Front Porch Paint

July 2012

 This is one of those projects that is in the words of 'Young House Love' is a 'geez get on that already.'  With the horribly wet June I had to keep delaying painting our front porch floor and stoop.  It was horrible, the paint on the porch was chipped and wearing off.  The stoop was actually so black with moss and years of grime that the powerwasher did nothing.  I had scrubbed the porch and the stoop at least 4 times since we lived there.  Each time I got on my hands and knees with a wire brush and scrubbed.  Each time I ended drenched and the porch looked by all accounts exactly the same.

Painting a concrete porch is a process.  You first need to powerwash it to remove the grime and dirt that would cause the paint to not adhere.  You then have to wait up to 48 hours to allow the concrete to fully dry to guarantee the paint will stick.  Well waiting for a four day window to power wash and not rain in Oregon pretty much means you have to wait until late July.  

I finally got my chance in early July, I took a day off work and powerwashed the porch early Friday morning.  I decided 28 hours was probably good enough and painted the first coat.  I then waited 12 hours for the first coat to cure and painted the second coat.  It looked amazing!  I honestly, could have killed myself for not doing this back when we updated the exterior the summer before.  

We chose to work with the standard gray porch paint that was available at Miller. Why mess with a good thing and this is also in our mudroom. We chose a matte finish because we worried about the surface being slippery.  Our concrete is a pretty rough texture so I didn't think we needed to add any sand to the paint, but I worried if it was glossy it would become more of a problem.

As a disclaimer to this, since I am writing in December, we did not have slips, however, I do wish we had done gloss.  The matte paint is not very cleanable and already I am having difficulty getting mud and stains off the floor.  I have a feeling this will be my learning experience and I will be painting it again this upcoming summer with something more washable.  You live... you learn, and your porch looks amazing.