A concrete patio is a good thing to have. It can serve you as a relaxation spot to use during the hot summer days, as a place where you can invite your guests, or just sit and enjoy the nice weather. However, you might notice one day that the concrete surface of your patio is slightly (or not slightly!) worn out.
What shall be done in this case?
Of course, the first thought would be how to smooth out this rough concrete surface. And if you are not familiar with the process, doing this might be difficult for you. Luckily, we are here to help you out with this task!
In the following article, you are going to find out how to smooth a rough concrete patio floor. We will provide you with a detailed guide that will help you to move step by step and achieve a smooth and even concrete surface quite easily.
And of course, we will share a few handy tips about smoothing out concrete!
With all that in mind, you will be able to make the surface of your concrete patio very smooth, and there will be hardly anything that might confuse you about this process.
How to Make a Rough Concrete Smooth?
There might be different reasons why you decide to make your concrete patio smooth. For example, one of the most common reasons is that you have just finished your new patio but the concrete surface is still rough and needs to be smoothed out.
As an alternative reason, your concrete patio could be rather old by now, and of course, frequent use and weather conditions (such as rain and snow) resulted in a rough concrete floor.
In either case, your goal would be to find a way to smooth out the rough concrete surface of your patio. This is why we have prepared an in-depth step-by-step guide for you below. With its help, you will find out how exactly a rough concrete patio can be smoothed out by yourself.
There is just one nuance that you should be aware of!
If you want to make your patio smooth because it has recently been poured, you should consider finishing the concrete before it dries! Only then the surface can be smoothed out.
Gather Your Materials
The first thing that you will need to do before you start making your concrete patio smooth is to gather all the materials you will need for that. The list of these materials typically includes the following items:
- an epoxy resin duct tape
- a floor grinder
- a mop
- plastic sheeting
- a concrete sealer
- protective gear such as a face mask, goggles, earplugs, and rubber gloves
- a shop vac
Prepare the Area
Before you start turning your rough concrete into a smooth one, you need to get the area ready. That means that all the furniture and items should be removed from the concrete patio.
Anything that cannot be removed should be covered with plastic sheets. It will allow you to protect the items from being damaged and covered with concrete dust. Next, at this stage of the process you will also want to mop the concrete floor.
Mopping will help you remove any dust and debris.
After you are done with mopping, allow the floor to dry, and while you are waiting for it to dry fully, divide the floor into smaller zones so you can focus on smaller sections at a time.
Start Sanding
We recommend you start with either 30 grit or 60 grit sandpaper. Attach the sandpaper to your floor grinder and start sanding the concrete patio in one corner. Make vertical passes along the concrete patio floor, covering half of the previous pass with each pass.
If there are any bumps, go over them carefully in order to completely remove them.
Fill All the Cracks You Can Find
If your concrete patio happens to have any large cracks, they have to bi fixed with the help of the epoxy resin. You just need to make sure that the epoxy resin is smooth and then allow it to completely cure before moving on to the next step.
If there are no cracks on the surface of your patio, then you can skip this step and move on, following the instructions given below.
Continue Sanding
Yes, there is going to be a lot of sanding, as you can already see! So, if your concrete patio had any cracks and you had to fix them with the epoxy resin, you shouldn’t skip this step.
Once the epoxy resin is completely cured, continue sanding. You will want to start at the far corner where you finished, and then keep sanding until you end up where you started.
Keep on doing so until you have passed over the same area at last four times, with the second set of two passes seeing you working horizontally or side-to-side, as opposed to sanding in vertical lines.
Apply Concrete Sealer
After you are done with sanding, you can move on. And now it is time to apply a generous amount of concrete sealer to the area that has just been sanded. We recommend everyone follow the instructions on the label of the product and make sure that you give the concrete sealer enough time to dry.
Continue Sanding
After the sealer is applied and dried thoroughly, you will want to repeat a few of the previous steps. But before you proceed, make sure you switch the sandpaper in the grinder to either 80 grit or 120 grit.
Now you need to make vertical passes with the grinder, making sure to cover half of the last pass each time. Like this, you will smooth out bumps, then fill divots with epoxy, and allow them to dry.
Then you just need to continue sanding, starting in the far corner and working your way back. Keep on doing so until you have reached the starting point.
Clean the Floor and Continue
After you finish the sanding session, clean the floor with a mop and then allow it to dry. What you need to do now is to keep sanding, switching to progressively finer grit sandpaper until you reach around 1,500 grit or even finer.
All you have to do is keep cleaning and mopping the floor and then keep switching to finer sandpaper until you reach the ideal smoothness for your concrete patio. Once you have achieved the desired smoothness, you can give your concrete patio one last mopping and cleaning.
Like this, now you have a complete and detailed guide on how to make concrete smoother.
If you make sure that you follow all the steps we described precisely, without skipping any of them except for those that you don’t need (like fixing the cracks), you will be able to get a smooth concrete patio surface with minimal effort.
Some Extra Info On the Subject: Mistakes to Avoid, Tips, Tricks, And Life Hacks
With the information given above, you should now have a good idea of what should be done in order to make your concrete patio smoother. However, it would also be good to know a few useful tips and secrets that can help you make the process even more efficient. Below, there are some additional tips that will help you make the concrete smoothening process easier.
- Make sure you will be performing the task on a relatively nice and warm day since you will be working with things like concrete sealer and epoxy resin
- If possible, connect the hose of the shop vac right to the floor grinder. This will save you a whole lot of mess!
- Beware of concrete dust! This substance is very harmful to human health when inhaled, so wear a face mask when working with it. You might even want to use a full-scale respirator if possible
- If the concrete patio is very uneven and sanding it down is not an option, then you may want to resurface the concrete. Do it by applying a resurfacing agent overtop the original concrete patio
A Few Useful Tips That Will Help You Keep Your Concrete In a Good State
There is hardly a person who can call concrete a fragile or delicate material. We use it for our pavements, patio and garage floors, and other constructions, so how could it be fragile?!
However, if you don’t maintain your concrete surface properly and correctly, it will not last very long.
So if you are an owner of a concrete patio and you want it to serve you longer, and remain cracks-free, you should consider following a few easy maintenance rules. With their help, your concrete patio or floor will stay safe and sound, keeping its smooth texture and even surface.
Clean Your Concrete
If you want to keep your concrete looking good, it should be regularly cleaned. Cleaning can help remove dirt and debris, as well as give the final form an attractive look to the surface. There are different ways to clean concrete, so feel free to find the option that will work the best for your specific need.
Seal It
Sealing can help extend the lifespan of your concrete surface and keep it looking good longer. There are different types of concrete sealers that can be used, for example, topical sealers that can be applied to the surface every few years in order to prevent staining and damage.
Remove Stains Immediately
Even if your concrete surface is sealed, you should still clean stains and spills from concrete as soon as they appear. Cleaning any dirt, spills, as well as other stains in time will help prevent any discoloration or staining from occurring. As a result, it will help your concrete look better.
Limit the Weight
Concrete is a very strong and durable material. However, residential concrete is not designed to hold extremely heavy materials. For example, your driveway might be perfectly fine with the weight of your car or bike, but it won’t handle heavy machinery or oversized vehicles!
So keep heavy machinery somewhere other than your driveway to extend the lifespan of your concrete.
Avoid the Wrong Chemicals
Using certain chemicals on your concrete can be harmful. For example, certain deicers can work through the sealer and harm the concrete surface! Fertilizers can also stain it, so be sure to remove any excess or spillage from your concrete right away. It’s also important that you use a cleaner specifically designed for concrete, as some household products may rather cause harm than good.
Well, this is the complete guide on how to make your concrete patio smoother if its surface is far from that state. No matter why the surface of your patio became harsh, with the help of these instructions, you will be able to fix it relatively easily.
Why relatively?
Well, because, as you could see, making concrete even and smooth takes some effort and time anyway. It is not something that can be done in a minute!
However, if you follow our recommendations precisely and don’t skip any of the important steps we mentioned, you can be sure that your concrete patio will become smooth again. Just make sure you use the protective gear for yourself and the correct tools for the concrete to smooth it out.
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