Back in July I had the walkway in the image as well as my driveway repaved. For some reason, the top two boxes imaged cured blotchy and discolored, unlike the box closest in the image and my entire driveway. What could have caused this? The concrete is from two different pours, but the same poor that was used for the back two boxes was used in my driveway and there is no other discoloration.
Would an acid bath (muriatic or hydrochloric) even out the colors? Is there something else I could do or does this need to be broken up and redone completely?
So even after days of dry weather, when all other concrete is completely dry, this is what it looks like. Some areas are dark and discolored (agreed it looks wet), but the edges are also all brownish.
The contractor and I are in dispute for another issue and he has no interest in fixing it.
I don’t know exactly, but this discoloration has been there since July. Even on the driest of days where all other concrete is grey, these boxes remain a bit darker, yellowish, and brown and splotchy.
Bleach will clean concrete, mostly by removing mold that grows in the pores, but it doesn't do any thing to "brighten" the concrete, same reason it makes a great grout cleaner but watch those fumes.
I have never used acid but used to have a neighbor that was religious about acid washing and it was always bright white.
All you can do is try a small dab on one corner and see if it gets the desired results..
A friend is relocating a gas grille/fire place (city gas) in the backyard. The gas line needs to be buried in part in the concrete slab. What kind of pipe can I use? He is considering flexible gas pipe (yellow MDPE) cased in a larger PVC. Can MDPE be pulled/pushed through the gray PVC conduit just like an electrical wire? It will be tied to the existing, above-ground IPS. Thank you.
On my brick fireplace, the exterior mortar is very recessed between the bricks. I'd say by at least 1/2". I plan to paint the brick but first I'd like to bring the mortar a bit more flush with the brick. In my basement the previous homeowner left a bag of sanded grout. Could I get away with using this to fill instead of buying mortar? I hate to buy a huge bag of mortar when I'll never use it again. Also, if I can use the grout, the bag says for joint less than 1/8". The mortar joints are 1/4". Could I use this grout anyways since it's not needed for structural reasons, it would be purely decorative?
01-08-23, 07:49 PM
New concrete discoloration. Acid bath next?
