I learned a little this summer about painting cement with stencils and cement paint and would like to share…
First I learned that you need to get cement paint. I read through enough Reddit posts to convince me that it would simply wear off by the next year if you don’t. But if you’re like me and like to switch things up almost every year then that might not be a bad route. However, for this greenhouse I really don’t want to redo this for a long time. Also, the stencil I picked happened to be one of my favorite designs AND it just so happened to be the easiest. It was the least difficult to apply as I used a regular paint brush with it before I even knew that stencil brushes were a thing. It applied nicely and without problems but this stencil is VERY limited to detail, meaning there wasn’t any time holes or filigree, which makes stenciling concrete the hardest, in my opinion.
On that note, I did try some spray paint when I first began. I did it as a sort of overlay over the white cement paint and only after a few tries realized it wouldn’t work because spray paint is oil-based and cement paint is water-based so they don’t mix. I nixed that idea quickly. I have no idea how well spray paint would last if it was the only paint being used but I do remember that the coverage was not as good as the cement paint and was rather watery when applied. I simply preferred the look of the bold white cement paint.
Again, I used a regular paint brush to do the greenhouse. I had first started out with a foam brush but immediately preferred the 3” polyester bristle brush because a foam brush on cement gets shredded up pretty quickly.
I decided to do the entirety of the greenhouse pavers with the same design. I was considering to do a checkerboard pattern and finally decided to do every other paver bold and the remaining ones more faded to give the overall look a bit more subdued but also with a touch of character.
The entire project took about 2.5 hours and I had to lock myself in because it was a hot, windy day so I was sweating like crazy towards the end.
I should have called it a day but decided to push forward and paint my upcycled cement patio that’s adjacent to the greenhouse on the same day and it didn’t turn out as pretty but that’s mostly because I used a lovely dandelion stencil and, because it’s more detailed, I didn’t know what I know now about stencils and made all of my mistakes here.
