Can you tell what type of paint this is peeling?

[sxg6]

I have the same type of coating on my garage floor and in my basement. In the basement, it is chipping and peeling very badly. In the garage most of it has worn away.

I've tested the basement and garage floors with two different lead test kits, and both came up negative. I'm still nervous that this could be lead paint, can you guys tell by looking what type of paint it might be, or if it is an epoxy coating?

My house was built in different parts. The main part of the house is 1920's or 1930's. The garage was a later addition, Maybe in the 1970's. After looking around, I'm starting to think this is an epoxy coating on the floor, and not a water or oil based paint.

Also, how would you go about cleaning up a basement with this type of paint chipping and peeling everywhere, in addition to the floor just being very dirty?

Here are some thumbnails that you can click on to make the images bigger. Basement on the left, garage on the right.

 

[abycat]

throw a 7lb underlay over it and then some carpet. That's what I did to my concrete basement floor. Then added a backup sump pump very soon after that

 

[sxg6]

I was honestly thinking about that even though I don't have much experience in that area. There are already two sump pumps in the basement, I think the hardest part would be getting everything off the floor, and making sure the area around the sump pumps gets done right.

*I was confused. I thought you meant to put cement over it. Can I do that over a basement floor, 7lb underlay? I don't want to trap moisture and have mold issues.

 

[abycat]

carpet is really easy. a couple YouTube videos and you would be good. vacuum it up and put cheap 7 lb underlay in and a cheap carpet. If you don't have baseboards do them after. Get rectangular baseboards so you don't have to do mitre cuts. I would not worry about the paint. Just clean up loose chips. around the sump just lino it with a little corner bead square around it like a burm.

If you did two lead tests and they were good you are good to go. floor paint is really a more recent thing and it does look like an enamel not an epoxy since it's flaking. Could even be a paint not for floors. I have carpet on underground main floors in about 70 suites that's concrete with 7 lb and a low cost carpet that has never had moisture issues. even after a flood its only a couple days of fans to dry it out fully. depends what you plan to do and how much you want to spend on your basement you could buy the plastic click flooring and be done with it forever! I'm going to try that stuff in a couple suites pretty soon. seems like a cool product.

 

[BrocLuno]

I would say that is enamel too. I'd say the concrete was not etched, or even cleaned properly, so of course the paint will fail.

You could clean it all off where it's vulnerable with a flexy bed-liner brush cup on an angle grinder. Once clean, set up some BIG ventilation fans. Flood the floor with penetrating epoxy (wear outside air source) to block any future moisture. Do an underlayment and a carpet, and be there for ever

 

[pandus13]

looks like some cheap exterior or floor type paint with no primer/conditioner applied before....
also maybe moisture problems in the past...

i have a friend which after a basement flood installed exterior carpet grade: if flooded again, you take the water out,
take the carpet in the sun and hose it down,clean,disinfect and dry, then replace

 

[demarpaint]

Are the paint chips very brittle? The garage paint looks like an oil base, the basement if it's not brittle is probably a latex. Try and stretch the paint chips, brittle is usually an old oil base, rubbery a latex or acrylic.

If tests showed they don't contain lead you should be fine, you could send a chip out for analysis if you're really concerned there are labs that do that kind of testing. My guess is if the paint store lead test kit came back clean, so will the lab report.

If you're worried about lead paint, test the house itself. Test the window sash if the windows weren't replaced, then check the doors, door frames and floor moldings. If you have lead paint in the house that's where you'll find it. It could be on walls and ceilings too. Removal, encapsulation, or anything related to lead abatement is big money. Most people with older houses leave it alone, and paint over it.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

You've got a lot of moisture wicking through the concrete and lifting the paint. Putting down carpet just to cover up the problem is a very bad idea-it won't take long for that carpet to start to smell musty, stink and become a potential mold problem. Just slapping some paint on just to cover up the problem means that you'll have the problem again in the very near future.

Once you're certain that it's not lead paint, rent a floor buffer and use a buffing pad and sanding disk to get rid of the old paint-the buffer makes it fast and easy. Once you remove the existing paint you can put down a sealer designed to seal moisture on concrete floors so they can be top coated (such as Bone Dry). After the sealer is dry you can repaint or put down suitable flooring, and you don't have to worry about moisture issues.

If you have lead paint on the floors (which it doesn't sound like you do) then have it abated properly; Once that's done then you can use the moisture seal and put on a top coat or suitable flooring.

 

[ironman_gq]

vapor pressure causing the paint to delaminate. You can get "primer" products that form a vapor barrier but they are limited in how much vapor they can handle. There are readily available test kits to determine how much moisture is coming through so you can select the right product.

 

[sxg6]

Thank you for the replies.

The flaking paint chips are very brittle. There is lead paint in some parts of my house, which I have just painted over.

I'm not surprised to hear that moisture is probably lifting up the paint. So far this summer, the humidity in the basement has been around 80%. I've put a dehumidifier down there, which doesn't do much. My central ac system has a duct in the basement, and when the AC is running I can get the humidity down there to the mid-low 60's. I'm not sure why it's so humid down there, I do live near the ocean. The sump pump covers have big holes/cuts in them, so I'm sure some of the water in there is evaporating into the air. *I also forgot to mention the washer and dryer are in the basement, so I think the washing machine could contribute to the higher humidity?

This is sort of a back burner project, so I'm going to think about this some more.