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Painting a Cinder Block Wall

I have a cinder block wall (1964) that surrounds my property on all 4 sides of house. It is the ugly pinkish color popular in the60s! What type of paint should be used? Will it require 2 coats? How long can I expect the paint to last; the blocks seem porous. Should paint be sprayed or rolled on? What about the effects of water from the sprinklers? Will the paint wash off easily? I know stucco would be way too expensive, so painting is the only option.

By Judy from Riverside, CA

Answers: Painting a Cinder Block Wall

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By
04/06/2012

Just about all paint sold today is latex. I would remove any loose paint and use a paint sprayer. Rolling will not fill the voids that are in a cinder block. As the blocks are porous moisture may cause the paint to fail.

You could use a product called I believe Water Bloc from Home Depot for about $25 per gallon. It used to paint concrete. I used it to paint the concrete walls in my basement about 4 years ago and it has not peeled or let any moisture through. I used white but it may come in other colors or may be tinted. Forget the Kliz you don't need it.

By
04/06/2012

You'll need to remove as much of the old paint as possible, then seal with a sealer such as Kilz (the best I've found), then paint. Just be sure that if you use Kilz oil based sealer, you use oil based paint, the same if you use water based. Because if you use oil based Kilz and then water based paint - the paint won't adhere! I found out the hard way and had to return the paint for oil based. It's not something you have to wait to see, it literally will not "stick" when brushing/rolling it on. Good luck!

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