We poured two outdoor patios yesterday and having watched the news and checked the weather several times felt real good about going forward with the pour. We finished up at the job at 6pm with the brush finish. Get home at 7pm, eat dinner and look out the window and a nice drizzle has started.
Needless to say we have a nice drip line across the two patios this morning at the rooflines. I was wondering about repairing it.
I was thinking I would make up a gravelless mix with a little extra cement and skim coat the surface enough to redo the brush finish and achieve a uniform color across the surface.
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
Edited 10/21/2009 7:55 am by Hiker
Replies
we should go in together in the concrete bussiness,between the luck we both have ,it would rain 365 days a year.
i think about anything you do will show.it's just whats the lesser of two evils.
maybe if it's a straight enough line,you could make a relief cut and tell everyone thats what you wanted????????
i have a drive that got messed up bad with rain/then tarped which added more problems. i was sick. after about 3 years when it got a little age on it,most people wouldn't even noticeworst thing about a patio is,people sit there and look at it.
no answers here.
the older i get ,
the more people tick me off
Saw relief cuts in the slab and grout them. Start with the drip line, and however far from the wall it is, make all cuts the same width. Might want to cut a border.
Make a saw cut at the drip line........divide line into thirds ....from the two points cut a diagonal line to the far corner of the slab..thee cuts and your done.
So this is Fine Homebuilding?
YES.......
Covering up a mistake by trying to hide it is fine homebuilding?
What would you do?
http://www.cti-corp.com/
Fix it unless of course your contract was for one slightly screwed up concrete patio.
You're right. This product will hide the problem much better!
Its not cheap/free though and would actually be an upgrade so maybe a little wheeling/dealing is in order with the client. A finish like this really takes a patio to another level and a customer may see the value of upgrading with you paying a portion of the freight rather than all of it. Local concrete firm here pretty much switched to doing this exclusively over others work (both old and brand new) so you might look at it as an oppotunity to expand your services or maybe go in a new more profitable direction.
I've seen them redo porches, garage floors, basements instead of tile, whole driveways.
Its called making lemonade out of lemons.Cutting and adding decorator inlays might add a lot of value. It's always worth a thought. This exercise is called brainstorming. His idea might trigger a better idea. Yes, that is what fine homebuilders do.
Its called making lemonade out of lemons.
The problem is the first posters weren't suggesting cutting it out and putting in a decorative inlay. They were suggesting slab cuts 2 feet (or whatever depth the overhang is) away from the house and then acting like those were normal. I would put inlays in the "fixing it" category.
BTW, the product I linked to is a high end decortive concrete alternative and it is permanent. I've seen it used indoors and out. even over a slab damaged by a house fire. looks as good today as it did they did they poured it.
OP didn't make clear on the first post that this was 2" wide channel. Slab cuts would be the way to deal with this if it was a small spot, although the length of the house.
Cuts would look planned, nothing wrong with that.
Cutting up somebodys patio every two feet would look pretty stupid.
So what you are basically saying is if you buy a new truck and the dealer dents the fender before delivery, you okay with him denting the other fender so it looks like a matched set and you wouldn't have any problem with him telling you that is the way it is supposed to be.
If you cut it and grout the lines it looks like tile. I have a friend who does this on all his concrete. He makes his about 4 by 4. Its a solution that is probably cheaper than re-surfacing. If you don't like it don't do it.
"Cutting up somebodys patio every two feet would look pretty stupid."I acutually paid someone to cut up a patio for me. He then stained each square a different color. It came out looking like large tiles.
My chair is sitting on a concrete floor that is cut into 30" squares. Nice green grout - It's one of the things I like best about my house.
I agree. We cut up our patio because the concrete guys made it look like gradeschool kids finished it. The cutting and dyeing made it look real purdy.
We ended up using Quickcrete Concrete resurfacer. Worked like a charm. I did test last week and tried peeling from a slab at my shop with 3000 psi pressure washer. Didn't budge.
http://www.quikrete.com/productlines/ConcreteResurfacer.asp
Essentially it has the same texture as self leveling cement products. We patched the rain drop areas and did a light brushing to match the original brush texture and then recoated the entire surface the next day to make a uniform color. Worked great.
A box covers about 100 sf and costs about $10.
Thanks for all the input
Bruce
You're already set, but here are a couple of things I've heard of. One, pressure wash the entire surface immediately, making it uniform. Or two. have the surface ground to a sort of polished exposed aggregate, and then wash with muriatic.
Thanks for that update and tip about the product you used.
The line is about 2" wide so I don't think a saw cut would quite do the job, and frankly I am more interested in making the surface a uniform color-basically skim coating the entire slab.
Thanks for the idea.
There are a number of concrete coating products that you can use to coat the entire slab. Don't just use a cement slurry as it will not adhere/wear well.But if the problem is just color and not significant indentations, I'd just let nature take its course (and maybe help it along with a light power wash). The color will become more uniform in 6-12 months. Patch material, on the other hand, will have a nonuniform color much longer.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
I'd "celebrate" it.
Saw cut both sides, chip the strip out and put in a decorative detail: inlay, grout, client's wife's birthstone as exposed aggregate.
Otherwise, they'll always see the cover coat and get a sour taste in their mouth, remembering how their driveway got "screwed up". Instead, they'll see the decorative element with its endearing honesty, and laugh and feel good.
Or, might be a good place to sell them on a channel drain?
k
I agree with hiker.
Turn the bad into a good. Get the owner involved in it and be creative.
I also agree that it's not a great idea to try and cover up a mistake (or in this case-problem caused by unfortunate weather-stupid weather people!!) and insisting it was the way you originally intended it to be. Most people are not that stupid.
I sure hope this works out for you. I hate weather people. They have been VERY wrong in my neck of the woods this year (Cincinnati).
No Coffee No Workee!
Some years back I had a similar experience on a 3 car garage driveway only it wasn't a drizzle.
I offered the owner a deal, if he would accept what was and he would pay for the cost of concrete I would give him the labor it cost me to set it up and lay it down.
If he wasn't happy enough with that I would tear it out and redo it without cost to him. I made clear it was my responsibility and I would handle it if need be.
He bit, saved himself some money and I was let off the hook for a even larger expense I otherwise would have paid.
When i first went on my own i did a job where i worked time and Material.
We poured the slab but it did not set to hard trowel.
I told the owner i need to come back at 4 in the morn, He said no he did not want to pay me he was going to cover the slab with carpet which he never did,
The slab looked terrible and he showed it off for years as an example of my work..
Course he never said he was in charge and called it..
I cant say what to do but thats a scenario i hope does not happen to you as it did to me.
I should have gone on my own and steel troweled it.
You concrete hack you!
Howcome I'm the only one asking why there was no gutter over those sidewalks ?;o)..It's all fun and games, until someone puts an eye out..You are always welcome at Quittintime
I suggested they install gutters several years ago. Maybe later this year.
I may offer up buying some nice glazed pots to line up along the house. :)
Edited 10/22/2009 8:35 am by Hiker
very few gutters here in Pensacola
No gutters and a roof overhang over concrete. It will look like it does now in a couple of years anyway.
I've seen that happen.But I think it took more than a couple of years...It's all fun and games, until someone puts an eye out..You are always welcome at Quittintime
Fill with caulk? ;)
Sorry that happened on your project. Let us know how you resolve it.
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi
No, I didn't vote for him; but he IS my president. I pray for the his safety, and the safety of his family every day. And I pray that he makes wise decisions.
I made the suggestion once, but it probably got lost in the forest: If it's just a matter of color (ie, the surface isn't seriously roughened) try a pressure washer on it to see if you can clean it up. And a little acid applied first might help as well.
How deep is it? I poured a sidewalk recently and there is a spot that collects a bit of water. Not much but it is there and right under a small step.
I acid etched the walkway to exspose the sand. I noticed that after etching it I could grind off a thin layer.
I used a brick like a big heavy sanding block. Once the acid ate up some of the cement the sand came off pretty easily.
I'm thinking of etching and grinding where I want to lower it a bit.
Will Rogers
The line was about 2" wide and 1/4 inch deep.
That's to deep for what i was thinking."There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers
Were they planning on leaving it bare concrete? How gauche! :-0
Maybe you could sell them on the idea of one of those "stamp and stain" finishes. Maybe split the cost with them some way.
Yup,
Plain old concrete