Photo courtesy of Southbay Decorative Concrete Supplies He now has it in his store, where forklifts are all over it. Noe Serna says he’s been using overlays for nearly 15 years inside his home and on his driveway. That echoes the advice given by all our experts: invest your time wisely by carefully prepping. The overlays can crack, too, just like regular concrete.” “If you try to prep a bad substrate, it’s not going to get much better. “Make sure the substrate is on stable ground,” he says. Koury offers three simple words when outlining the key to job success with overlays: “Substrate, substrate, substrate.” The condition of the slab and the prep work done on it, he says, spell victory or doom. Photo courtesy of Vegas Hardscape How to apply It was then sealed with Arizona Polymer’s Poly 250. It can be much easier to overlay the top if it’s in good condition.”Īfter installing Westcoat’s TC-6 overlay tinted with Sahara stain and antiqued with a Mocha-colored release, contractor Mike McAnulty stamped this driveway with an Old Granite pattern from Proline. “It’s difficult to pull out the existing concrete and figure out how to get it out of there. “California backyard pool decks might be a story or two lower in a canyon,” he says. And I’ve got it in my store now, where we drive forklifts over it and I’ve never had a problem.”īased on his southern California location, Koury says contractors sometimes push overlays because they’re working on difficult terrain. I’ve used it inside my home and on my driveway. I’ve been playing with this product for about 14 years. I tell them it will last as long as the base. “A lot of people are used to concrete and they can’t believe a quarter-inch overlay is going to hold up to factors like the weight of a car. “Most of the questions I get about the product have to do with the durability,” he says. Noe Serna, president of Southbay Decorative Concrete Supplies in Chula Vista, California, says that many of his customers raise eyebrows when the subject of overlays comes up. “There’s no reason to throw away 4 inches of concrete in the dump when you can make it look good again with a half-inch (or less) of concrete over the top,” he says. Koury also points out the environmental advantages of overlaying when there’s an existing slab. It’s more expedient to go over the top as long as you have a good substrate.” “Sometimes the motivation is turnaround, especially when it’s a commercial building or retail establishment,” he says. Paul Koury, president of Westcoat Specialty Coating Systems in San Diego, calls downtime another factor. But as long as it’s stable concrete, we can go over the top of it with the polymer concrete.” “A lot of times people don’t really have the money to tear something out. “We’re in western New York, and budgets are still tight whether it’s residential or commercial,” says Jim Boyce, operations manager at Rhino Concrete in Pittsford. But natural stone requires a lot more maintenance, so I show them how they can get the same effect with stamped overlays.”Īffordability is always an issue, and contractors who can overlay have a built-in advantage. “I also see a lot of customers who prefer a rock look. I show them how it’s less expensive to install overlays than to tear out the existing concrete and start over,” says McAnulty. “Most of my residential customers have an existing concrete standard gray broom finish. Aesthetically, you can end up with the same coloring and texture that mimics the look of brick, stone, marble or whatever texture you’re after on a newly poured, thicker slab. Overlaying is simply a matter of laying a concrete topping of only a quarter-inch or so over an existing slab and stamping that new surface. “We’ve done a 600-square-foot patio in three days.” “It’s less labor-intense than a (regular) stamp job and more controllable,” says Mike McAnulty, president of Vegas Hardscape, a decorative concrete and coatings company in Las Vegas. All you need is a fairly decent slab foundation. Stamped concrete overlays have all the aesthetic advantages of conventional stamping or paving, but they’re easier and almost always less costly to install. But what if traditionally stamped concrete isn’t an option? What if the customer already has a concrete surface and a rip out isn’t in the budget? Or the space is difficult to access, making it a real challenge to remove broken slabs? In these scenarios, the solution may be a stamped concrete overlay. Who doesn’t like the look of stamped concrete? It can add a touch of elegance to everything from commercial and retail projects to public spaces and residences. Using stamped concrete overlays to create an expanse of textured concrete with a custom blend of colors is a cost-effective alternative. With as little as one quarter inch of material, such as the Stamp-It overlay from Westcoat, a plain concrete patio can be transformed.
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