Earlier this summer I shared with you that I am overhauling our small front porch space to make it more of a room in our house. My goal is to make the front porch a welcoming spot where I want to sit and relax, or sit and watch my kids play while I do some work from my laptop. So far in the process, I have touched up our porch posts, while still keeping the chippy vintage look I love, and taken our door from gray to blush. Today’s stop is all about how I am improving the basic cement floor. This is a two-step process, and you will want to check out the way I finished off the floors in the next post!
You’ll be surprised at just how easy it is to paint a cement floor. Let’s take a look at the three steps to go from a basic cement pad to a fresh new coat of paint.
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step one | Clean your surface. I used a small pressure washer and gave my cement floor a good soak, washing away dirt and debris. Allow to dry and then brush off what dust remains.
step two | Prep the concrete. To make sure the cement is ready for painting I used Fast Prep by Valspar. This product was my favorite out of all the ones I found. It cleans, removes grease and etches the concrete all in one step. Follow the directions on the bottle to prep your concrete.
step three | Paint the cement. Select a paint that is designed for use on cement. I used Valspar Latex Porch & Floor Paint in satin. I liked that I had the option of choosing a satin finish, and it came in a latex paint base, instead of just oil. Also the paint can be tinted to one of many color choices. Edge the floor first with a paint brush, and then roll on the paint using a paint roller extension arm. The extension arm will let you stand up while painting. Allow to dry and then add a second coat of paint if needed.
You don’t want to miss out the final reveal of this floor over here, and how I took this painted cement floor and made it looked like patterned tile.
Make sure you head over to check out the full farmhouse front porch reveal!
Lisa @ Fun Money Mom says
I will definitely check back because I can’t wait to see what you did with the floor! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Share The Wealth Sunday!
Laurie says
Turned out great and such a difference! Thanks for sharing with us at Snickerdoodle Sunday!
creativejewishmom/sara says
fantastic, and can’t wait to see the next step, but i can imagine it already! thanks for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!
Joanne Rawson says
I love this idea! Pinned. I’ve been hating the look of our concrete slab out front.
Life Breath Present says
We’re wanting to do something similar in our garage. We’ve thought of so many things to cover that floor, while making it nicer, a bit more homely, and even add value to our home. How did you like the Valspar sealer?
Becky says
I was really pleased with all of the Valspar products used in this project and so far everything is holding up well to rain, kids and animals. 🙂
Life Breath Present says
Thanks so much, Becky! We’ve been getting so much summer evening/night rain lately lol 🙂
Rosie Walsh says
Becky, First off, I adore the color of your front door.
I want to do this to the walkway of my home. My concern is that the concrete is rather rough in spots. I fear that I could get bleeding under the stencil. Wondering if you have any tips. It’s not cracked anywhere, but certainly doesn’t have a completely smooth surface. Painting w/o stenciling is an option, but the stencil adds so much.
Thanks, Rosie, in Sugar Hill, GA
Becky says
Totally understand your concern! Our cement slab is quite old, it has been there a while. A majority of the slab is really smooth, but the back 1/4 and the steps are actually very rough. Lots of bumps, from being worn away by the weather I would imagine. It really wasn’t much harder for me to use the stencil in that area, I just had to be careful that I didn’t apply too much paint as I was stenciling because it was easier to bleed through with the uneven surface. Really, it’s just paint so if it takes a couple of tries you can always just paint over it and try again! Hope that encourages you to give it a try. I’m so happy with my results. 🙂
Rosie Walsh says
Thanks, Becky. I missed if you said how you painted the stenciled part – roller or Stencil brush. I think I’ll try a brush on the gnarly parts. Now to get it power washed and completely dry, which is a challenge here these days. We need the rain, so I’m not complaining, and Lord knows I have other things to keep me busy in the meanwhile.
michelleoblogoff says
So I was impressed with just the paint, but the stencil is AMAZING!
FrugalHausfrau says
What a beautiful transformation – and it really is all about the prep! Thanks for sharing with us at Throwback Thursday!
Mollie