Concrete Paint:
What Works, What Peels
& What to Use Instead

Types of concrete paint and what each one is for

"Concrete paint" on a store shelf covers at least five very different products. The label matters less than two numbers on the data sheet: how thick the dry film is, and what traffic the maker says it can take. A paint that dries to one or two mils is a color layer. A coating that dries to 8 mils or more is a wear layer. Those are different jobs.

Acrylic porch & floor enamel

This is what most people mean by concrete paint. It is water-based, easy to roll, cleans up with water, and comes in hundreds of colors. Behr's Porch & Patio Floor Paint is typical: 300–400 sq ft per gallon on smooth concrete, recoat in 4–6 hours, 72 hours before normal use, and the label says plainly not to use it where car tires sit. It works on porches, patios, basement floors and steps. It does not belong under a car.

1-part "epoxy" floor paint

These are acrylics with a small amount of epoxy ester added. They come in one can with no hardener. They wear a little better under foot traffic than plain acrylic, but they dry to roughly 1–1.5 mils and they still soften under hot tires. Think of them as a better floor paint, not as epoxy.

2-part water-based epoxy kits

Here a resin and a hardener react, so the film actually cures instead of just drying. Rust-Oleum's EpoxyShield kit covers about 250 sq ft per pouch at 3.0–3.5 dry mils and asks for 3 days before you drive on it. That is a real step up from paint, and a reasonable DIY garage option, but it is still a thin film compared with professional systems.

Elastomeric and waterproofing masonry coatings

For walls, foundations and block, a high-build acrylic masonry coating is the right tool. Sherwin-Williams Loxon XP, for example, goes on at 6.5–8.4 dry mils, covers 85–110 sq ft per gallon, tolerates concrete pH from 6 to 13, and can go on concrete that is only 7 days old. These are wall products. Do not walk on them.

Professional coating systems (epoxy, polyaspartic, polyurea)

These are not paint, but people searching for concrete paint often need one. They go on thicker, cure chemically, and are usually applied over a ground surface by a crew. We manufacture polyurea, polyurethane and polyaspartic floor systems, including ArmorFloor aliphatic polyaspartic, so we will be specific later about where they earn their cost and where they don't.

Three tests to run before you paint concrete

These take a day and cost almost nothing. Skipping them is the most expensive mistake in this whole guide.

1. Water-drop test (5 minutes)

   Sprinkle water on several spots. If it darkens the concrete and soaks in within a minute or so, the surface is open and paint can bite into it. If it beads up, there is a sealer, a curing compound or old oil in the way, and paint will sit on top of it and let go. That has to come off first, by grinding or a stripper made for that sealer.

2. Plastic-sheet moisture test (24 hours)

   Tape an 18 x 18 inch square of clear plastic tightly to the floor on all four edges and leave it at least 24 hours. This is the ASTM D4263 method. If the concrete under it turns darker or droplets form on the underside, moisture is moving up through the slab and will push a film off from below. Test in a few spots, including the lowest part of the floor and anywhere near an outside wall.

3. Tape test on old paint

   If the floor or wall is already painted, press a strip of duct tape onto it, rub it down hard, and rip it off fast. If paint comes up on the tape, that old coat is the weak link and new paint over it will fail with it. Remove it. If nothing lifts, scuff-sand, clean, and do a small test patch with the new product first.

Also check the age. New concrete is wet and highly alkaline. Behr asks for 30 days before its porch & floor paint, and Rust-Oleum asks for 28 days before EpoxyShield. Masonry wall coatings like Loxon XP are formulated to go on sooner, at 7 days, but that is the exception.

How to paint concrete so it stays put

The painting is the easy part. Most of the work, and most of the outcome, is in the first four steps.

1. Clean and degrease

   Scrape off anything loose, then scrub with a concrete degreaser and rinse well. Oil spots that still darken the concrete after cleaning will show through and lift the paint. Scrub them again or grind them out.

2. Repair cracks and spalls

   Fill cracks and chipped areas with a patch product that the paint maker says is compatible. Paint will not bridge an active crack; it will just show it.

3. Open up the surface

   Paint needs tooth. Behr asks for an etched surface with a profile similar to 150-grit sandpaper. Acid or citric etching only works on clean, unsealed concrete. A rented floor grinder is slower to set up but more reliable, and it is the only option if the water-drop test showed a sealer.

4. Rinse, dry and retest

   Rinse all etching residue, let the slab dry completely, then repeat the water-drop test. If water still beads anywhere, that area is not ready.

5. Prime where the data sheet calls for it

   Walls, chalky old masonry and very porous block usually need a masonry primer. Many porch & floor enamels are self-priming on bare concrete. Read the label instead of guessing.

6. Paint inside the weather window

   Behr lists 50–90°F for surface and air. Rust-Oleum's epoxy kit wants 60–85°F, humidity at or under 85%, and a surface at least 5°F above the dew point. Work early in the day outdoors so the film skins over before evening dew. Two thin coats beat one heavy coat every time.

7. Respect the cure time

   Dry to the touch is not cured. Behr asks for 72 hours before normal use; EpoxyShield asks for 3 days before vehicles. Keep rugs, planters and furniture off for longer if you can.

Concrete paint cost vs coating systems

Paint wins on upfront cost, by a lot. Angi puts painting concrete at $1.50–$3 per sq ft, and HomeGuide lists garage floor paint at $2–$4 per sq ft installed. Professional coatings start roughly where paint tops out. The question is how many times you will repaint before a coating would have paid for itself, and that depends almost entirely on traffic.

Concrete paint questions we get