House floor paint

[Morydd]

Has anyone repainted the floor in the house? My searching isn't turning up much of anything.

We have a 500 seat auditorium with concrete floors that are painted a truly inspiring shade of grey. Except where 10 years of traffic has taken the paint off. It's definitely starting to look bad. (Oddly, the carpet in the aisles is still in really good shape.) The seating is all bolted to the floor via bolts that are sunk into the concrete with the threads up.

It seems to me like painting the floor would require either removing all the seats, or spending weeks masking off the chair hardware. That tells me it's going to be a capital expense request, so I'd love any information anyone has on who and how.

Thanks.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

I'm sure lots of house floors have been painted without moving seats. I'm sure because they didn't mask or cut in well. In a renovation we usually recommend linoleum - like marmoleum or tarkett - because it covers a lot of flaws. Removing and reinstalling seats will not be easy but if you do, make sure you mark each one so parts go back in same place. Expect problems and delays.

 

[Footer]

A good paint team could knock it out without pulling the seats. You would have to mask at the most a thousand posts. It would such to do, bit you could do it in a day.

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[MarshallPope]

You could always repaint the floor to be the same color as the seat hardware.

 

[Joe Voorhees]

A couple of us did it this past summer at the PAC I freelance at. It was hard on the knees and took 2 weeks working a few hours a day (1,000 seat house and we did not pull the seats). We used oil based paint so it would come clean and not come up as easily. After nearly a year of use it still looks good and hopefully don't have to do it again until 2023!

 

[Toffee]

We are actually doing this in two of our venues over the summer when we are replacing our seats. We have a capital improvement budget and we are getting brand new seats installed and while we have them out we are repainting the whole floor. But even without everything being removed it wouldn't be that hard to tape and paint it all out. Just budget for at least two days to tape and paint everything out.

 

[AudJ]

Our high school didn't paint theirs correctly recently, and it already looks worse than before they started.

Not that it helps the OP, but our Middle School architects in 1955 designed our house concrete floor using smooth colored concrete. Still looks good except for the one spot that chipped and needed repair. It is a nice dark brown, on which you can't see dirt.

With current trends toward using colors on concrete outside, I wonder if new venues could benefit from this?

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Our high school didn't paint theirs correctly recently, and it already looks worse than before they started.

Not that it helps the OP, but our Middle School architects in 1955 designed our house concrete floor using smooth colored concrete. Still looks good except for the one spot that chipped and needed repair. It is a nice dark brown, on which you can't see dirt.

With current trends toward using colors on concrete outside, I wonder if new venues could benefit from this?

Regrettably, the trades people who did flatwork 50 and 100 years ago seem to be much better than today's and relying on getting a good finish on a slab is risky. Getting a slope near what is desired for sightlines and code is equally tough. It all can be done but the chances are slim when the work is sure to be awarded to the low bidder.

 

[josh88]

What about just using a concrete stain? You'd have to take the seats out but there's a lot of options for solid color or textured, has anybody experienced a venue that has stained floors? I would think that once sealed they may be more durable. Thoughts?


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[Les]

What about just using a concrete stain? You'd have to take the seats out but there's a lot of options for solid color or textured, has anybody experienced a venue that has stained floors? I would think that once sealed they may be more durable. Thoughts?


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My old high school had painted concrete with the silica sand texture added for grip (done during full reno). It held up well but was hard on a mop! Epoxy with color flakes would look cool but might get slippery. Did you know that those "color chips" are nothing more than hardened paint chips? The things you learn from working at Lowe's. My retention of what I learned there has been surprisingly good.

 

[JohnD]

A web search found this:
http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete-color/

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

A web search found this:
http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete-color/

Those do look mostly to be finishes for new work, not an old slab, where I suspect paint is they only likely option.

 

[josh88]

There are stains and acid etches that can be applied just like paint to old slabs, the issue is that it sit on top like paint and doesn't permeate the surface. The top left pictures on that link are just sprayed on and left to sit or swirled around as desire and left to dry.


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[sk8rsdad]

There are also epoxy paints that can be extremely durable. They aren't appropriate for slabs that are subject to high moisture because they trap the moisture and will eventually delaminate.

 

[teqniqal]

Something else to consider is the color and gloss of the paint / stain. The latest NFPA 101 Life Safety Code requires that the house lights be dimmed no lower than 0.2 fc. On a light colored floor (or armrests, or railings, or seat backs) this is amazingly bright. Light gray unfinished concrete appears almost white. Unfortunately, the code does not differentiate as to the color of the floor, it only defines how much light is to be cast upon it.

Although black is not necessarily the best choice, a two-part epoxy or polyurethane finish similar to the Madison Chemical STC (Stage Top Coat) may be a good choice (they can make it any color you like). It is a durable finish that will adhere to the concrete well if the proper cleaning and pretreatment is performed.

In your effort to refinish the floor, don't forget to refinish the leading edges of steps to meet the 2010 ADA (504.4) advisory for a contrasting edge.

 

[Carl75]

why not just mask off the area that is worn and paint a "stripe" basically on the worn area only. you can choose a color that matches the seat upholstery or any color really. then there is no cutting in or masking off seats. just a day of making your "stripes" straight as possible.