Painting Cement Columns

[sbk]

The front of my house has several pre-fab hollow cement columns. The kind that are quite smooth--so the paint doesn't stick very well. Would primer make a major difference to paint adhesiveness and if not, what would work?

[londonthai]

primer is a must anywhere outside.

you might try oil based paints

[ThaidleHands]

The front of my house has several pre-fab hollow cement columns. The kind that are quite smooth--so the paint doesn't stick very well. Would primer make a major difference to paint adhesiveness and if not, what would work?

Primer will make all the difference. It has two basic functions; to seal the surface it is applied to and to provide a base on which to apply the finish coat. But even the best primer will fail if the surface isn't prepared properly. With concrete this typically means a clean, dry surface which is free of old finishes as well as mold. If you want a top notch result, hire someone with a portable sandblaster to prepare the concrete surface. Use a very fine sand to keep the columns smooth or experiment with coarser sand to get a texture if you like.

[soundman]

Priming an outdoor cement surface is a must if you want the paint to last more than a few months without peeling off.

Just ask for "see lorng peun boon" at your local paint store.

If you decide to use an oil based paint, the primer will be something totally different. You cannot mix & match oil (alkyd) based paints with acrylics.

Cheers,

Soundman.

[astral]

Look for a waterproof sealer to apply before the main paint.

It stops the water coming out and lifting the paint.

[sbk]

Bwah ha ha ha

Waterproof sealer? on Koh Phangan? TBH, I've never seen it here. Couldn't find a can of primer for acrylic in the store we were in so we just painted the darn things anyway. We repaint regularly anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter much. I live about 3m from the sea and the sticky salt air combined with wind and dust makes our place look pretty dirty pretty quickly anyway, so we repaint every couple of years.

or rather, I repaint and hubby fishes

[Makyai]

Ok maybe I should have read this topic before I painted our cement columns. Unfortunately I am not a professional painter, well to be honest I've never really painted before, but really wanted these columns done. I have painted all our columns without painting the primer first and it seems that the paint is already flaking off. What can I do to rectify this? Will I need to clean the columns totally and remove all the paint, then paint the primer? Or can I just jetspray it with one of those pressure cleaners and let it dry, then paint the primer then the paint?

Info and guidance greatly appreciated for a "green" DIY person. Thanks

[londonthai]

whichever way - but you have to clean it to the surface, so the primer can stick to it