So, we finally got the French drain installed (interior, full perimeter), I'm almost done painting the walls with Drylock (incredible stuff) and now we're about to pick the floor paint.

I need to paint a 55'x26' basement floor, it's never been painted, no hydrostatic pressure, stable humidity (thanks to the French drain, which works really well!)

It seems like there's a huge variability in price out there for cement floor paints - some are $50 for a 250 square foot "garage floor" kit and some are $29 a gallon for "floor paint." Similarly, there seems to be a huge range of thought on floor prep, ranging from clean it and dry it to etch it with acid and use a needle gun to scale it.

A co-worker really liked the Rustoleum 1-part epoxy, it certainly seems like a good price for what you get.

Any thoughts?

You might consider using a truck bed liner product. Professionally applied they are amazingly resilient, but phenomenally expensive.

Purchase and apply the product DIY, and the cost is not too bad. I have had this done in several customers' homes to great result.

Non-slip, chemical resistant, and can be washed down (assuming you have a drain in the basement).

In my next home, the kids' rooms will have wall to wall and floor to ceiling truck bed liner with a center floor drain. That way I can wash them and their messes at the same time.

You might check out Consumers Reports. They do paints, but I am not sure they have tested concrete paints. Unfortunately, I do not have the issue in which they last tested exterior pains.

FWIW, I think gray is a lovely color - just exactly the shade I would apply to my basement.

First do a test to see if there is moisture coming through the concrete floor. Duct Tape a square foot piece of plastic down on the floor in a random spot. Let it sit for at least 24 hours. If the underside of the plastic is wet, don't waste your money on paint, it will never stick.

I'd recommend a two step process. First use the Drylock as a "primer." Then use a good epoxy based paint to cover. You will need to check to make sure the two are compatible though. The idea is the Drylock will take care of any water vapor coming through the slab and the epoxy paint protects the Drylock from wear.

Any basement will have some humidity coming up through the slab from the soil. The question is how much. JBMat's suggestion is a good one to indicate how much is actually coming trough. Although I would suggest a good inverted 5-gall bucket over the plastic with a sand bag on top. If you have too much vapor tape won't stick to anything.

Thanks for the pointers on the floor dampness testing - there's NO water vapor coming up at all - the french drain was strictly for surface water accumulation outside the foundation, we never did have an issue - and still don't - with the slab being wet in any way.

I did a bunch more research and this stuff:

http://www.rustoleum.com/Product.asp?frm_product_id=57&SBL=1

Seems to be just what I need.

Simple acrylic/latex high durability "floor paint" can last for years if wear is limited to foot traffic. And worn through in high traffic areas it is cheap and easy to lay down another coat.

It runs less than $30 a gallon. It can fail wholesale if conditions are poor, the most common failure mode being moisture coming up through a slab, but any coating can fail. Interestingly acrylic floor paint breaths a bit so it tolerates a bit of moisture. Much more than epoxy or urethane.

The difference is that floor paint is cheap and if it fails in spots it can be pressure washed, chemically stripped or sanded off pretty easily and another approach tried. Urethane and epoxy coatings are great but they are quite expensive, they are preparation dependent and you need to follow the directions to the letter and develop a technique. Some are very time critical during application. They are also every bit as dependent on the solidity of the substrate as other materials and if they fail in spots they are a real PITA to remove so you can correct any problems.

good timing--i just finished a "runaway" project.what started as just moving those trash cans of bird seed from under the steps turned into one where i ripped off the old carpet from them and repainted the steps,the floor beams around them and started on the floor.



i just used Dutch Boy Porch and Floor paint and it seems like good stuff with lots of that filler they put in to thicken it up.
a coat on everything and a second on the treads with the non slip grit added.i did a patch at the bottom on the steps on the floor with the grit and without it over by the floor drain and wash tubs.
this is a working basement and not a family room so every part will not be done.
epoxy paint--years ago on a summer job i worked for a place that put that stuff down on factory floors.you have to work fast as it sets up and it really stinks.we worked on weekends when these places were shut down.i also painted the sub floor,under the duck boards,in the hot tub room at my cabin and once again heavy fumes.i had all the windows open and fans running.

Looks good to me CANOEDOGS. Runaway projects are a constant problem. I start doing some small thing and the project grows to epic, often Biblical, proportions. And often, in the end, the original task gets missed.

Please.
The basement project is at a level of "epic" now.

10 years ago, we moved in, with assurances that the basement "never flooded."

So, I set to work nights and weekends, and I built out the basement over the summer - nice finished (sheetrock) walls, paint, carpet - the works.

Our second Winter in the house comes, and when there's snow and ice, turns out that the basement does not "flood" but water does get in via heavy external pressure on the block foundation. Wife says we need french drain. I think it's an anomaly, rent some commercial dehumidifiers and all is well...until next winter...

So, the pattern is established - winter=wet basement.

I end up tearing out EVERYTHING - to the bare walls - so they can come and do a full perimeter drain. Everything has to be moved 4' off the walls.

Well, that means I need to move the water tank so they can work (which was in a strange/bad spot anyway), and well, while I'm at it, I'll move the softener and neutralizer, and oh, those need to have the electrical hookups moved, and while I'm at it, since I have to do all that plumbing anyway, I'll move the washer and dryer 3 feet to the right, which means I'll need to extend the drain lines and supply lines and move the 220 line, which really should be re-routed, so I pull it all the way from the breaker box OVER THERE and while I have the breaker box open, well, it seems that there's a few things that should be re-arranged in there, and I should add another branch to the generator panel...then the drain is all done, and now all the walls need to be painted with drylock (did that all the last week) and now that the walls are painted, we like how bright it is we want it brighter so then I have to install some more lighting, but then it seems that the wood stove might be better if we turned it 90 degrees....

and so it goes.

I'm living in a construction site...24/7