resurfacing concrete?

[Guest]

A bozo (me) botched a small concrete slab for a shed by fussing over it too long with a trowel. As a result the surface is disintegrating and turning to dust.

Is there a product that you can use to resurface/bind concrete that has this problem?

[terracore]

While I've never done it, I saw on a DIY program where they used a rented concrete grinder to remove the top portion, washed it really well, then used a concrete binding agent before putting down a fresh layer. Here's a link to some products (I just did a quick search) you could probably go to HD and read the labels for specific instructions. http://www.homedepot.com/b/Concrete-Bond...1vZ1z10ijf

[Carey]

Is the shed on the slab & is this the floor of the shed? is the shed small than 8x10'

If yes to all, grinding can be done, but is a real hassle in that small space (we have done rooms worth of concrete grinding using both a small hand grinder we own & a large vacuum grinder rented from HD. both work, hand grinder is slow and unbelievable dusty, rental one works much faster & has ~ 1/4" clearance around the walls)

If the concrete surface is in a small shed, can you scrape up all of the disintegrated surface concrete & get to a solid surface? then you can use a thin setting top treatment (most are epoxy type ...much like the slab resurfacers use for the embossed resurfaced concrete.

Of course, another idea is just clean up as much of the surface as you can & place a surface covering like interlocking garage tiles or even horse/barn rubber mats over the slab (esp. if this is a smaller shed - these are available at Dells & Miranda).

[VancouverIslander]

Levelling compound can be used if you are going to put another flooring type on top like tile or something. Concrete planers do a good job, but are incredibly dusty (hook a shop vac up to it like Carey says), but if it's just surface irregularities, I'd just use a wire wheel to get the soft stuff out, clean it up and use levelling compound.

[john the architect]

We redid our lanai with yellow bag concrete surfacer from quikcrete, About $22 per 40 pound bag. You wait 24 hours and then hand grind it with a smoothing block and it is ready to seal, two coats quikcrete sealer. All at HD. Must get down to a solid surface to start, no dust. No adhesive needed.

John Maloney
310.562.0362
johnmaloney3@me.com
Hawaii Architect AR8082
www.jmagreenbuilding.com