What Should I Use If I Need To Paint A Concrete Floor In A Hurry?

Painting a floor can be time-consuming and will put the floor out of use for several days. When it comes to workshops and indoor car parks, such lengthy downtime is often unacceptable. Ideally, you should follow all the rules and recommendations for paint drying time. However, if you need to paint a floor in a hurry, you can take advantage of the following tools.

1) Foam Squeegee: Dry Floors After Washing

Before you can apply the paint, you need to wash the floor thoroughly. The general instructions tell you to leave it to dry for several hours. If you are in a hurry, you can use a foam squeegee to dry the floor to make it ready for painting quicker.

2) Descaling Acid: Consider Acid Etching

When preparing the concrete surface for painting, acid etching is one of the quickest ways to get the job done. However, descaling acid is dangerous and needs careful handling. So if you don’t have experience working with it, you can slow the process down instead of speeding it up. Consider hiring professionals to clean and etch your concrete floor before painting. This may appear to add time to the project, but it may actually reduce your preparation time and add to the durability of the coat.

3) Coatings: Primer Or No Primer

When it comes to painting concrete floors, you will find plenty of advice saying that you need to apply a primer and two coats to ensure excellent adhesion. To minimise the application time, you can thin the first coat of paint with solvent in order to improve penetration and adhesion this then means no primer is needed. This way you can make do with fewer coats. Most manufactures will recommend two coats especially if it is a new concrete floor.

4) Professional Assistance: Get Help

While DIY projects are cheaper, they are always time-consuming. More often than not, you have to rectify some mistakes made during the painting process. This also takes extra time. By hiring professional painters, you can cut the painting time in half while having peace of mind about the quality.

5) Information: Follow The Instructions

Pay special attention to the instructions written on the paint can. Many people in a hurry make the mistake of ignoring the manufacturer-specified mixing ratios, assuming that what works for one paint automatically works for another. All that happens is they end up having to wait longer for the paint to dry. If you have any questions about the way a certain paint is used, contact the manufacturer.

Concrete Floor Paints From TA Paints

At TA Paints, we offer a wide selection of paints and tools for concrete floor-painting projects. “Less haste, more speed” is the motto we follow with floor painting. The best way to ensure a fast and effective job is to thoroughly follow surface preparation, paint mixing, application and curing guidelines. For more advice please see our Ultimate Floor Paint Guide, which can be downloaded here.