Concrete deck: overlay or demo/replace?

[Tyrone Shuz]

How many of you have had overlays on concrete? Does it last, or does it chip and look worse than before?

Our deck is concrete with pressure-treated pine strips in the expansion joints.

I'm getting estimates on overlay on Wed, and Thu for a whole remodel (different company)

The remodel company wanted to either pressure-wash my concrete every year (relatively cheap) or redo the whole thing, because they don't do overlays. They say there's problems, yadda yadda.

The overlay company (not cheap) does many of the hotels around here, and are supposed to be great, but I don't think they do things like diving boards and other things we might want to change (like the electrical outlets that spring from the deck, though they might).

Whatever I do, I want the least maintenance, and I'd love to save some $$, but more importantly, I want the job done right.

Who has had overlays, vs. redos, and what did it cost, yadda yadda?

 

[Lenny]

Are there structural cracks in the existing concrete?

If there was superficial damage, I would consider some kind of resurfacing but if there are structural cracks I'd be concerned that they will eventually transfer to the new surface.

I'd be interested to see what kind of guarantee the contractors have against cracking, etc.

 

[cliff_s]

There are many brands of spray on deck finishes in most any color you would like. The existing cracks can be
patched and the finish applied. It is usually 3 coats first a primer, then a texture coat and then a overcoat of
Acrylic paint. This makes a very durable deck finish that can be pressure washed.

There is one caveat, some companies sell these coatings as KoolDeck, they are not. KoolDeck is white cement that
is spattered on fresh concrete.

The job is not complicated and by renting a airless sprayer and texture gun you could do the job yourself. The materials are
rather expensive.


Cliff s

 

[Tyrone Shuz]

Well, we're going with a company/product called SunDek. They made a great presentation, guaranteed it for 10 years, saying we'd likely need a re-color. It's actually a concrete coating/texture. They say it's cooler than concrete, and smoother, less skinned-knee factor. They're going to even out the areas that need it, and do whatever small repairs are necessary. They said that but for a couple small easily repairable spots, the concrete was in great shape. The 2x4 inserts (very old style) of pressure wood were not in great shape, but they'll be replaced w/PVC to match the color. I'm excited about it, I should take some before/after pics.

But now our liner is starting to give out. It was a new liner when we bought the house, but I think they had it done on the cheap. The coping doesn't look good either, so we'll have those done next spring. Ack. I was really hoping to get another couple/three years out of that liner.