Once Ruby and Bill were moved into their new lake house, one of the projects we had planned to do was to paint the concrete floors in their basement. It’s a great walk-out basement with lots of light. They decided not to spend the money on laminate flooring down there (it was going to be $3K!), but I told her that painting the concrete like I did in my laundry room would make that space feel very fresh and clean. They worked on getting the concrete dust up with a shop vac and also mopped it a few times to get the dust and debris off the floors before we started. You really do need a clean floor to do this project, so make sure as much of the dust is up as possible if you are going to try this on a brand new concrete floor. An old floor is even easier to paint, since the dust is knocked down with age. In my laundry room, I just vacuumed and used a mop to get as much of the dirt up as I could before I started to paint. Sweep and vacuum to prepare the floor.
How To Paint Concrete Floors
If you missed this post from when I was renovating my laundry room, check out how I painted the floor with bold stripes, using this same Porch and Floor paint. It turned out gorgeous!Using concrete paints is an easy way to update. Water-based concrete paint is the way to go, it’s much easier to work with. Concrete stains are also an option to use.
If your concrete has any cracks, you may want to use concrete filler for a better look.
We used Sherwin Williams Concrete floor paint for this project and sealed it with H&C glossy clear topcoat. Color is Tony Taupe.
That really finishes it off and is the same process I used in my laundry room. I’ve been completely happy with my painted concrete floors too. If you want to paint a garage concrete floor, I would ask the pros about which product would work best for that. I am not sure that this porch concrete paint would work for a garage, but there are other products available that are more durable.
How To Paint a Concrete Floor:
Love this concrete sealer by H&C, water-based and glossy. Really finishes off the look of painted concrete.
We got everything ready to paint and both of us worked around the baseboards, cutting in with a paintbrush, so we could then use rollers with long poles to roll the paint on the floor.
Cutting in takes the longest time, but even that went fast. I didn’t get pics of all the cut-in.
This is a little foyer space that goes to the extra garage bay and extra storage room to the left.
This little nook will get a built-in seat with cushions and storage drawers underneath.
You can see where we cut in around the baseboards (about 3″ out) and then we were ready to rock and roll, literally. With both of us rolling, the first coat was on in no time. We let it dry for a good 2 hours and went back and did the second coat. A paint roller is your friend.
After one coat. Be sure NOT to paint yourself in a corner. We painted backwards towards the stairs going back upstairs and that worked out perfect.
Painting a concrete slab is a great way to update your basement floors.
Then, 2 days later, we went back with the glossy sealer and rolled on the top coat. It gives it a nice shine and looks so clean and fresh now. And no, it’s not slippery! It’s no worse than a tile floor and should really hold up to lake traffic. She will add some area rugs down here and furniture and what a great space it will be for relaxing and watching TV.
I hope these instructions are helpful if you are planning to paint concrete yourself.
Love this! Funny, I know you mentioned that Ruby didn’t actually “order” the darker trim color, but wow! It really looks awesome! Love that the floors and trim blend so seamlessly, and what a nice space to have for an extra living area.
Yes, it really ended up being a happy accident & she loves it.
I was so excited to see tan doors and trim. It seems like my white doors and trim need so much maintenance to remain looking fresh. It’s near impossible to find good examples on Pinterest of non-white, non-stained trim and doors.
I also noticed the bungalow in Atlanta that you blogged about had tan trim in the office and liked that, too.
This is really a beautiful project and it seems so easy to do with your tips!
Looks fantastic!
That looks fantastic! Seems obvious not to paint yourself into a corner, but I guess when painting a floor I could end up ddoing just that!! LOL
Good job and good team work!!! You two covered a lot of square footage.
I love painted floors with rugs on top. This is my dream for my outdated basement. It’s finished, but needs refreshing so very badly. It’s the Man Cave….and you know how that goes. I will use this post and Ruby’s progress in my sales pitch. Lol… looking forward to reading more. Suz
Was the floor paint custom colored to match the trim? It came out beautiful, I can just see striped rugs and a beachy theme look with this great color.
No, we picked a color that was a shade darker than the trim and it worked out beautifully.
What color did you paint your floor and also the color of the trim. Thanks Carol
HI, Carol, the color is listed up top, Tony Taupe by Sherwin Williams. It is a close match to the trim which I don’t know the color.
I think Ruby and Bill made an excellent choice in painting the concrete floor and saving $$$. The color looks great with the wall color and trim. Just add some beautiful rugs and boom! They’re blessed to have you as their friend!!
So pretty; LOVE the floor! IF it really snows as predicted, do be sure Ruby gets some pictures of her pretty house in the snow so we can see it; will be so pretty I know.
Thank you so much for this post. I have a room with concrete floors that I have been wanting to paint, but didn’t know how to do it. You have given me the inspiration to get it done! Hope mine turns out as good as yours! Ruby’s basement looks great!
My husband and I just painted 1/2 of our basement floor & it looks great. After getting estimates of $4200 for tile we decided to go with light gray paint & we are so glad we did. A fireplace is on the other side of the basement so we are going to carpet that area, paint the ugly paneling “Comfort Gray” & hang a modern light. Next month we’re putting the house on the market & I know the improvements in the basement will help sell it.
Great job! I love the tan trim next to the floor.
Oh my goodness, that really looks great -just like your laundry room, Rhoda. And so easy. Ruby got a nice smooth concrete finish job, which makes it look even better. Now I know what I’m doing to my basement floor, and in that same color. Good work, ladies.
Hi – I just wanted to let you know that your blog got a shout out in the AJC by designer Kerry Howard. He said your blog is one of his faves 🙂
http://www.ajc.com/news/lifestyles/designer-continues-to-embrace-southern-roots/njc4Q/
Thank you, Lizzy! I saw the article when it came out and that was very fun to read. Kerry is so fun!
Glad you shared how to do this. I have been thinking of doing my basement for sometime. I like the look of it. I hear it’s easy to clean. Something, I have to consider since i have dogs and children. 🙂
This turned out so lovely, I’m debating staining my garage floor when we convert it to a master suite. I love this look and that its not slippery. Great post!
Xo
Cheryl
This looks amazing! I would love to do this to my garage and laundry room.
I absolutely love the painted concrete and I am going to do the same thing to my basement laundry and sitting area!!!! Thanks so much Rhonda, I can’t wait !!!
Where did you purchase the H&C concrete sealer?
If I remember right, Sherwin Williams sells that.