Painting a Pool Deck in Florida: Prep, Non-Slip Paint and Heat

A painted pool deck takes more abuse than any other painted surface on a Florida home. It bakes in full sun, gets splashed with pool water every day, and sits on a concrete slab that pulls moisture up from the ground. Bare, wet feet walk on it all summer.

That is why a pool deck needs its own plan: a clean, dry slab, a coating made for concrete decks, and grip on the surface.

Why pool deck paint fails

• Moisture in the slab. A concrete deck sits on the ground. ASTM, the standards group, says moisture inside concrete “may be detrimental to the performance of certain coating systems.” If water is pushing up from below, paint lifts and bubbles.
• Salt crust. White, crusty patches on concrete are efflorescence: salts carried to the surface by moisture. Sherwin-Williams says to remove it before painting, and to wait on painting if it keeps coming back.
• Mildew. Shaded corners near planters and the cage stay damp. The EPA warns that “paint applied over moldy surfaces is likely to peel.”
• The wrong product. A deck needs a coating whose label lists concrete decks, not a paint made for walls.

Prep, step by step

Most of a good pool deck job happens before the paint is opened.

1. Wash the whole deck, including the joints, the edges at the pool coping and the corners where dirt collects.
2. Clean off mildew with detergent and water, the EPA’s advice for hard surfaces, and rinse well. Keep cleaners and rinse water out of the pool.
3. Remove salt crust and loose paint. Sherwin-Williams’ fix for efflorescence is a wire brush, a power brush or low-pressure washing, then a thorough rinse.
4. Let the slab dry completely. In a Florida summer that can take longer than you think.
5. Check for moisture. ASTM D4263, the plastic sheet method, is a simple check used before coating concrete to show whether moisture is coming up through the slab. If it is, find the water first.
6. Coat with a product made for concrete decks, in the coats the label calls for.

Make it non-slip

Wet concrete and smooth paint can be slippery, and a pool deck is always wet. There are two common ways to add grip.

• A textured deck coating. Sherwin-Williams says its H&C ACRYLA-DECK Hi-Build coating “limits the surface from becoming slippery compared to conventional pool coatings.” That is a manufacturer claim, but it is the right thing to look for.
• An anti-skid additive. This is a fine grit stirred into the paint. Homax, sold through PPG, describes its Tread-Tex additive as a fine aggregate that gives a safer surface when added to paint or deck stain.

Either way, the grip has to be in the top coat, because that is the surface feet touch.

Color and heat

A dark deck in July can be too hot to walk on barefoot. Lighter colors take in less sun. Sherwin-Williams says its H&C ACRYLA-DECK Hi-Build coating is designed to lower the temperature of sunlit concrete by up to 20 degrees F, and notes the result depends on the air temperature, the time of day and how much direct sun hits the deck. Treat that as a manufacturer claim, and still pick a lighter color for a deck in full sun.

The same product page says it is “highly resistant to pool chemicals” and can go on bare concrete or concrete that was painted before.

When to paint it

Paint needs dry hours before dew settles on it. Sherwin-Williams’ general guidance is at least 4 hours of dry time before moisture can settle on the surface, and temperatures above the dew point for at least 48 hours after painting. On a pool deck that means:

• Start once the morning dew has dried off the concrete.
• Finish early enough that the last coat has its hours before evening dew.
• Keep the deck dry, and keep splashing kids and dogs off it, for as long as the label says.
• Pick the dry season if you can. See how long paint takes to dry in Florida humidity.

Do the whole lanai together

A fresh deck under a dirty cage or a peeling ceiling still looks tired. It often makes sense to do it all at once: wash the cage, paint the ceiling, then coat the deck last so nothing drips on it. See pool cage and lanai screen cleaning and painting a lanai ceiling.

On a Sarasota or Manatee job

We paint pool decks all over Sarasota and Manatee County. One of our Google reviews describes it: Emily R. had us power wash and paint the outside of her rental house, then wash and paint her pool deck with non-slip paint. Her full review is below.

Every deck starts with a wash, which is part of our pressure washing work. The painting is part of our exterior painting, backed by a one-year warranty and free touch-ups.