I have an entrance porch of approx 150 sq ft of mature
(17 years) concrete. It's in generally sound condition
with a few small cracks and chips but it's been stained
by some planters that were placed there at one time.

Initially, I considered tiling the thing. However, that
now looks less than practical due to a combination of
drainage issues and expansion joints running at 45 degrees.

So then I started looking at various coatings. Google
turned up a bunch of products some of which look a lot
like overpriced snake oil. Sherwin Williams have the H&C
Silicone Acrylic Concrete Sealer which looks like it would
work but apparently it's not available in the People's
Republic of Kalifornia. I feel it will probably take
something of better quality than that sold in the big
box stores.

I'd like to create something like a natural stone effect
with a little texture/pattern (versus solid color) to
hide the imperfections. The porch is sheltered from the
wind and rain but exposed to direct sunlight and UV.
Traffic is very light but I want something durable and
don't need a maintenance liability.

I think it wants a relatively thick (high solids) coating
to fill/hide the cracks and imperfections and maybe a
clearcoat on top for additional protection -- I don't
want the "wet look". I considered acid staining but at
17 years I fear the surface is too shabby for that to
work out well. Ditto for semi-transparent stains.

I don't own any spray gear and prefer something that can
be rolled on. I might even use a ragging roller and add
a thin coat of a different color to create something of
a granite-like texture.

Anyone have any experience of *exterior* concrete coatings?
Many of the garage floor paints are not UV resistent!

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In article , "Joseph Meehan" wrote:
Frankly I would suggest not trying to cover it up. You will likely be
disappointed in the long run.

Yeah, that's a very valid concern.

Rather than cover it up, how about a good power washer to work on it or
some sand blasting. Either should clean it up and it should look new again.

I've tried the power washer -- with only 150 sq ft I was able to
give a pretty thorough cleaning. It helped but still looks shabby.

A sand or shot blaster is an interesting idea. It might produce
an acceptable result by itself. But it would almost certainly
provide a good surface for some kind of penetrating semi-
transparent stain too.

Most products used on concrete that is exposed to the elements and freeze
thaw cycles under up looking really bad really soon.

Freezing is not a major problem here in the San Francisco Bay
Area.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In article , Steve wrote:
(Malcolm Hoar) wrote on 14 Nov 2007 in group
alt.home.repair:

Anyone have any experience of *exterior* concrete coatings?
Many of the garage floor paints are not UV resistent!

Consider the gravel/epoxy coatings. They're effectively permanent, and
they drain.

Hmmmm, I assume you're speaking of some kind of aggregate that's
bound together and onto the old concrete with epoxy? I guess
this would be troweled on rather than painted.

It's an interesting possibility. Do you know of any specific
products?


--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Nov 14, 2:15 pm, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:
In article , Steve wrote:

(Malcolm Hoar) wrote on 14 Nov 2007 in group
alt.home.repair:

Anyone have any experience of *exterior* concrete coatings?
Many of the garage floor paints are not UV resistent!

Consider the gravel/epoxy coatings. They're effectively permanent, and
they drain.

Hmmmm, I assume you're speaking of some kind of aggregate that's
bound together and onto the old concrete with epoxy? I guess
this would be troweled on rather than painted.

It's an interesting possibility. Do you know of any specific
products?


pebble-tec. i've used this to cover concrete patios. it does work
well. it is troweled on, so can be used on non-level concrete slabs
well. however, it is hotter underfoot if in direct sun, and also the
epoxy has to be renewed (at a fairly large expense) every 3-5 years.
if you fail to renew the coating, the sun breaks down the epoxy and
the pebbles start coming out of the coating.

regards,
charlie
cave creek, az

In article om, charlie wrote:

pebble-tec. i've used this to cover concrete patios. it does work
well. it is troweled on, so can be used on non-level concrete slabs
well. however, it is hotter underfoot if in direct sun, and also the
epoxy has to be renewed (at a fairly large expense) every 3-5 years.
if you fail to renew the coating, the sun breaks down the epoxy and
the pebbles start coming out of the coating.

Thanks, I'll check that out. Applying a fresh coat of UV protecting
clearcoat every few years would be okay. I don't want any more
maintenance than that.


--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Nov 14, 4:50 pm, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:
In article om, charlie wrote:
pebble-tec. i've used this to cover concrete patios. it does work
well. it is troweled on, so can be used on non-level concrete slabs
well. however, it is hotter underfoot if in direct sun, and also the
epoxy has to be renewed (at a fairly large expense) every 3-5 years.
if you fail to renew the coating, the sun breaks down the epoxy and
the pebbles start coming out of the coating.

Thanks, I'll check that out. Applying a fresh coat of UV protecting
clearcoat every few years would be okay. I don't want any more
maintenance than that.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
|http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I used a solid stain for concrete on my stamped concrete patio. It's
about 10 years old now and was getting weathered. Prior to this, I'd
only used a clear sealer on it. It came out excellent, looks like
new. I followed up with a solvent based sealer and iIt's been 18
months and it still looks good

You are launching into an area called decorative concrete.

Good, professional information he
http://www.thestampstore.com/

If you are subject to freeze/thaw I would avoid the glued on stone
stuff. I can show you more failures than successes.

--
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Malcolm Hoar" wrote in message
...
I have an entrance porch of approx 150 sq ft of mature
(17 years) concrete. It's in generally sound condition
with a few small cracks and chips but it's been stained
by some planters that were placed there at one time.

Initially, I considered tiling the thing. However, that
now looks less than practical due to a combination of
drainage issues and expansion joints running at 45 degrees.

So then I started looking at various coatings. Google
turned up a bunch of products some of which look a lot
like overpriced snake oil. Sherwin Williams have the H&C
Silicone Acrylic Concrete Sealer which looks like it would
work but apparently it's not available in the People's
Republic of Kalifornia. I feel it will probably take
something of better quality than that sold in the big
box stores.

I'd like to create something like a natural stone effect
with a little texture/pattern (versus solid color) to
hide the imperfections. The porch is sheltered from the
wind and rain but exposed to direct sunlight and UV.
Traffic is very light but I want something durable and
don't need a maintenance liability.

I think it wants a relatively thick (high solids) coating
to fill/hide the cracks and imperfections and maybe a
clearcoat on top for additional protection -- I don't
want the "wet look". I considered acid staining but at
17 years I fear the surface is too shabby for that to
work out well. Ditto for semi-transparent stains.

I don't own any spray gear and prefer something that can
be rolled on. I might even use a ragging roller and add
a thin coat of a different color to create something of
a granite-like texture.

Anyone have any experience of *exterior* concrete coatings?
Many of the garage floor paints are not UV resistent!

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I
get". |
| Gary
Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN.
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~