image of the before of the patio being made over. It is screened in, the walls are a light green, the floors are a muted pink and dingy
| | |

How to prep screened in aluminum/concrete patio for paint

ByTamarah

Prep is the most important and makes sure you’ll get the best finish

Here we are on week 2 of the One Room Challenge and the majority of the time has been spent on prep work. This Spring ORC project is my patio transformation. I hope to do a lot of it on a budget, this space is meant to be shared by both me and the cats so it also has to be a functional space for them.

Afro and reno logo image featuring a black woman with an afro. In the afro you can see a hammer and a paint brush. The tip of the paint brush is purple. There is a sideways halo around the woman in mustard yellow and the words Afro and Reno

Affiliate Disclosure

Afro and Reno is supported by you, our DIY and Home Renovation community. We participate in affiliate programs to help us earn a small commission on the products we use, love and share with you. Links on this page may come from Amazon Services LLC Influencer Program, Lowes Creator Program, Walmart Creator, or LTK (formerly RewardStyle).

If you decide to buy from one of our links, this goes a long way to help support future Afro and Reno DIYs or some cat food for our broke best friends, Sassy, Kit, Stormy, and Shadow.

If you want to support us directly, consider buying us a Coffee through Ko-Fi

Buy us a Coffee!

Items used for Cleaning and prepping patio

AFRO AND RENO Amazon storefronts

Shop My patio refresh tools on Amazon (Earns Commission)

The goal is to do a lot of painting…and yes I do want the checkerboard floor! The patio walls are green and have some cracks. The floor is an already coated floor, a pink faux marble-y look that has seen better days. The cool thing is the grid is already there so I can use them as guides. BUT i’m getting way ahead of myself. First I have to clean, prep, prep and prep some more.

Honestly it’s the most time consuming and boring part of this process but totally necessary.

Step 1: Clear the patio

This helps have a blank slate to work with. Clearing the patio makes is easier to visualize what you want to do, see any issues that need to be addressed and helps you make a game plan.

I did this last week but I had lots of stuff in the patio and lots of cat hair. I moved everything into my garage, my garage is now full. When was the last time the patio was functional? Sometime i the summer. Just before I went on a weeklong trip for labor day weekend there was a hurricane that was heading straight for my area. As a result I pilled everything in a corner and tied them down, they have been there ever since

Once the patio was clear I could see all the cracks and gaps that needed to be filled, nail holes etc.

There was a lot of stuff piled in there

Step 2: Clean everything

I started by sweeping the space and using my Ryobi blower to clean the floors the walls and even clean things out of the ceiling.

I removed the fan blades from the ceiling fan to help make cleaning easier. I scraped gunk and other bits from the floors, walls, I removed concrete plugs from the walls and filled them in.

  • DIY patio refresh prep. Tamarah @afroandreno is taking down the fan blades from a ceiling fan while standing on a platform

Step 3: Prep for pressure washing

Another prep step!? Unfortunately yes. I my case I have electrical to worry about, ceiling fan, two improperly installed outdoor lights and a 220v breaker for the old hot tub. Pressure washing involves a lot of water. For an enclosed space with lots of connections I wanted to make sure not to mix water and electricity.

I covered what I could with plastic and tape. I also turned off the power to the patio. Once that was done I pressure washed the ceiling, walls and floor with my Greenworks pressure washer. It’s a great tool in my arsenal for small tasks.

Using painters tape with the plastic attached to protect the lights

The ceiling and the screen are aluminum, I used the 40 degree tip when cleaning the ceiling. The walls are stucco and I used the same time to clean and get in the crevices to clean old dirt and pollen. Finally for the floor I used a turbo nozzle to clean the floor. The floor has dips and divots in it and the nozzle was great for getting in there. Even after all the though the floor is still dingy. I realized the clear top coat is holding on dirt.

Step 4: Fill Gaps

Once everything is clean and dry. Now its time to fill the gaps. All that cleaning should make is easier for your concrete patch, and caulk to adhere to your surfaces better.

I am filling the cracks along the concrete floor using a flexible concrete patch. This makes is so if there is a little movement the cracks wont open up again. Along the same vein I’m using an elastomeric exterior rated caulk to fill the gap between the concrete floor and the wall. Once again, flexible so if there is some slight movement it wont open up again. If any of these open up…It could be bigger issue as to why its moving.

Thats part one of prep! For the concrete floor since it was perviously top coated should be scuffed up a bit to allow better adhesion. I am still debating whether I want to paint the aluminum I’ll need to sand, used a self etching primer made for aluminum and a paint made for metal. IDK if I want to do all that.

Next week we prime! So close to adding color! If you missed last weeks One room Challenge post to prep for a patio refresh see it here.

Spring ORC 2024 Patio Refresh Posts:  Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8: Reveal

Latest On the Blog

Oldies but goodies On the Blog

Similar Posts