LESLIE: Mavis in Iowa, you’ve got The Money Pit. How can we help you today?
MAVIS: Hi. A question about a front porch. I have a cement front porch – poured cement – and it doesn’t have a very nice finish on it and it’s hard to keep clean.
TOM: OK.
MAVIS: I’m wondering what I could – could I paint it or put an epoxy finish on it or something?
TOM: Well, you can certainly put an epoxy finish on it; that’s a nice thing to do. Make sure you use an epoxy that’s rated for the exterior and that will be very attractive and easy for you to clean, which I think is your main concern, correct?
MAVIS: OK. Yes. And could I do that myself? Is that difficult to do?
TOM: Sure. No, it’s not difficult. If you can paint a room, you could do this.
MAVIS: Sure. OK. OK.
TOM: The difference is that with epoxy paints, it’s a two-part mix, so you want to get the whole surface ready. And when you’re ready to apply the epoxy, you usually have to do a cleaning step before it. But when you apply it, you want to do it at once because you’re only going to have a couple of hours of working time with the product before it burns.
MAVIS: OK. Do you have a particular brand you recommend?
TOM: There’s a number of different brands that are out there. QUIKRETE, yep. QUIKRETE is a good one. Behr has one, Rust-Oleum has one. And if you want even more options, there is a company called Abatron that has sort of commercial-grade products. And that’s A-b-a-t-r-o-n.com. Abatron.com.
MAVIS: OK. Now, this will withstand Northwest Iowa winters?
TOM: Oh, it will.
MAVIS: It will. OK. That’s …
TOM: And winters in other parts of the country, as well.
MAVIS: Great. OK.
TOM: And just make sure you put it down and follow the label directions and you should be good to go.
LESLIE: And let it cure correctly. Give it enough time to dry properly.
TOM: Yes.
MAVIS: Yes, OK. And I’m sure it has to be certain temperatures that you do this in and I will try to do that.
TOM: Yep.
MAVIS: Thank you very much.
TOM: Alright. Well, good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
MAVIS: Thank you.
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