Commerce City Concrete Restoration Project

Staging for the sale of this home, the homeowner needed the most appealing repairs while still fitting a budget. Here we will go from start to finish of the project.

Picture above is the front of the home of the project site. Along the side of the home where the back gate is seen in the image above is the start of the sidewalk project.

Mission of the project

Home owner was looking to tear out and replace existing stamped concrete walk (108 sq ft). Additionally homeowner wanted to renew the stamped concrete walk and patio. Last, the homeowner wanted to resurface spalling portions of the concrete driveway. The existing stamped concrete had several years of deferred maintenance which has made the sidewalk and patio unsightly. Additionally with efflorescence build up the patio appeared as though there was no saving it. At least that is what the homeowner had thought when we began the project.

Project Overview and Scope of Work

Learn more about the total project overview and view the exact notes and scope of work that was sent to the homeowner here. Denver Concrete Inc takes great effort on each project regardless of its size. This project was a very small project; however communication is critical to a successful outcome. So our process and protocol is important in every case.

Tear out Replace Stamped Concrete Sidewalk

Homeowner wanted to replace this stamped concrete sidewalk. At least 110 sq ft of this front walk. From the front driveway to the back gate is to be torn out and replaced.

Of course our consultant explained that matching stamped and decorative concrete can be almost impossible. Our crew does the best that they can to match existing colored and stamped concrete.

Matching colored concrete is near impossible as every contractor has a different approach to stamped and colored concrete.

This portion of the sidewalk cannot just be rejuvenated unfortunately, with the severe shifting of the existing sidewalk there are too many trip hazards. The only option for repair is to tear out and replace this portion of the sidewalk. The area from the back gate to the front drive is about 108 sq ft altogether.

With this kind of damage to the sidewalk, the only repair suggested is to tear out and replace. Other concrete repair options such as concrete lifting, resurfacing and crack repair are all out the window as the damage is beyond repair.

Poor Base Compaction

This kind of major heaving and cracking is abnormal and would have been completely avoided with proper site preparation. Unfortunately the existing concrete sidewalk was installed directly on dirt.

As our crew started to demolish this section of the sidewalk, we found no evidence of a prepared base. Although this is typical from what we see when we remove concrete, it typically does not wind up in this kind of drastic heaving.

The new concrete sidewalk was prepared with road base, our crew installed over 4" of road base and compacted for the new walkway base. In addition to installing road base, the new walkway was "dowled" into the foundation and concrete driveway.

By dowling the sidewalk into the house and driveway, as well as installing a compacted base, the new walk should not move anything like the previous sidewalk.

This picture is actually taken through the crack visible in the sidewalk images above.

Our concrete consultant was able to actually take a picture of the base beneath the existing sidewalk as the crack was large it allowed just enough space for the lens to fit. Here you can see the existing base of the current sidewalk was non-existent. What we typically see here would be road base or structural fill (even though that would be the wrong application, we see crews use this as base in some instances). Here there is no base at all. It was the opinion of the concrete consultant that this led to the horrible shifting of the existing concrete driveway.

STAMPED CONCRETE PATIO & WALK REJUVENATION

BEFORE REJUVENATION

Rejuvenate Stamped Concrete Patio

The existing stamped concrete patio has lost a great deal of color and vibrancy over the years. The homeowner wanted to bring this patio back to its original finish. Many homeowners are unaware that you can bring a stamped concrete patio to new!

The process can be a little trying depending on the existing condition of the existing stamped concrete. In most cases a thorough clean and removal of any pre-existing sealant before treatment is all that is needed before a final application of sealant.

This stamped concrete patio has lost much of it's original color and when inspected up close looks worn and tired.

Concrete Driveway Overlay

The two sections of driveway nearest the main garage door were overlayed in an effort to resurface the spalling concrete of the existing concrete driveway.

The last item on the homeowner's punch list was to perfect the existing concrete driveway. Unfortunately the existing concrete driveway had a couple of sections that had started spalling. In an effort to give the home the highest amount of curb appeal, the homeowner had decided that the best solution was to resurface the problematic sections of the drive.

As seen, concrete resurfacing can give older concrete a fresh look. In the image below, the freshly ""overlayed" sections of concrete driveway the homeowner was able to give a fresh surface to these sections. The overlay does look and feel just like concrete; however matching traditional concrete is not possible without painting the overlay.

Not all concrete is a good candidate for concrete resurfacing. In this particular case the existing concrete driveway had been poured only 3 years earlier. The concrete was definitely in decent shape and was a particularly good candidate for resurfacing or overlay services.

There is quite a process for resurfacing concrete, you can learn more about that here on our website. It is definitely not as simple as just overlaying the area with new concrete. Although we have seen other contractors offer a concrete overlay like this, we rarely see the process succeed. This is because the existing concrete must prepared correctly for the best adhesion with the new overlay layer.

Questions?

Contact denverconcreteinc@gmail.com to get a free estimate on your project. Also visit www.denverconcreteinc.com for more information on our services.