A smooth job: How we gave our terrace floor a fresh lick of paint
6.6.2026
Translation: Jessica Johnson-Ferguson
Pictures: Martin Rupf
Rough as sandpaper is what our terrace looked and felt like until recently. A bucket of paint and three hours of work were all it took to give it a glow-up.
Summer has arrived in full force without spring as a buffer, like it has done many times in recent years. That’s one of the reasons why we simply weren’t ready for the summer again.
By ready, I mean our covered terrace that’s meant to be a perfect place to relax on balmy summer evenings. Unfortunately, walking barefoot on its rough concrete floor just isn’t particularly pleasant.
Sandpaper feel
What’s particularly painful is that I turned the floor into an even more hostile place by pressure washing it last year. The result, as experts surely know, is that this made the concrete floor even rougher. From then on, walking on the terrace felt like rubbing sandpaper against your feet.
So the whole family agreed that the terrace was in desperate need of a glow-up. But what did that mean?
Half-jokingly, not least because of our generally tight family budget, we briefly considered covering the floor with a bright green artificial turf rug. Add some bunting with the cantonal coat of arms, a few geraniums and a garden gnome and our terrace would’ve been oozing campsite charm.
But that option was off the table, or rather, off the terrace floor.
Is composite decking actually affordable?
But what were the alternatives? Decking was soon discussed. We thought imitation wood tiles would be cheaper, so we looked into those first.
Garden flooring
Swisshandel24 WPC floor tile, wood look balcony/terrace, 3D structure linear 11x each 30x30cm = 1sqm
11x, 30 x 30 cm
Garden flooring
Swisshandel24 WPC Corner Floor Tile Rhone + Finishing, Wood Look Terrace, 30x30cm Premium Corner, teak offset
1x, 30 x 30 cm
Garden flooring
Swisshandel24 WPC floor tile Rhone, wood look balcony/terrace, 11x each 30x30cm = 1sqm Premium, anthracite
11x, 30 x 30 cm
Swisshandel24 WPC floor tile, wood look balcony/terrace, 3D structure linear 11x each 30x30cm = 1sqm
11x, 30 x 30 cm
Swisshandel24 WPC Corner Floor Tile Rhone + Finishing, Wood Look Terrace, 30x30cm Premium Corner, teak offset
1x, 30 x 30 cm
Swisshandel24 WPC floor tile Rhone, wood look balcony/terrace, 11x each 30x30cm = 1sqm Premium, anthracite
11x, 30 x 30 cm
This kind of decking is made of wood plastic composite (WPC), a material made up of wood fibres, wood flour and plastic. Sounds cheap, but it’s not. Our terrace floor spans roughly 20 square metres, so we’d have to shell out about 1,800 francs.
But it wasn’t primarily the price that put us off, but the material. If we were going for decking, we’d want it to be made of real wood. Sure, wood decking requires more maintenance than plastic, but it would’ve been worth it to us.
Turns out, wood decking is much cheaper than their composite counterpart. In other words, we would’ve had to spend a little less than half on acacia decking than on WPC.
Tiles would’ve been an even better deal.
But all in all, we were looking at around 900 francs, which was too expensive for us. Surely, there must be another solution? And there was. Namely, opaque floor paint.
The good thing about this solution was that one bucket of paint was enough and cost just 180 francs.
Smooth walking
We put our plans to action and made the most of the hot, dry long weekend over Pentecost to finally give our terrace a fresh coat of paint. And since it was meant to be a family project, we got our kids involved – or at least we tried. But their enthusiasm soon ran dry. After a few brushstrokes, their zeal vanished.
We started off by protecting sensitive areas with masking tape, to make sure only the floor would get painted. The painting itself was a doddle. We used a microfibre roller and applied to coats to the floor.
Adhesive tape
Quantity discount
EUR12,05 per piece for 4 units EUR0,24/1m
tesa 5x economy masking tape, pack of five
Adhesive tape
Quantity discount
EUR9,95 per piece for 4 units EUR0,30/1m
tesa EASY COVER Malerfolie ECONOMY Refill Nachfüllrolle
140 mm
Paint rollers
Quantity discount
EUR4,50 per piece for 2 units
Haushalt Microfibre Roller With Handle Household
18 cm
Quantity discount
EUR12,05 per piece for 4 units EUR0,24/1m
tesa 5x economy masking tape, pack of five
Quantity discount
EUR9,95 per piece for 4 units EUR0,30/1m
tesa EASY COVER Malerfolie ECONOMY Refill Nachfüllrolle
140 mm
Quantity discount
EUR4,50 per piece for 2 units
Haushalt Microfibre Roller With Handle Household
18 cm
Thanks to the splatter shield, it was easy to dose the paint and apply it evenly. For the narrow side walls, we used a small roller.
After just a few minutes of painting bent over, I could feel that my 50th birthday is approaching fast. That’s when my telescopic pole came in handy and made the job much easier.
After applying the first coat of primer and letting it dry for three hours, it was time for a second one. We let it dry overnight and were eager to see the result the next day.
We carefully stepped onto the terrace barefoot. And lo and behold: that sandpaper feel was gone! It now felt more like a gym floor or the floor of a laundry room. Success!
If we do end up getting tired of the new floor anytime soon, we can always cover it with wood decking or go completely crazy with artificial grass. But until then, we’ll enjoy our new, smooth terrace floor.
Header image: Martin Rupf
Martin Rupf
Senior Editor
martin.rupf@digitecgalaxus.chHalf-Danish dad of two and third child of the family, mushroom picker, angler, dedicated public viewer and world champion of putting my foot in it.
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