How to Paint and Seal Concrete

Learn how to paint and seal concrete around a swimming pool. Find out how a product called Kool Deck can help seal and protect a concrete patio from mildew.

LESLIE: Mike in Georgia has a question about a swimming pool and I hope it’s “Do you guys want to come over and use it?” Hey Mike, how can we help you?

MIKE: Well, I’ve got an in-ground pool and it’s surrounded by a lot of concrete and I’m trying to find out if there’s a product that I could maybe paint it as well as maybe somehow seal it because a lot of times, you know, the concrete is porous so it gets a lot of mildew in there and you’re constantly having to pressure wash it to keep it clean. And I don’t know if there was a product that you could put on the concrete to make it look better and also protect it.

TOM: If you’re going to paint concrete, probably the best material to use is one of the epoxy paints and you can actually dye those to any color that you want. But there are different types of epoxy paints. Probably one of the more popular ones is EPOXYShield. QUIKRETE makes one. There’s a number of manufacturers and they’re two two-part epoxy mixes so that you have usually ¾ of material – ¾ of a gallon of the actual paint and ¼ of a gallon of hardener and you mix them together and then you apply them to the concrete deck.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm.

TOM: And they really adhere like the dickens and they stand up very, very well. So that’s probably the right material to use for a pool deck.

LESLIE: Yeah, and there’s also one that’s called Kool Deck – and that’s Kool with a “k” – and it’s made by a company called Mortex and it’s going to lower the surface temperature of your concrete decking so it’s going to be cool if you’re getting out of the pool and you don’t want to burn your tootsies and it also adheres very well to the concrete. It’s slip-resistant for any sort of footing incidents that you might have. It hides blemishes; any imperfections in the slab. So if you look them up online you might find they suit what you’re looking for.

MIKE: Alright and the epoxy, they don’t have a one-part system do they? Everything is a two-part system?

TOM: Well, you’re better off with a two-party system because you get better cure rate.

MIKE: OK.

TOM: Alright? You definitely want that. That’s a good thing.

MIKE: I appreciate it.

TOM: Mike, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.

MIKE: Thank you. Bye.