows moisture or water Flavor to seep into the surface and become trapped, working its way back to the surface over time. A concrete floor can hold a reasonably high volume of water while still looking and feeling dry to the touch. Blisters occur when the moisture evaporates out of the microscopic pores within the concrete. The floor paints hinders the water from re-joining the atmosphere as vapor and instead causes blisters underneath the paint.
The solution? Unfortunately, by the time blisters appear, there isn’t much you can do short of patching up or repainting the floor. However, you can minimize the chance of blisters appearing by ensuring your concrete is fully dry before applying your paint. Don’t paint an outdoor concrete floor for several days after rain.
2) Poor Adhesion
It is fairly common for a paint coating to start peeling or blistering within days of application. This usually comes down to poor surface preparation. A poured concrete floor is not a smooth surface but contains thousands of microscopic pits, cracks, and valleys. This can lead to paint pooling in some areas while being spread too thinly in others. The lightly painted areas wear out quickly, while paint that accumulates in cracks and valleys often doesn’t dry properly and ends up flaking off in clumps. Poor adhesion can also result from an adverse chemical reaction between the paint and soluble salts leaching out from the concrete. Avoid this issue by ensuring that concrete floors are thoroughly sanded, cleaned, and dried before attempting to paint.
4) Peeling
Peeling describes when large areas of floor paint come loose from the concrete undersurface and peel away, revealing the substrate beneath. Once peeling occurs, the only solution is to strip away the old surface and apply a new coat. The causes of peeling are – similar to blistering – surface moisture and poor preparation.
5) Contamination
Sometimes a coating of floor paint fails to adhere or dry properly due to contamination. This typically happens when the paint picks up some kind of grease, dirt, or oil from the floor surface due to inadequate cleaning – which then causes an adverse chemical reaction. It is imperative to clean a concrete surface thoroughly before painting, preferably using a jet wash, Acid Et, Ch. and or me, mechanical abrasion depending on the severity of the contamination.
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Most problems with concrete floor paint can be avoided through the correct surface preparation, painting techniques, and the right choice of materials.
