ᐅ Painting a Concrete Basement and How to Handle Edge Insulation Strips?

Hello everyone,

We have a basement made of precast concrete elements, with interior partition walls constructed from aerated concrete. The floor is currently untreated floating screed. Since everything is still in a basic state, we would like to improve the basement’s appearance a bit. It will be used as a technical room and storage space, with possibly a small workshop area in the future—so it’s not a living space.

Our painter recommended first priming all the exterior and interior walls, the concrete ceiling, and the floor with Caparol CapaSol RapidGrund. Then, paint the walls and ceiling with an emulsion paint. Since it’s only the basement, I’ve already purchased Alpina Original for this purpose.

For the floor, I should apply Disbon 400 paint.

My research online and here suggests that this approach sounds reasonable.

However, there are still edge insulation strips along the screed at the edges. What should I do with those? I understand that they shouldn’t simply be cut off but, in the case of tiling, they are usually trimmed after the tiles are laid. Due to the necessary door trimming and cost considerations, we want to avoid tiling. I’ve read that the gap can be sealed with Sikaflex or covered with inexpensive baseboards, although I find the baseboard option difficult to imagine with a painted floor.

So my question is: If the gap is closed, is it just hidden for aesthetic reasons? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each option?

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

You yourself say that it’s “just” the basement. So trim them back a bit, and when you eventually lay the tiles (is 250€ really not enough for tile and adhesive? — but enough for paint?), do it properly. After all, it’s just the appearance in a basement that’s already somewhat “run-down,” where you walk on screed and look at bare walls instead of a proper floor covering and plastered walls. (Don’t get me wrong, mine doesn’t look much different, but I’m not going to put much effort into it.)

P.S. Who caused the mess that the doors were installed incorrectly? If you have to shorten the doors for a floor covering, they were installed wrong. Actually, the doors should be fitted on top of the floor covering, not the floor covering installed around the door frames. But that’s just a side note.

nordanney schrieb:

You yourself say that it’s "just" the basement. So trim them back a bit, and when you lay tiles (is it really not enough for €250 tile/adhesive? – but enough for paint?),

I wouldn't call myself a DIY expert, but I do consider myself somewhat skilled. However, I have never worked with tile installation before. I do feel confident about painting, especially if it doesn’t have to be perfect. Our tiler told us to expect costs of €100-€150 per square meter (about $110–$165 per square yard). That’s several times more expensive than doing the painting myself.

If I trim back the edge strips, I can’t seal them with Sikaflex. But I’m not sure if sealing is really necessary or even important to prevent liquids from getting underneath the screed?

nordanney schrieb:

P.S. Who caused the mess with the doors being installed incorrectly? If you have to shorten the doors for the flooring, they were installed wrong. Usually, the doors are installed on top of the flooring, not the floor laid around the door frames. But that’s just a side note.

That was us 😉 We specified a build-up height of 0mm (0 inches) because we wanted to save on tiles in favor of floor paint. So, only what we as laypeople requested was done 😉

mk_2021 schrieb:

Our tiler told us that we should expect costs of 100-100€/sqm (11-11 USD/sqft).

If he does it, definitely.
But you could also buy 60x60cm (24x24 inches) porcelain tiles for about 10€/sqm (1.10 USD/sqft) at a DIY store, along with a leveling system and a good flexible adhesive. Then it will be affordable and turn out very neat even with only average skills.

nordanney schrieb:

If he does that, definitely.
But you can also buy 60x60cm (24x24 inch) porcelain tiles for about ten bucks per square meter at the home improvement store, along with a leveling system and a good flexible adhesive. That way, it’s affordable and can look very professional even with only average DIY skills.

Phew, thanks for your optimism. It’s hard for me to judge because I’ve never laid tiles myself, let alone installed a tile skirting, grouted, or sealed the corners. I’d also need to check how many special cases I have, like cutting tiles around radiators, stairs, etc.

The great thing is that at least the surface – even if it’s the first attempt – will definitely look better than the bare screed ;-)