Expert: Rebecca Bushner - 10/20/2009

Question
I have a rental house. I have taken up the carpet. The slab is in good shape.I want to know if I can paint the floors with several coats of paint and a then place a polyurethane finish on it. This is to be done in bedrooms.  If this is OK to do what kind of paint do you recomm3lqt4end?
Thanks

Answer
Hi Freida
Your best bet for a truly fantastic and durable finish on concrete floors is an epoxy finish, ideal in a rental house with alot of traffic. Of course, this is a finish you should probably have a contractor do for you. I'm more familiar with this type of concrete coating than regular floor paints.....however, keep reading.
Aside from concrete staining and sealing (Many companies do this as well, call around), epoxy is a great solution for rental properties. It's used for industrial spaces and garages, car dealers, etc. and with the right finish, it can look fabulous, almost like granite. Here is a website about it:
http://www.all-things-concrete.com/concrete-floor-paint.html

Take a look at this excellent quality floor paint, try this epoxy coating company: http://www.armorpoxy.com/
OR just go to your favorite paint store, or big box store for "floor paint". Follow this site's advice for prepping and painting concrete floors: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/painting-concrete-floors-how-to-paint-a-concrete-...
The results will be good and should be ok for low-level traffic.
I hope this helps.
~reb