LESLIE: Alright. Now we’ve got Jim in Rhode Island on the line with a flooring question. What can we do for you today?
JIM: I’ve been in a condo for about 10-15 years and got married and so my wife and I are rehabbing the place. It’s downstairs. We’re on a slab. And it’s a different condo situation because I own mine and my neighbor – it’s like a condo duplex and we can pretty much do whatever we want. We’re our own little association.
So, I have a slab floor that’s got a couple of mild cracks in it, which – we haven’t had a moisture or a water problem of any sort but it looks disgusting. And I thought maybe to seal it off, I should paint it, possibly with an oil-based type paint.
TOM: I don’t think it’s a bad idea to paint the slab before you put the carpet down, primarily because it will reduce the amount of moisture that evaporates through it. And if you’re going to paint that floor, I would simply use an epoxy floor paint. The epoxy floor paints are designed specifically for concrete. They’re a two part mix, they’re a chemical cure and so they dry reasonably quickly and they do a good job of sealing the floors. And then you can put the carpet on top of that.
JIM: OK. Because about half of it will be carpeted and the other half, we have – we’re putting down one of those 3/8-inch floating floors.
TOM: Yeah. Like a laminate floor?
JIM: Yeah. Not this finished Pergo type but …
TOM: Mm-hmm, yeah. Yeah, I don’t think it’s a bad idea for you to paint that floor, first, for the reasons I stated. It will seal it quite nicely.
JIM: Oh, great. I’m so glad to hear that. OK. Well, thank you very much. A two-part epoxy, oil-based paint should take care of it.
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