How to brighten up an outdoor concreted area with floor paint?

[MJM]

I have a gloomy undercover utility area beside my house used for storing bikes, cleaning materials and for over-wintering out door furniture. This area also acts as the entrance to our garden so has high foot-traffic but no vehicle access. I want to brighten it up with concrete paint creating a sort of mural on the floor. What preparation is necessary before painting to prevent the paint rubbing off?

[EricL]

Hello @MJM 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about painting your concrete floor.

If the floor is going to experience heavy foot traffic, I propose looking at the Rust-Oleum 3.78L Battleship Grey Concrete And Garage Floor Paint or the Berger Jet Dry 4L Heavy Duty Smoke Grey Gloss Paving Paint. These paint products are designed to go onto concrete surfaces and provide a tough painted surface. There is also the Dulux Concrete and Paving paint as a third alternative. Most of these paints are in a darker shade as they are made for flooring use.

Would it be possible for you to post a photo of your utility area? This will give our members a better idea of its configuration. We can then offer recommendations on possible ways to brighten it up.

Here is a link to our best advice: How can I paint my garage floor?

I also suggest having a look at these discussions - Epoxy concrete floor for large shed by @CSParnell and Epoxy garage floor transformation by @maknilsin 

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[MJM]

Thanks Eric.

Below are photos of the area.

As you can see it not not large. I want to use tintable paints to  give the impression of a rain forest floor and the impression of the forest growing up the Colorbond panels and merging with the real plants higher-up.

I'm not sure if the floor paint will work on the metal panels as well?

Any hints and tips are most welcome.

Area from front gate

Main foot traffic route

Area from House

Area from Garden

[MitchellMc]

Hi @MJM,

Unfortunately, specialised concrete paints cannot be tinted into the myriad of different colours that standard paints can. They are mixed from a selected base, whereas standard paint has several bases, allowing bright colours, greens, etc. Concrete paints are also not suitable for your fence. There are a few shades of green in the Ultra Pave range, though.

Dulux Weathershield is an exterior paint suitable for concrete and your fencing and can be mixed into thousands of colours. However, it's a soft water-based paint and is nowhere near as resistant to wear as a dedicated concrete paint.

It would likely be best to use the concrete paints for the concrete and then Weathershield for the fence.

Preparation for the concrete paint would involve using the specified concrete etching product and cleaning the surface. For the Colorbond, scrub it down with a Scotchbrite pad and Sugar Soap, then flush it with fresh water.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[MJM]

I was thinking of using White Knight paint: the words "Tintable Base" on the tin would suggest that it can be tinted. Is this not the case? If so you are misleading your customers. https://www.bunnings.com.au/white-knight-1l-accent-heavy-duty-ultra-pave-concrete-and-paving-paint_p...

[MitchellMc · Accepted solution]

Hi @MJM,

Sorry for the confusion. Concrete paints are tintable into different colours, you just can't achieve the hundreds of thousands of colours available in normal paint. As mentioned, the Ultra Pave range can be tinted, but I would consider only a few colours to be in the green range. It depends on how varied you want your forest floor and whether any of those greens suit your needs.

Mitchell

[MJM]

These colours are perfect: will likely use Thunder Storm and Forest Shadow.

Thanks very much for your help

[MitchellMc]

My pleasure @MJM!

Mitchell

[MJM]

Just one more question.

The floor area to paint with the background colour is 3.25m x 3.25m how much paint do I need?

[MitchellMc]

You might get away with one litre @MJM, which would be great as you certainly don't need four litres. Normally one litre would do eight square metres with two coats, but if the concrete is particularly thirsty, it can suck up a bit of paint. Two two-litre cans would still be cheaper than one four-litre.

Mitchell