painting concrete floors

by Linda Fraine

3 Days

Medium

I had to pull the carpet up in one of my bedrooms and I didnt know what to put down on the bare concrete floor, so it stayed concrete for a while. I eventually decided to use the room as an art studio and wanted to have a wood floor in there. I decided to put my trompe l'oiel knowledge to work and paint the concrete floor in a bamboo style similar to my bamboo floor in my living room and I love the way it turned out. People have to look twice or be told its painted. a true trompe l'oiel effect.

The beginning. Clean the concrete floor very well. Then paint the floor with 2 coats of Kilz water based sealer. Let it dry overnight. Next day streak entire floor with acrylic paint wood colors in one direction. I used bamboo tones.

Finished Floor. When paint streaks are dry, create the lines with a black permanent Sharpie pen that represent the boards. I did 6"x3' boards. stagger the boards approx 12" like wood floors. Darken a few boards for natural variation.

My Studio. When boards are to your liking and paint is dry, apply at least 4 coats of polyurethane over the entire floor. Let dry 3 days before putting furniture on it and 2 weeks before dragging across floor. Voila! You did it.

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1 question

Barbara on Jul 28, 2020

Do you have pictures of you lining the planks? The line part of the project seems daunting to me.

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Angy on May 30, 2017

I was fooled. You did a great job!

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Linda Fraine on May 30, 2017

Thank you so much. Since then , I have done another of my floors that fools my friends and neighbors:)

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