My DIY Painted Concrete Floors 2 Year Review (Would I Do It Again?)

Two years ago, I painted the concrete floors of my screened-in porch with a budget-friendly paint from a big-box retailer. Now that I’ve lived with them for two full years, I’m sharing my honest thoughts on how they’ve held up (no sponsorship BS, keepin’ it real)…

Two springs ago, I painted the concrete floors on my screened-in porch, and apparently a lot of people have been following along ever since.

In fact, I have gotten quite a few questions lately about them (especially from Pinterest) asking how they are really holding up. So… I figured it was time for a proper update.

And with the official start of spring this week, it felt like the perfect time to revisit this project. Because let’s be freakin’ honest…12 months is one thing, but two full years of kids, dragged furniture, weather, and real life is where the ugly truth really starts to show, my friends.

But… before we get into how they are holding up, I just wanted to give you a quick refresher given it’s been 2 years. If you missed it, you can read my step-by-step tutorial on painting concrete floors here.

With sponge-painted terra cotta floors straight out of 1976 and only a few hundred bucks to spare, I decided to take a chance on Home Depot’s porch paint and just roll it on myself one sunny spring weekend.

Much to my delight, the paint application process was pretty quick and painless.

For $200, and one full day, I had accomplished a triumphant transformation on the screened in porch of my 1970’s lake cottage. That being said, curing took almost a week (so keep that in mind when planning your own project).

In my one-year review, I shared a few trouble areas (mainly where bar stools had been dragged around the dining space of the porch). And to be fair..that one was totally on me because I was too damn lazy to put felt pads on the legs.

But now that we are officially two years in, here is the current state of my porch.

My Painted Concrete Floors 2 Years Later:

The original trouble area where the bar stools are used continued to peel and worsen. That is…until I finally got around to applying the floor protector pads to the furniture legs.

I had originally planned to touch up this area last summer with leftover porch paint, but never got around to it. Maybe I will finally circle back and fix it this year (ya know… after I check off the other 50 things on my to-do list) but for now… it looks like sh*t.

That same trouble area that took a beating from the bar stools also gets exposed to rain during heavy downpours (since it sits right next to the screened opening of the porch).

With that added water exposure, hard water stains are definitely something to expect. The good news is they do come off with a quick mop, but it is something to keep in mind, especially if your porch or patio is not covered. This all leads me to my biggest complaint about the finish I used…

To help prevent slips and spills, I opted for a matte finish with an anti-slip texture (especially since I have an inflatable hot tub on the porch and it sits right off the pool).

Well… over the course of two years it has proven to be a pain in the a$$ to clean as the texture not only tears up most mops (I have to use a heavy duty mop), but it acts like a magnet for dirt. That said, it doesn’t always look this bad.

Typically, I can get the floors clean using my heavy duty mop and a vinegar/ water mixture. If I could use a pressure washer in here, that would definitely be more ideal. But, unfortunately, I have some untreated wood in this space that I do not want to risk damaging with excessive water exposure.

Would I paint my floors again?

Going into this project, I did not have super high expectations for a $200 DIY (especially since the reviews on the porch paint were pretty mixed).

That said, I would absolutely do it again… but I would skip the pesky anti-slip texture. I know it serves a purpose, but between it shredding mops and holding onto every bit of dirt, it has just made cleaning waaaay more of a pain than it needs to be.

I would also go into it with realistic expectations. This is not a forever, perfect finish. It is more like staining a deck. You will likely need to touch it up or repaint every few years, and that is just part of the deal.

Overall, I must say, it completely transformed the space for very little money, and I still think it was worth it. When it comes to concrete, even driveways need regular maintenance and pressure washing, so expecting perfection here is just not realistic.

I hope this honest review helped give you a better idea of what to expect if you ever decide to paint your concrete floors too. 🙂

Thank you so much for stopping by and spending some time with me this week! If you found this post helpful, it would mean the world to me if you could share it with a friend or “Pin it” on Pinterest…

Until next time, keep on designing a life that feels as good as it looks!