Deck overlay

[dcbrown]

New poster here. I have a pool in suburban Dallas that I will soon be replastering with some other options. My questions are about the patio and deck- I have an existing overlay on the poured concrete patio deck that was stamped in a stone pattern design. The pool deck overlay was itself overlayed over the original pool deck. I'm getting very conflicting information from a multitude of concrete contractors as to what to do. The overlay on the patio deck is spalling and chipping, cracking at seams. The overlay on the pool deck itself is OK it's over the original deck. I have estimates for everything from chipping off the loose overlay and and applying "classic texture and color finish" essentially a thin texture that looks like cool deck, all the way to jacking it all out and starting over. Anyone else have this experience? I'm in the piano business, an expert in my field but know nothing about this. People rely on me for real advice they can trust but this is like roulette with contractors. I'll post some pics tomorrow but would be very grateful for anyone that would weigh in with some practical advice. The concrete people say don't do an overlay it will crack and not last and the overlay people say it will be fine. I realize conditions make a lot of difference. Prices are all over the map as you might expect.

Thanks for listening!

David

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

So on the patio you now have three layers and are thinking about putting a fourth on?

Let's see if your pictures give any indication of instability in the underlying layers causing the cracks.

At some point you need to rip out the layers and start with a fresh base.