Painting pre-cast concrete

[angel toledo]

I have pre-cast stonework on my front steps I painted white last year with some exterior paint. Now the paint is flaking badly. What?s the best paint for this kind of material? Do I need a primer?

Thank You

[m Ransley]

What did you paint it with, how old is it, how did you clean it.

[Joseph Meehan]

Normally I would not recommend painting concrete steeps. Can you say Slippery When Wet?

To me successful you need to start with proper surface prep. That means

100% clean with no pre-existing paint of any kind. You need to use a product make for that use, not just painting concrete, but concrete that you are going to walk on. Then you follow the instructions with that material 110%. The prep is not easy, but there is no way around it.

I would use a two part garage floor epoxy. Use some sort of anti-slip additive, whatever is approved by the manufacturer of the epoxy.

[angel toledo]

Actually, it's not the steps that I painted. I painted the concrete banisters. They are about a year and a half old. I painted them with plain exterior paint I got from Home Depot. I don't remember the brand.

I didn't paint the balusters. The company made those very white (which is what I wanted). I couldn't, however, find any bright white banister. Which is why I decided to paint them.

I found a picture online that looks nearly identical to what I have:

[angel toledo]

Painted with exterior house paint. About 6 months old when I painted them. I cleaned it with plain soap and water. I didn't treat it prior to painting, if that's what you mean.

I found a picture online that looks nearly identical to what I have:

[Goedjn]

Find a company that paints parking lots..

[PipeDown]

Even though sealing moisture is not your goal, Dryloc should perform well.

[m Ransley]

The concrete was probably to new or hard to paint , a good quality latex should have been fine, scrape it all off and let it weather or acid wash it.

[PipeDown]

Poor prep may well have been the downfall as opposed to bad paint.

Concrete with a good layer of efflorescence would cause paint to fail early, acid washing removes this loosly adhered mineral layer and increases surface area for a better bite for the paint to sink into.

Residual mold release (if it was used at the factory) would have compromised adhesion and unremoved mold flash (messy bits at mold seam) would have broken off and opened holes allowing water behind the paint sooner.

Cant really know for sure from here