My home is less than 2 yrs old but the steps to the front door had some patching done that cracked and broke off. We took a piece of the concrete that had broken off and purchased Quickrete repair (the color was an exact match) we were told to mix it with a bonding agent so went home and made the repair. Unfortunately when it dried the color was much, much darker than the original so now I have two very dark spots on the steps that are obvious repairs. Now I'm not sure whether we should paint the steps or if that would be opening another can of worms. There are only 4 (48" width) steps and the landing is (I think) 4x6. I'm on a budget so what is the least expensive way to paint the steps and landing and should I choose a color that matches the patches rather than trying to lighten the patches to match the concrete? I'm concerned that choosing a darker color will look odd and I don't want to have to paint the sidewalk and driveway too.

 

A patch will almost NEVER match in color. When you say that the Quikrete repair material was the exact color, what do you mean? When it was dry before it was mixed?
Unfortunately, the only way you're going to get a color match is to paint or resurface the entire thing, and that opens another whole can of worms. It may be best to just live with the color you've got.
One thing you can try would be to buy a small bag of sand mix (it's called that but it contains sand and cement, & costs a couple of bucks). Mix it with water as per directions, put on some latex gloves, dampen the repaired darker areas with water, and rub some of the new mix on the dark areas. You'd basically be painting over the patches with the sand mix. Since it is closer in composition to the actual concrete than the quikrete patch is, it would probably be a lot closer in color. Since it contains cement, it will stick. I've done this before with great results. Good luck.

 

That's a great idea, I'll try that. Yes the color matched the dry quickrete before it was mixed. After it was mixed it turned almost charcoal. I like your idea and I will try it.

Thanks!