Cost of painting concrete floors

Concrete floors are commonplace everywhere from garages to basements, patios to balconies. By giving your concrete floor a fresh lick of paint, you can freshen up your space quickly and cost-effectively. But what’s the real cost of painting concrete floors? We’ll reveal all here.

What’s involved in painting concrete floors?

Painting a concrete floor isn’t the same as painting a wall. Firstly, you can’t just use normal paint as it won’t adhere to the floor. Instead, most concrete paint is made up of epoxy (around 40%) mixed with solvents that make it more spreadable. For this reason, it’s also known as thin coat epoxy.

Secondly, it’s important to bear in mind that preparation is key. If your concrete floor is power floated, you might need to diamond grind or vacu-blast it to create a rougher surface for the paint to stick to. Or, if your floor has a layer of self-levelling screed, it’s best to remove it so that the paint can stick better. Otherwise, it will peel and need touching up frequently.

What’s the cost of painting concrete floors?

You’re looking at a cost of between £1.50 – £3 per square foot for concrete paint, without the cost of labour included.

Ultimately, the total cost of getting your concrete floor painted by a professional will vary based on factors such as:

• How smooth your floor is. Smooth, power floated concrete floors are often found in industrial spaces such as warehouses. These floors are so smooth that they usually require diamond grinding or vacu-blasting to remove the top layer of concrete and provide a surface the paint can stick to better.
• Whether your floor is new. If your concrete floor has been newly laid, it may need a water-permeable coating that will allow moisture to escape through it.
• Whether it has self-levelling screed. If parts of your floor have self-levelling screed, it might need removing so that the paint can adhere to the floor better.
• What features you select. Concrete paint comes in a range of colours (although there are fewer colour choices than with other paint types) and can be installed with decorative chips to add texture and make the floor less slippy.
• Complexity of pattern: If you choose a complicated pattern for your floor, it will take longer to paint and therefore cost you more in labour costs.
• Whether your floor needs to be repaired. Depending on the state of your floor, you may need to carry out repairs before it can be painted. Concrete floor repairs tend to cost around £3.50 per square foot.

Depending on these factors and what kind of coating you use, it can cost anywhere from £1.50 – £22 per square foot for a professional to coat your concrete floor.

Total cost to skim coat concrete floor

As we mentioned above, concrete paint is a kind of epoxy named thin coat epoxy. This contains around 40% of epoxy solids. However, it’s also possible to coat your floor in 100% epoxy, known as thick coat epoxy.

Thick coat epoxy is thicker and more durable than epoxy paint, at 10ml thick. Because of this, it can be used to level uneven floors and fill small cracks, making it a good solution for floors that aren’t pristine. Just like concrete paint, thick coat epoxy comes in a variety of colours and can contain colourful chips.

You can expect to pay around £7 – £11 per square foot for thick coat epoxy.

What are the benefits of painting concrete floor?

Painting a concrete floor as opposed to installing a new floor altogether comes with a range of benefits, including:

• Easy to install.
• Cost-effective.
• Makes your floor stronger.
• Easy to clean.
• Durable.

Key takeaways

• Concrete floor paint is also known as thin coat epoxy.
• Thick coat epoxy could be used to fill in small cracks in your concrete floor.
• The total cost of painting concrete floors will depend on the state of your floor and the nature of the job.