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So glad to be in this group. Hope you guys can help me.
we have an outdoor area of 24.5 m2 stencilled concrete. It’s old, looks dirty. May be wasn’t sealed properly We want to refresh it. Pls suggest what are the options? Should we grind the patterns off , paint it and reseal it or grind it and spray cement it? What can we do to rejuvenate the area? Attached are some pictures.
Hello @Farhana
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's fantastic to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about how to resurface your stencilled concrete.
It looks like the surface is still in fair condition, I suggest trying to clean it with a pressure washer with a patio cleaner attachment. You can also follow it up with a concrete cleaner and a stiff bristle broom if some of the stains are too tough for the pressure washer.
On the condition that the surface of your stencilled concrete patio is not sealed, it would be possible to clean it. However, if there are remnants of a sealer still attached to the surface of the concrete your only choice will be to re-surface the concrete. Cleaning it now will produce uneven results as part of the concrete surface will reveal its clean face and parts of it will show its sealed surface.
To cover it up you can either tile over it or build a low-level deck, however, if it does manage to come up as a uniform finish then I suggest using a Crommelin concrete sealer to keep the surface fresh and protected.
If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.
Eric
Thank you Eric. Some of the products you have suggested I will definitely try. I have a few questions.
1. How do I know if sealer is still there or not on some of the concrete. We bought the house last year. It’s 15 years old. So don’t know if it was sealed or not.
2. By resurfacing, do you mean grinding?
3. we thought of tiling. But if we put tile on top, this area would be higher than the adjacent pathway. Just thinking will it be a tipping hazard! Any way to fix it? And also will the height of the tile cover the whip hole. Attaching two pics for your understanding.
3. What about spray cement? Some companies grind 2mm of concrete and them put 3mm spray cement. But haven’t got much idea about how durable it is. Any thoughts?
Hi @Farhana
Your plants and succulents are so beautiful. Unfortunately, the only way to find out if there is still sealer on the concrete surface is to clean it. Once you've cleaned the surface you'll immediately be able to tell which parts are still sealed. The choice of resurfacing is up to you, as you mentioned you can have it sprayed over or you can put on another layer of cement over the existing surface. But, this means that the stencil will be covered over and it will be just flat.
If you tile the surface and are worried about the height difference a cemented slope can be placed in your walkway to gradually meet up with the tiles. The height of the tile and the adhesive should conservatively come up to anywhere from 12mm to 15mm it will be ok okay to have this in front of the weep hole.
It's difficult to predict just how long a resprayed surface will last, I believe it will depend on the warranty the provider is willing to give you. Just keep in mind that surface preparation will be the key to a successful revamp of your concrete surface.
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
Eric
