Decorative concrete over plain concrete? (sale, new home, contractors)

[cry884]

Has anyone had a decorative concrete company come in and pour another layer over "plain" concrete so you can have stamped and dyed concrete? Is anyone willing to share their experience with the outcome, the company they used, etc.?

I am looking for someone to do this for horizontal (patio) and vertical (retaining wall) surfaces. Thank you!

[VickiR]

Just last week, I asked a builder about doing that. The situation was that we were doing a punch list walk through on a pre sale and the patio had a crack all the way down the middle of it. As everyone knows, concrete WILL crack but this looked pretty bad and this was a brand new home. We asked the builder if he could put another layer of concrete over it and he said no. He said it wouldn't adhere. He said he'd have to tear it out and re do it, which was what we did.

Vicki

[Sherifftruman]

There are some decorative coatings that can be put down over sound slabs and some damaged concrete. It is not an entire pour of new concrete, but an epoxy coating or cemetious overlay. It can't go over everything, so it will depend on the quality of what you have and sometimes you will need to have some replaced in patches.

I have worked with these guys on some commercial projects before, but they do residential as well.
Blair Duron Concrete Resoration Services

There also these guys, who did some work on a project a company I worked with did, but I had no direct involvement. THey have a pretty wide range of stuff in their gallery.
Advanced Concrete Coatings

[frankpc]

Originally Posted by VickiR

Just last week, I asked a builder about doing that. The situation was that we were doing a punch list walk through on a pre sale and the patio had a crack all the way down the middle of it. As everyone knows, concrete WILL crack but this looked pretty bad and this was a brand new home. We asked the builder if he could put another layer of concrete over it and he said no. He said it wouldn't adhere. He said he'd have to tear it out and re do it, which was what we did.

Vicki

Hopefully with a nice control joint to minimize the crack appearance this time?

Not to climb on my soapbox but concrete is tough to fix. Its tough to tear out and replace. Its one of those jobs where proper prep and attention to details is important.
I cringe when I see base prep that consists of scrapping some clay, when I see contractors adding extra water to the mix to make it easier to work, when control joints aren't cut and when no provisions are made to keep the concrete from drying out too quickly.


Frank