how do I repair my stamped/colored back patio
I have a stamped back patio. It is colored brownish/reddish/grayish. not sure what coloring method was used by the original creators.
I was an ignorant young new home owner and I didn't know that I was suppose to seal my back patio. It took water/freeze damage 2 winters ago, after which I patched it and resealed it, to prevent further damage(which worked very well....no damage this past winter). But....here is my dilemma:
My patch job looks terrible. I could not get the color or the texture to look even remotely close to the original. I actually was able to get a pretty decent match on a couple of spots, but it was incredibly hard to repeat. I used some quick-crete cement mix and some quick-crete cement coloring (the liquid kind you mix into the cement). All bought at home depot. Then I just tried to eyeball it and make it looked textured. Anyway, I was just wondering if anybody had any ideas for me to try. Is there something really obvious that I am missing?
For instance....... is there some technique or method for color matching or texture matching that makes it much easier that maybe I just don't know about? maybe I should just hire somebody? or maybe I'm S.O.L..... because it's impossible to make it look natural again without redoing the whole thing?
At this point (just to avoid trying to match and patch) I'm even considering wire brush scrubbing or sandblasting or power washing it just to take all of the current coloring out of it (since I'm pretty sure the current color is just on the very top layer)....... and then patching it would be easier because i could just patch it gray, since it would all be gray. Then I could hire somebody to come color it........ then I could seal it up by myself. Does this plan sound stupid?
any info would be great! thanks!
I will post pics tonight. Thanks!
Great ... once you do, you will have removed the blinders as to our trying to picture the entire scope of your problems, issues, and overal delimmas, only then can we form a plan as to how to go about remediation. If for any reason you have a problem posting photos either give me a call on my DCF phone line (top of every forum page) or email them directly to me Lindy.Ausburne@gmail.com
Lindy (co-host/moderator)
So the site downgraded the photo so it lost a lot of detail in the texture and color. In fact it actually made my repairs look better than they reallly do!!..... anyway, on the right there are some spots that look more reddish....that is where I patched it. It sticks out like a sore thumb in real life. Also on the right is a smaller "stone" that looks all chewed up. That is because I hammered out the repair.... I am using the "stone" as my guinea pig to try to get the color perfect. I have already tried like 3 times this season, everytime it looked terrible, so I hammered it out (that is why it might look a little brown, my last attempt was way too brown). Ok so on the left you can see more chewed up "stones". I hammered those out as well because the repair job looked exceptionally bad on those..... actually I think one of them was never repaird..... I decided to test with it by rolling sealant over it and seeing if it would survive the winter...... it definitely got worse over the winter.... turns out patching it really helps it survive the cold. On the very far left, you can see some of my patch work that actually looks pretty good. I got lucky and got the color just right I guess. I'm gonna try once more this summer and if i t doesn't look good, I'm either going to hire a pro to come try to backout my repairs and redo it, or I'm just gonna try to take all of the color out of the whole thing, by sandblasting, powerwashing, and/or scrubbing with a wire brush.
I don't see any photos? You can email attach them to me if you like.
Before you screw it up anymore have a professional look at it. You are trying to save a dime and in the process destroying what may be a easy fix for a professional. Each time you attempt to repair it will just make it that much more difficult for a skilled mason to repair.
Try a product called Newlook. They have products that will do what you want. Good luck.
Like was said a few posts back, have a pro look at it for a repair, and there are other products that can help to blend colors. A touch up skin may work better than a hammer to texture with if thats what you are using.
Can you post a photo ... as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, giving us a way to view your surface and answer questions as to what you options are.
Lindy