Anthony from North Carolina says, “We just bought a house that was built in the ’70s. There’s a great patio in the backyard, but the concrete is so worn that you can see rocks coming through the surface in some areas. Otherwise, it seems sound… with very few cracks.
We love this area but want to make it look more uniform and less ‘weather-worn.’ Is there anything we can do, short of breaking it up and pouring a new patio?”
We say, “If you have a patio that old with very few cracks, it’s a pretty solid slab. Don’t remove it, renew it, for a fraction of the cost.
You could paint or stain it but that won’t hide that aggregate that you’re seeing for very long. It sounds like what you need is a resurfacer, like Quikrete Re-Cap concrete resurfacer, to give your existing patio a new look.
Re-Cap delivers four times more bonding strength than other resurfacing materials so it will stay bonded to your existing concrete whether you put it on at one-eighth-of-an-inch thick or a half-inch.
The process is pretty simple too. Use a 3500 psi pressure washer to remove the dirt and grime from the patio. Then mix up the Re-Cap material and spread it over the surface with a squeegee to hide the aggregate and old concrete.
Since it’s a patio you may want to give it a broom finish to keep it slip-resistant.
What you’ll have is a patio that looks like a brand new slab, with consistent color and texture throughout.