Color or stain existing concrete floor

by Mike
(Frankville, IA)

Q. I recently purchased a place that has concrete flooring over in floor radiant heat. Can I paint or stain this existing floor?

A. Yes, you can use a concrete stain or an epoxy concrete paint to give the concrete floor a finished look.

You'll have to make sure a concrete sealer wasn't applied to the concrete. You can do this by spraying a little water on the floor, if the water quickly absorbs into the concrete then it should accept a concrete stain without much surface preparation. If the water beads up or sits on the surface for a few minutes without soaking into the concrete then a sealer was used and this will have to be removed before staining or painting the concrete can be done.

If you decide to use an epoxy paint, the concrete will have to be lightly ground to profile it, this would remove any topical sealer that was applied at an earlier date.

Having radiant heat or in floor heat in the concrete floor will not affect the concrete stain or epoxy paint. I would suggest hiring a professional to have either coloring process done because each one requires a certain amount of experience to achieve the best results.