Painting a Basement/Laundry Room Floor
Looking for some advice, We are getting our basement painted (in an old brownstone) and it is the laundry room. Currently its an old stone floor that traps dust and more.. we don;’t have the money to tile or relay it, but we want to paint it to seal it and make it easier to…
Looking for some advice, We are getting our basement painted (in an old brownstone) and it is the laundry room. Currently its an old stone floor that traps dust and more.. we don;’t have the money to tile or relay it, but we want to paint it to seal it and make it easier to clean. What would anyone suggest as the best type of products, paints/sealers to use. I have someone who is doing it, but we have to provide the paint etc. we want to be able to sweep and mop up with more ease then at the moment. (there is a drain in the floor)
Thanks!
thanks for your sharing..
Um, thinking about this some more:
I’m not a mason nor are my floors stone — if anyone here fits that description, I hope they will speak up. But we do have a partial dirt floor, part concrete floor, and rubble walls. Is your stone floor directly on top of a dirt floor? That could be the source of the problem you are experiencing. I am pretty sure you cannot successfully paint stone or grout that is directly on top of a dirt floor. You need some kind of vapor barrier first. I would really caution you to speak to someone knowledgeable about this kind of floor before proceeding. You could end up doing something that won’t fix the problem and could potentially create a bigger problem that will be costly to fix.
Good luck. I’d be interested in hearing whatever you find out.
OP, I’m not quite sure what kind of stone floor you have (flat stone tile?) as I’ve never seen a stone floor in a basement (only stone rubble walls), but perhaps you should check with a mason about the best treatment first. It could be a nice regrouting and/or sealing/cleaning is all you need (this is not expensive). There could be issues with breathability. FWIW, we have painted concrete floors in the mudroom and under the stoop, and we have problems with the paint peeling. Perhaps with the proper maintenance (frequent repainting) this wouldn’t be a problem. I can’t imagine painting a stone tile floor in, say, a kitchen, so I’m just wondering if this is the best approach.
There are also pure epoxy products that dry clear. It’s quite expensive and gives off an awful odor until dry (about 12 hours or so)but it’s very strong and long lasting.
kprestek is right on, just use regular latex paint. “Waterproofing paint” doesn’t really work, cost more and is thicker – increasing the amount of time you will spend painting your basement.
My husband and I were up against the same thing in our building and had a particularly hard time since the last owner poured a very substandard concrete floor that was flaking and cracking. We really wanted to love the floor since we use the basement as a home office, so after a lot of research we went with Armorpoxy and paid through the nose for it. The first coat absorbed unevenly because of the bad concrete and had a high-gloss finish that made it look like there were puddles on the floor even after it dried. We recoated it with Armorpoxy II (http://www.armorpoxy.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=A&Category_Code=A2) and got a much better finish, semi-gloss and even coverage. We went with a dark grey and didn’t add the decorative flakes, and all in all we’re pretty happy with it. Armorpoxy is much thicker than traditional floor paint which was good for us because we needed help smoothing out the bumps and cracks (we patched the bigger cracks beforehand). However, the application was stressful both times because the Armorpoxy is quite thick and we nearly ran out even though we bought more than enough, and Armorpoxy II is much thinner since it’s oil-based but we had to wear serious respirators because of the fumes and it stunk for days. Looking back, I might reconsider just going with a good floor paint like a Benjamin Moore, though it wouldn’t have made it nearly as smooth.
I can’t speak to the nuances of old brownstone floors, but there are a number of two part epoxy paints available at any paint or big box store made specifically for basements and garages. I used one on a normal poured concrete basement floor and it was easy to use, results were satisfactory, and clean-up/staining/etc. much improved.