Thank you to DRYLOK® for partnering with us to update our patio! I am SO excited about this space now! All opinions are my own. Read our full disclosure policy here.
One of the things I love about our new house is the covered patio space. We spend so much time out there! it is the perfect place to relax and chat and though we haven’t had one yet, I think it will be really fun for family barbecues! I know before we bought this house that our cute neighbors (who owned the house then) used it constantly!
When we first bought it, the patio space looked like this..
The patio itself is 40 years old this June! So, while it is totally functional the concrete has seen better days… and #reallife – since it is just after winter, the patio has seen much better, more organized days. We’ve just been sort of stacking things in there. And I apologize to my patio for showing you these pictures, and it may be a little embarrassed to show itself to you today…
So, we slowly emptied the whole space out. We moved this table to our deck at our office. Then, we loaded up our trusty little trailer (hooked onto our 4 wheeler) and parked everything in the garage, which was a good thing, because the weather has been HORRENDOUS!!
How to Prep a Concrete Patio for Painting
To make sure the surface was prepped and free of debris and stains, we pressure washed the patio and got any old paint drips and staining off that we could. Seriously pressure washing old concrete is one of the most satisfying chores on the planet. It is amazing how much grime we got off! When we were done, we were left with this.
Some of our problems:
- BIG cracks
- lots of staining from spills
- water splash staining from rain and snow
- plant debris staining – it just blows onto the patio constantly!
This big stain pictureed below, in particular, even after working with it and the pressure washer, it just wouldn’t get off!
The cracks were already filled with silicone, which the paint can’t stick to. So we had to clean that out, but because of a lot of settling over the years the pieces had lifted the to slightly different levels, so we chose to grind them down. Justin used a handheld plugin grinder and a diamond bit grinder blade in about a 4 inch diameter.
Poor Guy! This work was pretty back breaking for sure and DUSTY!!
All ground down the cracks now looked like this:
We had to do a ton of vacuuming to get up the dust that was everywhere! But we wanted to keep the patio clean throughout the process which ended up taking about a month+ between other projects (I know!) Because the weather couldn’t make up its mind. It literally snowed 4 times… and to follow the manufacturers instructions, you need it to be dry AND a minimum temperature!
Anywho, we just kept plugging along. Next was filling the cracks, with DRYLOK® Concrete Patch. It took a bit to get it right, we actually ended up having to do two coats to fill in all the settling.
We ground down the crack filler afterward, but in hindsight we should have been a lot more careful applying it the first time, because grinding it smooth, did cause it to flake and break in some places. Ultimately, we just embraced it, and you will be shocked what the paint hides!
How to Paint a Concrete Patio with Epoxy Floor Paint
As for the color, I didn’t want the concrete to be too far off of an actual concrete color, (I may decide to go more bold and choose another color, if we ever do this again!) But for now, I chose the DRYLOK® E1 1-Part Epoxy Floor Paint in Gray, and I am really happy with how much better it looks!
Also, because our kids run around back here all the time, I wanted to make sure that coming from damp grass to painted concrete wouldn’t be too slippery. We decided to add the DRYLOK® Non-Skid Texture Additive.
We poured it into the paint can in little batches and mixed well to keep it from clumping.
Then the easy fun SUPER satisfying work began! The painting!!
I started by cutting it in on the edges, and then rolled the center.
You can really see the amount of staining the paint covered up! And the best part is that I don’t even see that cracks anymore! Additionally the epoxy paint went on SO smoothly! Quick and easy!
It’s still drying in this picture, but you can really begin to see the difference this paint is making!
And finally, a little later in the afternoon all dry.
Oh my goodness, it looks like a BRAND NEW PATIO!
40 never looked so good!
Using what we already had, we got the furniture back in place! (Obviously I painted that back wall a big BRIGHT new color too! We are working on a dining space transformation, so I will tell you more about that soon!) I feel like every time I’ve stepped out the door I am in sunny Florida… and I LOVE it!… uh even though it was in the 30’s this morning, in MAY!
I need to paint the back door, maybe black or do you think it needs to be brighter??
I plan on painting the columns white like the bump out, and maybe thickening them up a bit and adding screens to screen it in from bugs and debris! The only other change I can foresee, I feel like the DIY plywood sofas need maybe a more colorful cushion selection… and what about a prettier rug? Tell me in the comments what you think!
I am excited to plant our coffee table with some plants. I am craving green and beautiful living things!
So, I really think it is important to show you a before of the concrete…
Just a little crack filling and paint later and BAM: After! The difference is not subtle, it is HUGE even though the color change is subtle.
One last picture, it is a little fuzzy, but we have had a bunch of rain and even some snow again last night! UGH! But the concrete doesn’t stain on all the edges anymore, and it drains so fast! Before it would soak in and discolor the edges for at least a few hours till it dried out, but it is really nice not to have that problem anymore! (PS can you find the kids painted rocks in the little planter bed?!! Its real life around here… Obviously I also need to week out the grass!
Thank you to DRYLOK® for sponsoring this post, I am really excited to keep fluffing up this space, especially now that the foundation looks so clean! Please be sure to check out what we did to update the old cinder block fence at my parents house a few years ago also with DRYLOK®! Such a wonderful product! All opinions are my own!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of UGL. The opinions and text are all mine.
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