Bringing a very old concrete pathway exposed aggregate driveway to life is no easy feat, but with the right tools, products and experience, the transformation is drastic.
THE SCOPE
This project in Carrara consisted of two rear pathway areas leading down to the canal at the rear of the property. The house was most likely built in the 70’s and these paths were from around that time. They had very large cracks in areas and the surface was worn so much it, it looked like exposed aggregate.
The client had existing sandstone tiles and wanted a simple non-slip texture that would blend in with the colours of the sandstone and her house colour.
We decided to apply a cream/sandstone colour in a sprayed texture with highlights of a tan colour, pulled from the sandstone and a nutmeg colour, which was her house colour.
The driveway was laid in exposed aggregate at a later date but also had cracks, just not as large.
The plan of attack was to repair and resurface all the areas in our 6 step resurfacing system.
THE EXECUTION
Step 1: Preparation
Some surfaces need grinding and sandblasting to get an adequate substrate to apply the new surface to and others need pressure cleaning. On this project, pressure cleaning was enough as the surface had no existing coating to remove and the substrate was incredibly rough.
All areas were cleaned, cracks were ground out and also blasted out fully.
Step 2: Cracks
With the cracks, they are filled with an epoxy. An epoxy works very well as it is 100% solids, so therefore doesn’t shrink, plus it grabs to the existing concrete very well.
Note: Although the epoxy does work well, over time the cracks will most likely return in some form.
https://www.osmconcrete.com.au/_files/ugd/44e8c0_f40481021115477db647c60d69e1160e.pdf Step 3: Base Coat
Once the cracks have been addressed, the surface is base coated.
What that means is that an initial coating is done to bring the surface to a flat finish. This requires some skill and a specially designed resurfacing mix. Depending on the existing surface, one coat may be enough, other times this needs two applications.
RAIN RAIN RAIN!!
Queensland has had a shocker this year for weather. With incredibly unlucky timing, we got to the last day of work and then had rain set in for 2 weeks straight. The project had to be paused which caused frustration for us and the client. She was a lovely client and very understanding.
Step 4: Protection
Before applying the finish, all the surrounding walls and anything that could get product on it, is protected. For this project we were applying a sprayed texture which needs extra care taken at this stage.
Step 5: Apply Decorative Finish
The sprayed finish happens quite quickly If all the preparation is done right and base coating is smooth up to this point.
This job was no different.
Step 6: Sealing
Once all the plastic is removed and all clean up around the area is done, it’s time to seal the new surface. As standard, a solvent based acrylic is used.
Note: There are many different sealers available on the market that have different properties, but a solvent based acrylic is hard to beat for client affordabilit, ease of re-application and performance for its cost. We find it is exceptional value for The customer.
JOB DONE
The project came up great and the customer was over the moon.
If you have a project like this, reach out to us, we would love to hear from you.
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