I have a concrete patio in the front of my house with steps and it's old and cracked and doesn't look the greatest. What are some easy ways to make my patio look better?

 

First I would chip off any loose concrete then give the patio a thorough pressure washing to clean and remove any more loose concrete. Then I'd repair the bad spots with a product specifically made for repairing concrete like this. If there are deep areas & cracks where the concrete has flaked off I would use a thicker, trowlable mix to level the areas. Once that has hardened you can come back with a thinner easier to spread mix and resurface the whole patio for a more uniform look.

 

Thanks Pilot Dane. I will give that a shot.

 

I just did a porch yesterday using Quickrete Concrete Resurfacer. I pulled all six bags off the same pallet but when applying it there were definitely two different batches. The porch now has a stripped appearance with two different shades of gray, so check each bag for it's lot number to make sure they are all the same. I'm going to have to go over the area again with another layer to get more uniform color.

If you can't insure that all your bags are from the same lot I would mix all your bags needed for your project together before starting.

 

Thanks for the advice. I will try the concrete resurface

 

I used concrete resurfacer on some concrete steps last fall. I mixed and applied per instructions. The steps looked great after I finished.

90% of the resurfacer flaked off over the winter. I'm now in the process of removing the remainder with a wire wheel.

 

Wayne,
you say you applied per directions. Did you also prep per directions? Was the concrete even a good candidate for resurfacing to begin with, or was it so badly deteriorated as to qualify as "rotting"?
Any resurfacing material is only as good as the concrete it's going over. ALL loose material must be removed prior to beginning, and the surface must be prepped from that point. The number one problem with resurfacing is insufficient surface prep prior to application. Resurfacing unprepared or poorly prepared concrete is like painting over dirt. It may look good initially, but will delaminate with only the slightest amount of weathering.

 

Pecos, so how do you prep the old surface?

 

If your patio has a smooth finish or if you think it has had a sealer applied to it at any time during it's life I would etch it with muratic/hydrochloric acid to insure there is a good surface for the overlay to grip. Be sure to take all safety precautions listed on the jug. Straight muratic acid is by far the strongest acid most people will ever encounter so handle it very carefully and have a bucket of water and a garden hose ready to immediately wash off if you get any on you.

I also go over the area with a masonry hammer that has a chisel on one end and break and remove any concrete that appears loose or has a crack heading underneath a "flake". Then I use a narrow fan or "doodle bug" tip on a pressure washer to remove any loose material and thoroughly clean the concrete. Next I inspect the surface again for any loose concrete or if the surface is still coming up. Sometimes concrete is such bad shape that you can not get down to good material. If you chip away the loose, pressure wash and then are still finding loose pieces or if the contrete can be scuffed loose then it's probably too shot for resurfacing. But, if you can clean and get down to good hard concrete then it can work very well.

 

The steps were in pretty good shape when I started. I hosed and scrubbed them before using the resurfacer. They were clean with no dirt or loose material. However, I used an icemelt several times last winter and that may have caused it to fail.

 

Pilot Dane,
I'm not sure why it didn't show up here, but I submitted a post yesterday morning which basically said exactly what you said as to prep. The only difference was that I recommend diluting the acid 10:1 with water and neutralizing with a baking soda/water solution afterwards. I also stated that resurfacers are NOT for fixing cracks in concrete. Any existing crack will transfer up through the overlay within a day or two. Depending on its condition, some concrete is simply not a candidate for successful resurfacing.
Wayne, the ice melt product, even if it said "safe for concrete", was certainly what caused your failure. Did you seal the overlay once it was finished? Even if you did, the small print on the ice melt usually says "not for concrete less than a year old or unsealed concrete"