Concrete question... not in my garage...

[Jaguar Fan]

Question for those of you who know about such things:

Attached are a few photos of concrete "bridge" over pool water in my back yard. You can see the color is splotchy & faded. What product should I use to try to make this look better? It was originally a dark grey.

 

[The Cobbler]

with all the cracks in the tile missing grout, I wouldn't worry

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Please ignore the cracks. The missing grout is actually a surface drain.

But back the concrete.... Mrs. Jaguar Fan would like me to apply something to it to make it look better. Any suggestions?

 

[jkeyser14]

Try dark grey concrete die?

 

[Rusted Nut]

Try cleaning with a concrete cleaning solution. Don't use too much, and don't slop it on the other concrete, it can get blotchy doing that. See if that works first.

Pretty nice looking pool BTW.

 

[mike93lx]

Did you try pressure washing it?

 

[duneslider]

If you get it wet (just regular water) does it look like what you want it to look like? If yes, it is very likely that Miracle Sealants 511 Seal and Enhance will solve the problem.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

How long ago was it poured?

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Did you try pressure washing it?

Yes, I've tried pressure washing.

 

[Jaguar Fan]

How long ago was it poured?

Its at least a decade old.

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Pretty nice looking pool BTW.

Thanks. The water level is flush to the surrounding walkway. So, to lower the water level to take a swim, a couple valves turn and the pump pumps water into an underground storage tank, dropping the water level about 6 inches.

 

[signcrafter]

If you get it wet (just regular water) does it look like what you want it to look like? If yes, it is very likely that Miracle Sealants 511 Seal and Enhance will solve the problem.

Need to answer this question and then can give advice. When it's wet with water does it look like it should? If so then it just needs to be cleaned and sealed. If it still looks like your pictures when it's wet then it needs to be cleaned, colored/antiqued, sealed.

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Need to answer this question and then can give advice. When it's wet with water does it look like it should? If so then it just needs to be cleaned and sealed. If it still looks like your pictures when it's wet then it needs to be cleaned, colored/antiqued, sealed.

Sorry for the delay ... life got in the way.

Here are a few before/after pictures this morning. It appears that when wet, it would look pretty good. Once wet, there is a lot of reflection from the water on it. The water does not "bead" but there is a uniform sheet of water maybe 1 or 2 mm thick - so then I took a squeegee to it to remove standing water and the wet concrete still looks pretty good this way. Not perfect, but a very good improvement.

BEFORE (DRY) :





AFTER (WET) - but there is a standing sheet of water on the concrete perhaps a millimeter or two thick, so much of this photo is really reflection bouncing off the standing surface water:



WET - but AFTER I took a squeegee to it to remove standing water. The concrete is definitely wet, but there is no standing water on its surface. It isn't perfect looking, but pretty good. It looks better in person than in the photo.

 

[Jaguar Fan]

And one more picture of the concrete partially dry:

 

[duneslider]

If you are happy with the color when it is wet and squeegeed off then I think the miracle 511 seal and enhance will make it look like that. I am sure there are other products that do the same but that is the one I have experience with. The 511 is a penetrating sealer and not a topical sealer, so it won't change the surface like a topical sealer would. The 511 will need to be applied every year or two probably. A topical sealer might last a little longer but they look more like there is a sealer on the concrete.

I am guessing you just have some natural etching that has occurred on the top finish, which could be from the pool water, or just rain sitting on it. I suspect you could acid etch the concrete and get it more consistent but I would try the sealer first.

 

[Jaguar Fan]

Thanks! I'll give it a shot.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

You can try our DeltaDye concrete stain with multiple colors to choose from and then seal it with our HD6500-EXT to make it last.

 

[dcg9381]

You can try our DeltaDye concrete stain with multiple colors to choose from and then seal it with our HD6500-EXT to make it last.

This is what I use at home. If it looks good wet, then you can essentially clear coat it with HD6500. Downside is that it will be slick when wet.