Painting My Exterior Concrete Steps (Products I Used And Why I Chose Them)

But first, here’s a look at the finished steps.

I still need to cover those exposed areas of OSB on either side of the steps where the siding had been previously removed, but for now, at least those areas are waterproofed.

During one of my many trips to Home Depot, I saw this product called Granite Grip. I had never seen this before, so I came home and did a lot of reading about it, including the process required to apply the product and the customer reviews.

The whole process seemed exhausting to me. You have to clean the concrete really well, preferably with pressure washing. Once it’s dry, then you have to use a chemical to etch the concrete. Once that’s washed off, then you have to let it dry thoroughly and then prime it. And then finally, you can apply the Granite Grip. But from the reviews I read, it’s a very thick product, and it has to be applied with a special roller cover (and adhesive roller cover) which I didn’t even know existed until two weeks ago. The reviews were mixed, but the people who loved the product followed the steps meticulously, and a lot of them seemed certain that the people who didn’t have success with the product probably skipped steps and didn’t follow the instructions precisely.

So I bought all of the products needed — the Granite Grip in a dark gray color (one of the off-the-shelf colors available), the etching chemical, the specific primer recommended in the instructions, and the adhesive roller cover. But after a long day of working on the steps (I was still building the steps at the time) on a hot day and working in the direct sunlight, I decided I didn’t want to go through all of those steps, so I returned everything.

Two days later, I decided that I should never make those decisions at the end of a work day when I’m exhausted, kind of like how you should never go grocery shopping when you’re really hungry, so I went back to Home Depot and bought all of the products again. 😀

But I was still unsure. First, I was unsure about the color. I really didn’t want dark gray steps. One of my main goals was to have consistency from these steps to the front porch to the steps that I’ll eventually build at the new bedroom door, all of which can be seen from the front of our house. And as you know, I’ve also been searching for a new solution for our front porch. The front porch is wood (cedar, to be specific), but after trying at least four different sealers/stains for exterior porches, I haven’t been satisfied with any of them. They all seem to look great right after the porch is re-sealed, but that new, beautiful look doesn’t seem to last long at all.

So I went back online to see if there were any other products that I could use not only on the concrete steps, but also on the front porch. And in my search, I came across Behr Porch & Patio Floor Paint.

I actually have experience with this product. This is what I used to paint the hardwood floors in my studio. Here’s what they looked like right after I finished the studio in October 2024.

I painted this floor in June 2024, and then went on to build cabinets and finish the studio, and y’all know I’m a very messy DIYer. And yet, two years later, the floor still looks great. It needs a good cleaning, but the paint still looks great.

But that’s indoor use, and I wasn’t sure about using it outdoors. My main concern is that painted surfaces can be slippery when they get wet, and I don’t want to turn my steps into a potential slipping hazard when it rains. But then I noticed that this product also comes in an anti-slip formula. It’s basically the same paint with a sand-like product mixed into it to give it more texture.

I showed you yesterday how I prepped and primed the concrete pavers. This is what they looked like after they were primed.

I let the primer dry overnight, and then the steps were ready to paint. Since this area is so small, I didn’t even bother with a roller. I just used a brush to apply all of the paint. I brushed on the first coat and then gave it a few hours to dry. Then I applied the second coat, but this time, instead of brushing, I used more of a pouncing method so that the brush strokes wouldn’t show. I also had the idea of sponging on a little bit of exterior paint in a lighter color to get a more mottled look.

But after trying that out on three of the pavers, letting that dry, and then standing back to look at them, I decided that the look wasn’t worth the added effort. After letting it dry, and then looking at it from a distance, it really didn’t seem to make that much of a difference.

So I abandoned that idea and just painted the steps with the solid color, using that pouncing method with the brush on the whole area.

I am very pleased with how these steps turned out. They were a lot of work, but I really enjoyed working with different materials. I’m so accustomed to building with wood, so this was very different for me. I loved getting out of my comfort zone and learning new things, though. There was a lot of trial and error that went into this, but now that I’ve done the whole process from beginning to end, I think I can do the next set of steps faster. And thankfully, the steps to the bedroom door are in the shade most of the day. Working in the direct sunlight on this side of the house was really exhausting. I had to wait until about 8:00pm last night to take good pictures of the finished steps because this area is in the direct sunlight, with no shade cover at all, from sunrise until sunset.

I’m especially excited to finally have proper steps at this door. Here’s a reminder of what I had before. I was using plain cinder blocks to get in and out of this door.

And here’s the doorway with the new, finished steps. Now I just need to get the door repainted. Check out how much that door has faded since I painted it. 😀 But again, this door gets more sun than any of the others.

Now that the steps are completely finished, I can’t wait to get the door painted and get some landscaping in place on both sides of this door! I think it already looks cute, but I can just imagine how cute it’ll look once I have some plants and a freshly painted pink door.