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Painted Concrete?

Jason

Jason

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Anyone have this nuisance at home? We moved into a house where the driveway and walk up to the door is painted. I don't know why. Anyway, it chips off and parts near the grass are covered in a lime film (I assume). Anyone have this and can advise on the standard maintenance here? I'm trying vinegar to pull up the hard water / lime but so far it doesn't seem to work well. I'm guessing I'm going to need to repaint this crap yearly or something.

Any thoughts from painters or anyone?
 
Jason said:
Anyone have this nuisance at home? We moved into a house where the driveway and walk up to the door is painted. I don't know why. Anyway, it chips off and parts near the grass are covered in a lime film (I assume). Anyone have this and can advise on the standard maintenance here? I'm trying vinegar to pull up the hard water / lime but so far it doesn't seem to work well. I'm guessing I'm going to need to repaint this crap yearly or something.

Any thoughts from painters or anyone?
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You could try using a stronger acid than vinegar. Hydrochloric acid would work but you definitely need a respirator. The resultant fumes are nasty.
 
It helps to mix flyash into the concrete mixture .. /hindsight

It's all about the Ph and neutralizing the problem. 50% white vinegar and water is the best solution. Several applications.

I would be very careful with HCL. It will likely kill any plant life and eventually erode your concrete.

It's a pain in the butt .. and yes, you will likely just have to deal with the maintenance of it.
 
Ugh, I found that when people paint things that aren't normally painted, it's usually to hide things they don't want people to see.

Even still why'd they'd want to paint concrete is beyond me - even the best masonry is going to have settling and cracks which will result in paint chips. And I imagine you'll do plenty of shoveling on that walkway with the large amounts of snow in the winter. And forget about rock salt. That stuff kills paint. Good luck
 
Thanks. The "cleaning" vinegar did nothing. Grabbed my wife's white vinegar and its doing better. Looks like it will take a few times like PKM said. Thanks all.
 
Pour gasoline on the thing and blaze it up. I don't know if it will do anything besides entertain you but it's worth a shot.
 
FWIW, painting concrete = bad idea.. even staining isn't the best..

However, you can achieve a very good look that is sustainable by adding dye to the concrete mixture so you have the color throughout.
 
bigb said:
I got the feeling it wasn't his idea.

A little late for that.
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Yeah, I know .. I was saying that to Candrew and anyone else that may have said "why would anyone paint concrete"
.. was just saying, if done properly, it can be dang sharp.
 
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