Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We have our first house ever with a concrete patio intead of a wood deck. And, boy, does it get hot!
We are looking for ideas to keep it cooler. I can find plenty of coatings to apply, but would really like to hear some first hand experences in any method to keep things cool.
The patio is currently covered with a gazebo and an outside fan helps, too. But, we still need to do more - unless the sun is straight up, the patio is still getting plenty of direct sunlight. Thanks!
Hi msm_teacher,
Where are you located? I have coatings like "cool deck" ,but, it seems like it flakes off at some areas no matter what.
I think that you are onto the real answer; keep the direct sunlight off the concrete! You can replace the slatted gazebo cover with comp shingles or you can put shade cloth over the existing slatted cover for instance.
You can also put those exterior roll up shades on the sunniest sides.
Are you walking around barefoot? If so the easy answer is just put shoes on Otherwise the only real fix is to make sure the light is off the concrete as much as possible, and if that isn't enough you can always hose it down and that will keep it cool for a while.
Hi msm_teacher,
Where are you located? I have coatings like "cool deck" ,but, it seems like it flakes off at some areas no matter what.
I think that you are onto the real answer; keep the direct sunlight off the concrete! You can replace the slatted gazebo cover with comp shingles or you can put shade cloth over the existing slatted cover for instance.
You can also put those exterior roll up shades on the sunniest sides.
Thanks for the feedback on the coating, that is what we were afraid would happen.
We are outside of Charlotte. The gazebo is covered (except for a heat release flap) and the roller shades are in. It's been over a month, and they have made very little difference at all. That's why we were thinking some sort of coating might be needed.
Are you walking around barefoot? If so the easy answer is just put shoes on Otherwise the only real fix is to make sure the light is off the concrete as much as possible, and if that isn't enough you can always hose it down and that will keep it cool for a while.
Shoes? I live in NC, nobody wears shoes after labor day!
Yea, I thought the hosing thing would work too, just got a nice humidity increase instead.
OK! That is what I was afraid of; you have ALL of your current bases covered!
The only thing you can do in my opinion is to cover the deck with indoor/outdoor carpet and/or raise the roof and extend the eaves significantly(I'm not being sarcastic). I'd choose the carpet...they have lots of nice styles and colors these days!
Acrylic cool deck is good, with the combination of the coating and a heat reflective acrylic paint you can walk on it barefoot. I own a coating company in Phoenix so I know a couple things about hot concrete. A company named BD Classic out of Sante Fe Springs California makes a product called Cool Life. This is a heat reflective paint that really works, you would color your cool deck with it. BD Classic is also known as Life Deck if you do a search. This adjustment should cool it down enough to be acceptable.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Otherwise the only real fix is to make sure the light is off the concrete as much as possible, and if that isn't enough you can always hose it down and that will keep it cool for a while.
