I appreciate any help. I have about 150 SF total area in front of the entrance to my home that consists of a small concrete landing area 7' x 5' then three wide steps up to another another landing area 7' x 6' that leads to my front door. There is ceramic tile there now but much has cracked due to age and need replacing. I was thinking of just getting nice tile and just going over the old, but was also considering concrete stamping. I got an estimate of around 1400 for the concrete stamp that would be designed to look like stone and looks nice. The company said they can do it right over the old tile.I felt this price was OK but I was trying to keep things around 1000. Can anyone tell me the differences with the two as far as pricing, durability etc.? I was going to put higher quality tile possibly or look at other options to make the front my home stand out nicely. I appreciate any suggestions or information on this!

 

Post some pictures.
Somethings very wrong with the whole story.
I can just no imagine a real concrete guy suggesting going over failing tile.

 

Update: Thanks for the response. I have added a photo to assist linked below. The first landing has bad edges and cracks and the first step is also cracked but other than that the tile is intact and in good shape.
I am guessing it is best to remove the old tile. Would this apply for going over it with new tile as well? I was trying to save but want to do it right...thanks for any help.

 

I have about 160 SF of area in front of my home consisting of a small concrete landing, 3 steps and another landing up to my front door that was previously covered in ceramic tile. Due to a homeowners association rule I was forced to painstakingly remove it (never again). After removing the tile the bottom concrete has some pitting, mortar from the old tile and minor cracks in corners from tile removal. I want to make it like the original concrete slab so I can pass inspection and maybe paint it or something.
It is as clean as it will get now but looks bad from the tile removal.

A local handyman wants to just to form it, take kwikcrete concrete mix and and just put an inch fresh layer on top and level it etc...and he said it will be like new but I thought you could NOT put that right on top of another old layer of concrete.

Can someone with experience in this area tell me that correct way to do this? I don't want it to crack or have issues and just want it to where I can eventually put a new surface but for now just like the old concrete was to paint. Any help is appreciated.

 

Stinger1, I merged your threads so we would have the old pictures, too. Can you post pictures of the area now that you have removed the tile? You are correct a 1" layer of quickrete on top of the concrete won't work. It will have a tendency to crack and slip. We'll get the new pix and see if we can do a better job of giving advice. Sorry it went unattended on the last go around.

 

Thanks for the response. Here is a picture of how it looks now.

There is still some old mortar areas but I used a chisel and oscialating hammer and got most of it.

Can I just add a bonding agent to the quickcrete to put over the top of this with a thin layer?

Also, it has rained every day here in Florida for a week so how does that normally affect something like this? If I have 3 or 4 hours of sun will that be enough?

Any help is appreciated.

 

Do yourself a big favor, and find some nice, durable tile and either lay it yourself or have it done by a professional. Preferably something with a bullnose for the step corners, to minimize the likelihood of the horizontal tiles on the edges from getting kicked and broken like your old ones were. If you go the tile route, I'd suggest using a diagonal pattern for the field, providing some visual interest and looking more inviting to the entryway.

Trying to go with a thin-bonded concrete overlay for your situation presents several problems. Despite what "handymen" or even concrete contractors may tell you, an overlay just 1" thick will have a tendency to crack. Maybe not for a month or two, but eventually, it will. Especially when poured too wet, with a water-cement ratio greater than a maximum recommended 0.40 (most concrete finishers like to "baptize" the surface to close up any holes while finishing, making it look pretty but prone to later cracking as the water evaporates and the overlay shrinks at a faster rate than typical thermal expansion/contraction of the parent concrete underneath). Many hundreds of DOT concrete bridge deck overlays have performed quite well over the years, staying bonded and showing little cracking. But all of them were/are thicker than the 1" you are considering, usually a minimum of 1-3/4" thick. Another problem of your using an overlay is the increase in riser height it will require on the bottom step, making what appears to be about a 7" riser in the photos to almost 9" tall--definitely a tripping hazard, since the remaining risers with the overlay will still be 7", and a 2" difference between adjacent risers is not allowed by most building codes.

 

There is a product I've heard of/seen...."diamond something" maybe? It can be applied very thin, is strong and bonds well. It's normally decoratively applied and stained to look like stone...but I'm sure it's cost would be more than your budget. Lots of artistic handwork is required.