Painting a Concrete Driveway

Question:

Are there any disadvantages to painting a concrete driveway? I plan to use a one-part epoxy. Thanks. J.R.

Answer:

If your question asked if there were any advantages to painting a concrete driveway, it would have been easier to answer. Disadvantages? Among others, it depends on how often you want to repaint your concrete driveway. I have been in the paint business (man and boy) for 48 years and have never recommended painting concrete driveways.

Some of the disadvantages: Hot tires will have an effect by staining and possibly lifting the paint. Aggregate, such as sand, gravel and chips clinging to the tire treads, will grind off the paint. Although most people don’t use them anymore, studded snow tires and chains can destroy the paint in a few days. Also, the presence of water on the surface will cause the driveway to be slippery. These are only a few of the disadvantages. Can you imagine how difficult it will be to remove damaged paint when the driveway must be repainted?

You probably want to paint the driveway because it is stained and unsightly. If the stains are oily soils, they must be removed before any paint is applied. Imagine how hard it will be to completely remove motor oil and transmission fluid stains from a concrete driveway.

I wouldn’t use a one-part epoxy on my driveway. You would be better off power washing your driveway to remove the bulk of the stains and letting the sun bleach out the remaining stains.