Tripod member glfc asks:
We have cement floors in the house which will eventually be covered in either Saltillo tile or wood floors. Time, effort and money prohibit us from doing this yet, so I would like to paint the floors to make them look interesting and eclectic. We also have some areas that have 30-year old terazzo tile. Both the terazzo and cement have cracks. How do I go about preparing the floors, what type of paint do I use, and will this interfere with the laying of either the Saltillo or wood flooring?

Handy Girl Karen suggests:
You're going to have to get those floors seriously clean first, by scrubbing them with trisodium phosphate, available at most paint stores. The floor will probably need going over and rinsing a few times — wear gloves so you have skin left when you're done. The terazzo needs to be primed with a really toxic primer. (StaysOn is what I've used — you really must use a respirator, it's bad.) That adheres to glass, ceramic, metal, etc. It's transparent and can be painted over within 15 minutes with any floor paint. There are floor paints made for cement floors, but the colors aren't great, so you may just want to use that as a neutral base coat. Then you can use a durable latex in some arty colors and just polyurethane it about 3 or 4 times. Gloss finish water-based urethanes are great if you layer them.

The cracks in your floor are the only thing that could be a problem, because they might mean there's moisture somewhere. That will cause paint to peel eventually, which may not matter to you if this is temporary, but you should ask a floor person about it before you put permanent flooring down. Painting the floors won't affect the wood or Saltillo, but you might like the design you painted so much you won't want to cover it.

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