[clevelandrocks]

In Cleveland suburbs (zone 5) and our concrete patio is cracked and sunken an inch in the center. It has a block foundation on the exterior, apparently built for a sunroom/enclosed room originally but never finished. We want to hide the cracks and improve the look. I am considering Quikrete Garage Floor Epoxy. Has anyone tried this? Our other thought is putting thin pavers on top...mortar the perimeter pavers and sand in the interior. I am getting quotes on how much a roof will cost and ideally this will be the final step to make sure water stops gathering on top.

Tearing it out and starting over is not an option. The foundation and size make that too big of a job for us.

This post suggests epoxy will not work outdoors: http://www.diychatroom.com/f5/quikcrete-garage-floor-epoxy-23226/#post136614

Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[user1007]

I have used a lot of Abatron.com products and they make epoxies for pool decks and so forth. Before deciding this to be a DIY project though? I would contact a couple epoxy floor and deck finish pros for estimates. They will have the equipment to mix the epoxy parts, textures, colorants and flakes, etc. together on demand. You will have some recourse to have them fix things if something should go wrong.

Not saying you should not do it yourself if the price difference is substantial. Make sure the epoxy has been stored properly and that it is within the expiration limits or you could end up with a non-setting mess. Ever seen the trucks lined up outside an HD or Lowe's in the heat or cold waiting to unload overnight or a weekend. Not good for epoxy.

 

[clevelandrocks]

Thanks, sdsester. I checked their website and the ABOJET® CRACK-INJECTION SYSTEM seems good if we decide to seal the cracks and put pavers or a deck on top. I will contact them and see what they say about using the Abojet and then using their garage floor coating system on top of that. I notice their prices are 2.5x the Quikrete from Lowe's...the Quickrete kit does 200 sq ft and Abatron's kit does 400 sq ft...is the quality worth the price?

 

[user1007]

Thanks, sdsester. I checked their website and the ABOJET® CRACK-INJECTION SYSTEM seems good if we decide to seal the cracks and put pavers or a deck on top. I will contact them and see what they say about using the Abojet and then using their garage floor coating system on top of that. I notice their prices are 2.5x the Quikrete from Lowe's...the Quickrete kit does 200 sq ft and Abatron's kit does 400 sq ft...is the quality worth the price?

Isn't quality always worth the price if you can afford it? :thumbsup: And maybe I read your message wrong but if one company can do twice the square footage aren't we talking .5x the difference in price?

I learned of the folks I passed on to you first exploring the insane possibility of restoring wooden sailboats. Their customer support and technical people are top notch. Let me know your experience. There are still others out there like them. I am creature of habit I suppose. But Google Abatron and hit the "others similar" or whatever option.

And I sympathize with the minimum wage person you will try to engage in similar discussions at Lowe's, Menard's, HD and so forth. If you get extremely lucky there and find one who knows about filling concrete cracks, and coating epoxy over concrete to make a deck surface? You will probably walk over to the epoxy and find it expired last year. Or worse, knowing you need 3 gallons to finish the project and cannot possibly stop once started? They will only have 2 and will not be able to tell you if and when they might get another.

Hey, I rag on I suppose but I hate seeing the sense of quality this country once had degraded so. Let me redeem myself. Do a search for rubber pavers and tell me, if you find the really cool ones indistinguishable from brick, you would not consider putting them down. The ones made of recycled material come with a double tax credit if you play your cards right.

 

[clevelandrocks]

aren't we talking .5x the difference in price?

I did quick math, but also didn't explain it well enough. The Abatron product does 400 sq ft in one kit, but costs 5x as much per kit. The Quikrete kit does 200 sq ft for 1/5 the price. Works out to $1.20/sq ft for Abatron and $.40/sq ft for Quikrete, not including shipping.

And yes, good quality is worth more, I guess I was wondering if the Abatron is really that much better quality than Quikrete...I can't find a bad review on this website or others about Quikrete, except for people who complain about putting it down in the same area days or even weeks apart and then the color doesn't match.

Still wondering if anyone out there as tried garage floor epoxy outside on a patio in cold weather climates and how it turned out.

 

[user1007]

I did quick math, but also didn't explain it well enough. The Abatron product does 400 sq ft in one kit, but costs 5x as much per kit. The Quikrete kit does 200 sq ft for 1/5 the price. Works out to $1.20/sq ft for Abatron and $.40/sq ft for Quikrete, not including shipping.

And yes, good quality is worth more, I guess I was wondering if the Abatron is really that much better quality than Quikrete...I can't find a bad review on this website or others about Quikrete, except for people who complain about putting it down in the same area days or even weeks apart and then the color doesn't match.

Still wondering if anyone out there as tried garage floor epoxy outside on a patio in cold weather climates and how it turned out.

Cannot answer your question and that is a 3x difference in price if both products are equal. What thickness do both products claim to leave behind and what kind of UV protection do they offer for outdoor use? I would call customer or tech support for both companies and see what they have to say.

As for colors not matching with epoxy applied days or weeks later? Epoxy, at the end of the day, is a resin in which colorants and flecks are suspended. They don't really mix into the body of the stuff like say paint pigments do. Epoxy also requires a chemical reaction to cure and the temperature and humidity on one day now vs. one a month from now will be different and can effect the color. Most color differences should balance out though if you are exact with what you add to each mix.

If you are doing this in stages, you will probably never get sections to match exactly so work around it with two tones or something. Or, just bite the bullet, make sure you have enough material and just plan on doing it all in one pass on one long day. Bribe someone to mix the epoxy for you so you can just keep going and applying it.

I would still bring in a couple people for estimates to just apply whatever you want, do the crack repairs, and lay down whatever thickness, color and pattern you want. See how far off they are from your square foot price.

Nobody is going to notice your garage floor off a bit between sections but the a blotchy epoxy deck will stick out like a sore thumb.