How to get paint off concrete – a step-by-step guide to clean up patios, walls and floors

Whether you’ve just moved into your new home and want to start with a blank slate on concrete floors or/and walls, or you’ve accidentally knocked over some paint onto your concrete patio, there will probably come a time when you’re wondering how to get paint off concrete. And thankfully there are a few different ways to tackle this task.

If you've spilt paint over your concrete patio idea cleaning it up is definitely something you can do yourself instead of having to get in the professionals. But you do need to take some care and precautions when doing so.

Depending on the amount of paint and how difficult it might be to remove it, there are typically four ways to get paint off concrete. For smaller areas, you might get away with using a scraper or brush to lift it but you do need to be careful ‘as it can discolour the concrete,’ warns Adkwik's DIY Expert, Tim Warren.

Sometimes a simple bit of sanding can help too but you need to ensure that you’re wearing a protective mask of some kind to stop you from inhaling any of the ensuing dust. Another method that you might have already heard of is soda blasting. However, because this often requires professional equipment and quite a bit of skill to operate it correctly, this might be one best left for the experts.

So, it’s no surprise that the most popular way to remove paint from concrete is with a paint stripper of some kind, particularly if the paint is dried in. The type of paint stripper you use will depend on the type of paint. Although, in most cases a general paint stripper should do exactly what it says on the tin, especially if you’ve just moved into your property and have no idea what kind of paint was originally used on the concrete.

However, in somecases you might be best painting over the whole area ‘for larger tasks, such as removing paint from an entire concrete surface such as a wall or garage floor, you could also consider painting over the affected area rather than full removal,’ suggests Jimmy Englezos, Senior Brand Manager at Ronseal.

1. Prepare the area

Before you get started, it’s important to clear away any items of outdoor furniture, debris such as leaves or moss and potted plants. Alternatively, if you’re looking to remove paint from a basement or concrete wall indoors, you’ll want to temporarily relocate any items that you might have been storing there.

If you are working indoors, ‘ensure that the area has appropriate ventilation before using any chemicals to remove the paint,’ Tim instructs. While you might not need to worry too much about ventilation if working outdoors, you will want to wear a few protective items to keep you fully protected, namely a mask and some goggles.

And ‘as well as ensuring that the working area is well ventilated, you should cover any nearby items that can't be moved or any surfaces that you do not want to damage, either by using painter's tape or plastic sheets,’ Tim says.

2. Do a quick clean

While a good brush should have gotten rid of most of the debris, Tim also recommends ‘cleaning the painted area using a cleaning solution mixed with warm water.’ Depending on how dirty it is, you can either use a sponge or a wire brush to make sure that you’ve removed anything which might be coating the concrete.

Essentially, ‘this helps to remove any debris that can act as a barrier and prevent the remover from coming into contact with the paint,’ he reveals. You could also use a pressure washer on a low setting to lift anything that won’t brush or scrub away.

Once you’ve cleaned the area to the best of your abilities, remember to let it dry fully before moving onto the next step. So, this might be something to do early in the morning or the day before you want to try removing the paint, in order to give it enough time to dry out.

3. Apply a paint stripper and let it sit

Then it’s time to apply the paint stripper. You should first ‘read the manufacturer's guidelines to see how it is best applied, how long it should be left to break down the paint and how it should be rinsed off,’ Tim says. Ideally, you will want to apply an even coat of the paint stripper to the concrete using a paintbrush.

You will need to give the solution time to soften the paint. Basically, the longer that you can leave it, the more time it has to get to work on removing the paint effectively. There really is no point in rushing it as this might mean that you need to repeat the entire process again, which will take even more time in the long run.

4. Remove the paint

Again, each paint stripper’s guidelines may vary, so be sure to check these for how to best rinse off the paint stripper and paint underneath. It may be that you can use a scraper or brush, while you can often also ‘use a hose or power washer to rinse away the paint residue,’ Loren Taylor, Owner of Outdoor Fountain Pros, adds.

5. Repeat if necessary

‘If you were unable to get rid of all the paint, reapply the paint thinner and allow it to sit and break down the paint again,’ Tim recommends. ‘This will loosen any remaining paint so that you can remove it with the pressure washer, a wire brush or some steel wool.’

A lot of this process involves patience and a bit of waiting around but once it’s complete you’ll be glad that you took the time to do it.

What you'll need

FAQs

How do you remove dried paint from concrete?

As you might expect, it can be tougher and require a bit more elbow grease to remove dried paint from concrete compared to a spillage of wet paint that hasn’t had a chance to dry yet.

All of the steps and tips above will allow you to remove dried paint from concrete and will allow you to see the original concrete underneath once more.

Will vinegar remove paint from concrete?

Despite the fact that white vinegar can come in handy when cleaning other areas of our homes, vinegar will only really work on fresh paint, with it helping to loosen or soften the paint instead of removing it, the experts agree.

Loren explains, ‘while vinegar is a mild acid and can sometimes help loosen paint, it's not my go-to for paint removal from concrete. Even though it might work on very fresh paint, for most situations, a commercial paint stripper will be much more effective.’