Tips on concrete painting a wall
There are several ways to paint concrete and here I’m going to show you some tips on concrete painting a wall.
The two types of brushes that you are going to need to paint a concrete wall are a hand brush and a roller brush. I usually choose a very thick roller nap for this job because the surface to paint is very porous and I want to make sure that I get all the way into all the crevices on the concrete surface.
Concrete painting a wall setup
First off, how to set up where you can have a system that works for you when concrete painting a wall efficiently and effectively.
Getting started with concrete painting you are going to need some basic tools and what I will recommend here are just the basic elements:
- a hand brush (paint brush)
- a paint roller with a thick nap to get the paint into all crevices
- a paint can (duh!) – make sure you get enough, a regular can will cover about 400 sq feet or so
- a paint can opener
- some masking tape to trim the paint edges and make sure you don’t get paint onto adjacent areas
- a roller brush pan with a roller brush screen to get all the excess paint off the roller brush itself
- paper towels (wet and dry) to clean up any paint leftovers on yourself or other places
- optional: a roller brush pan plastic insert to add on top of the metallic pan (if you are like me and don’t like cleaning the original pan itself – you can just throw away the insert after you’re done)
- optional: paint brush retainer – a small plastic receiver that goes on the side of the paint can where you can holster your paint brush while taking a break from concrete painting
- optional: painting guide for longer surfaces where you want to keep paint off the lower areas – use it as a buffer
- optional: drip paint receiver – set your paint can on top of it and any spills will go there
Photo courtesy of Michael Cory
One other thing I like to use is an easy pour replacement paint lid because it has a pop out plastic neck with a twist out. I put the lid on top of the paint can, pour out what I need; it drips back on the paint lid itself and I can use a wet paper towel to wipe it off. When I’m finished pouring it out, I just twist the cap back on. The nice thing is the easy lid stays with the can and I can take it off when I’m finished with the job, put the original paint can lid back on and then just clean up the easy lid. It’s easy to use on multiple cans for concrete painting large areas.
One last practical concrete painting tip. Whenever I’m finished temporarily, or maybe even for the day, I don’t want to spend a lot of time cleaning up. So what I do – I get a plastic bag – and with my paintbrush still wet, I slip it in the plastic bag, get most of the air out by pressing the brush against the bag then wrap it all around really tight (nothing fancy though). What this will do is keep the paintbrush wet, keep it from drying out, and when I’m ready to use it all I do is unwrap it, take the brush out and start concrete painting right away!
Along with this, you can do the same with your roller brush. Say it’s wet and you’re done for the day or just taking a break, do the exact same thing. Wrap the wet roller brush tightly in a plastic bag getting all the air out and the next day (or later on) just take it out of the bag and it’s all ready to go.