Trust Lakeside With Painting Your Concrete Block Exterior

Concrete blocks are a common type of masonry building material in both commercial and industrial buildings. Composed of cement, concrete, and aggregate, concrete blocks are long-lasting and reasonably priced. Like most other building materials, concrete block exterior walls require paint or some other form of protection against the elements.

However, due to the coarseness and grit of certain blocks, painting concrete block walls is not as straightforward as painting sheetrock, wood, or other smooth surfaces. The professional masonry experts at Lakeside Painting provide concrete block painting and cleaning in East Troy, Burlington, and the surrounding areas.

Prepping for Paint

Before painting concrete blocks, the wall should be inspected to ensure structural integrity and stability. All major cracks, holes, scrapes, and gouges should be repaired using masonry repair material before painting.

Additionally, before applying a fresh coat of paint, concrete blocks should be cleaned. To clean, industrial-grade pressure washers are used to remove dust, dirt, and failing paint from concrete block structures.

When cleaning new and/or unpainted blocks, removing dust, dirt, and loose chunks of mortar is the primary goal. However, if the concrete blocks have been previously painted, a pressure washer emitting up to 6000-psi will be used to remove all loose and peeling paint.

Painting Concrete Block Exterior Walls

To waterproof and preserve a building’s structural integrity, painting concrete block exterior walls is imperative. In addition to function, painted concrete blocks add aesthetic appeal.

As mentioned before, achieving a clean and uniform paint coat can be difficult. While some block surfaces are smooth, others are textured and gritty. Gravel-like surfaces on “split-face” concrete blocks require that paint be worked into all of the dips and grooves of the concrete block’s surface. As such, painting split-face blocks requires twice the primer and paint as smooth blocks.

Unpainted concrete blocks first need to be primed before applying a coat of paint. Primer serves to fill in the porous surface as well as neutralize the high pH.

Because acrylic paint typically lasts longer than oil paints, the highly skilled professional painters at Lakeside Painting will generally use a 100% acrylic coating while painting your exterior concrete block wall. While a sprayer is used for the application, we back-roll and/or brush all concrete block surfaces to ensure that the block is evenly painted.

Though back-rolling may seem redundant, it is imperative to maintaining a pinhole-free (non-porous) surface. Pores in the face of the concrete block can lead to the intrusion of moisture, the leading cause of concrete block paint failures.

In addition to acrylic paint, elastomeric paint is also an option for exterior concrete block walls.

For three decades, Lakeside’s professional painting contractors have been providing concrete block painting and cleaning services for exterior walls. Trusted throughout southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, Lakeside Painting vows to provide exceptional customer service and immaculate results.

In fact, Lakeside Painting is so confident that you will be pleased with your finished product that we back up our work on the exterior block, brick, and concrete surfaces with a labor and material warranty of up to ten years. This means that in the case of a paint-failure claim, not only will we provide the right product to repair any failed paint, but we’ll also come out and repair the affected area(s) free of charge.

With that kind of guarantee, you have nothing to lose. Fill out our form to request a free estimate, or call us today.