Imprinted concrete - Grandad has been ripped off

[diyenthusiat]

@Nickfromwales Just so you know the mot type 1 was not laid out by these cowboys, but it was done by another team of workers whom were doing other work on the property.  However they didn't have any experience of imprinted concrete, hence when these rogue traders came around, my grandad accepted them thinking they were professionals.  I'm not sure how to polish and recolour it so any advice from you or anyone would be greatly appreciated.  Are you asking about the price of what the concrete cost per m2 in total?  I'd say around £70 per m2.  I appreciate it's not the worst, but the concrete is already disintegrating on the edges. 

 

@saveasteading How can you tell what type of concrete has been laid and is it any good?  I'm happy to leave it for a while, but I'm still not sure how you re-colour it so any advice on the process would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Nickfromwales]

https://www.sealantsandtoolsdirect.co.uk/everbuild-403-concrete-hardener-dustproofer-25-litre-chdu25?language=en-gb&currency=GBP&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADx-2OLrIkC4daQ0NqLgYUnTssPtD&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5azABhD1ARIsAA0WFUFtqNMjNcrv9P8SKoqAEHxhYsVajTwvU0afp-GwewtBqdGl2ITV5NoaAqyDEALw_wcB

 

 

Although.....

34 minutes ago, diyenthusiat said:

the concrete is already disintegrating on the edges

.....isn't the best news.

[diyenthusiat]

46 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

https://www.sealantsandtoolsdirect.co.uk/everbuild-403-concrete-hardener-dustproofer-25-litre-chdu25?language=en-gb&currency=GBP&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADx-2OLrIkC4daQ0NqLgYUnTssPtD&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5azABhD1ARIsAA0WFUFtqNMjNcrv9P8SKoqAEHxhYsVajTwvU0afp-GwewtBqdGl2ITV5NoaAqyDEALw_wcB

 

 

Although.....

.....isn't the best news.

 

Thanks very much.  Now just need to know how to recolour and seal.

[Temp]

Sorry to hear this story. I was watching a program on the BBC about scammers this week and the program makers were listening in to calls between a scammer and a 90 year old victim. When the BBC team finally got through to the victim and explained they were from the BBC the victim asked if his daughter was with them. It turned out his daughter was a member of the program team ! Proof it can happen to anyone and he shouldn't feel too bad.

 

I think I would live with it for awhile. The secret to many jobs is preparation and hard standings are no different. I haven't read the whole thread at its gone midnight but if they didn't do a good job of the prep I'm afraid it might break up with vehicles on it. The fibres in the concrete is good news but I'd still give it 6 months to see what happens before spending more on it.

 

The Paving Expert website is good for details of the prep that should be done, hardcore, compacting etc.

 

 

[diyenthusiat]

11 hours ago, Temp said:

Sorry to hear this story. I was watching a program on the BBC about scammers this week and the program makers were listening in to calls between a scammer and a 90 year old victim. When the BBC team finally got through to the victim and explained they were from the BBC the victim asked if his daughter was with them. It turned out his daughter was a member of the program team ! Proof it can happen to anyone and he shouldn't feel too bad.

 

I think I would live with it for awhile. The secret to many jobs is preparation and hard standings are no different. I haven't read the whole thread at its gone midnight but if they didn't do a good job of the prep I'm afraid it might break up with vehicles on it. The fibres in the concrete is good news but I'd still give it 6 months to see what happens before spending more on it.

 

The Paving Expert website is good for details of the prep that should be done, hardcore, compacting etc.

 

 

 

Thanks Temp.  Yeah it's very scary stuff that happens nowadays.   I will look into Paving Expert.

 

I'm happy to leave it for now, but users on here have mentioned that I can recolour and reseal it myself at a later date, but no one has explained how it's done.  Can anyone assist me with this at all?

[Nickfromwales]

1 hour ago, diyenthusiat said:

Can anyone assist me with this at all?

 

1 hour ago, diyenthusiat said:

I will look into Paving Expert.

😉👌

[Gone West]

4 hours ago, diyenthusiat said:

Can anyone assist me with this at all?

I know very little about imprinted concrete but this came up in a search and may be of some help. Different colours, non slip etc.

 

https://swiss-seal.co.uk/collections/imprinted-concrete

 

 

[saveasteading]

18 minutes ago, Gone West said:

Different colours, non slip etc.

That's exactly the stuff. but not yet. Let it finish curing and any loose bits/ dust wash off, plus any shrinkage.

 

But you could show Grandad to reduce the stress.

 

[diyenthusiat]

Thanks for your help guys.  So below is what it looks like right now.   

 

The first photo shows the colour being washed out and you'll notice the tile pattern missing from some locations.

 

 

The second photo show the concrete has broken at the edge after a vehicle was driven onto it,

[Andehh]

Have you tried digging at the edges to see how deep the sub layers are?

 

That edge cracking isn't as bad as I assumed when you described it!

[diyenthusiat]

12 minutes ago, Andehh said:

Have you tried digging at the edges to see how deep the sub layers are?

 

That edge cracking isn't as bad as I assumed when you described it!

Sorry when you say sublayers what you mean?

 

What I can tell you is that the concrete is 4 inches thick in most places.... definitely not less than 2-3 inches in the least areas.  Below the concrete there is MOT type 1 hardcore which has been wackered down.  The original ground is clay.

 

Hope this better explains it 

[Onoff]

A mate got "conned" with imprinted concrete years ago. The firm sold it on the basis it could be applied down to I think 3mm thick and wouldn't crack due to "fibres". It came with a worthless X years guarantee. 

 

The job was crap. Looked good for about a week. Bits of it came unstuck from the original concrete underneath. No recourse to the cowboys who did it of course.

 

When I did mine, above, the concrete was 3 or 4" thick with the pattern pressed into the top 1/2".

[Andehh]

Just if it's possible to see how deep the MOT is. What was the original driveway surface?

 

All I'm saying is if the ground was a compacted previous driveway, with mot whacked down well, then 4" of concrete... That's not an unreasonable light usage driveway from my amateur thinking. OK the colour has washed away, but concrete stain will hopefully resolve that.

 

Just to try and offer some positive thoughts!

[diyenthusiat]

1 hour ago, Andehh said:

Just if it's possible to see how deep the MOT is. What was the original driveway surface?

 

All I'm saying is if the ground was a compacted previous driveway, with mot whacked down well, then 4" of concrete... That's not an unreasonable light usage driveway from my amateur thinking. OK the colour has washed away, but concrete stain will hopefully resolve that.

 

Just to try and offer some positive thoughts!

 

Thanks!

 

The MOT type 1 has large (3-4inches) and small rocks/gravel (1.5inches or less with some sand - Couldn't give you the exact dimensions though.  There was no original driveway.  It was just clay and I was planning to return and do it up into a driveway.  The MOT type 1 was put down and wackered by previous builders around a month before the imprinted concrete was done.

 

 

[Andehh]

Was it driven or used as a driveway before the concrete at all?

[diyenthusiat]

2 hours ago, Andehh said:

Was it driven or used as a driveway before the concrete at all?

No prior to the clay ground, it was a foot high garden which was taken out by previous workers.  They dug down and removed all the topsoil until they got to ground-level which revealed clay.

Edited yesterday at 17:29 by diyenthusiat