How to remove paint from concrete?
Yes, but moisture decides whether it lasts. Concrete wicks water up from the ground, and a coating over a slab that is still passing moisture will lift no matter how well you prepped it. Use a masonry primer. Prep decides whether the finish is still attached in two years, so it is worth more of your time than the colour choice.
Short version
- Yes, but moisture decides whether it lasts.
- Prepare it: tape a square of plastic sheet tightly to the slab for 24 hours. condensation underneath means the slab is passing moisture and is not ready.
- Prime with a masonry primer.
- Most common failure: coating lifting in sheets from moisture below, and tyre pickup on garage floors from wall paint used on a floor.
How to prepare the surface
Tape a square of plastic sheet tightly to the slab for 24 hours. Condensation underneath means the slab is passing moisture and is not ready.
Then prime with a masonry primer. Priming is not optional on this substrate — it is the step that decides whether the finish is still attached in two years.
What to watch out for
A power-troweled slab is too smooth to bond to and needs etching or mechanical profiling first. Floors take a floor coating, not wall paint.
How this job usually fails
Coating lifting in sheets from moisture below, and tyre pickup on garage floors from wall paint used on a floor.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the primer because the existing surface "looks fine" — adhesion is decided by the substrate, not by appearance.
- Recoating on "dry to touch" rather than the recoat time on the product's data sheet.
- Using wall paint on a surface that gets handled or walked on.
- Painting in direct sun or on a hot surface, which stops the film levelling.
Related questions
Sources
- Sherwin-Williams. Product technical data sheets (accessed 2026-08-17).
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