Hello,
I moved into a house with a ~10 year pool last year and the stamped concrete decking is really showing it's age. It was never sealed and there's a significant amount of spalling on the surface caused by the water and salt sitting on/soaking into the surface.
I've searched the forums extensively, and I've seen a lot of people don't recommend sealing concrete pool decks at all, but unfortunately I can first-hand see the effects of a decade of no sealer and it ain't pretty.
I've gotten a bunch of quotes to repair the concrete so far, and there seem to be 3 options but I'm having a really hard time deciding between them. The quotes for all 3 options have also been in the same ballpark, so there's not a much cheaper or much more expensive option.
I don't care too much about appearance, just want to protect/preserve my existing decking so it doesn't become a tear-out but also do NOT want to make it slippery.
I moved into a house with a ~10 year pool last year and the stamped concrete decking is really showing it's age. It was never sealed and there's a significant amount of spalling on the surface caused by the water and salt sitting on/soaking into the surface.
I've searched the forums extensively, and I've seen a lot of people don't recommend sealing concrete pool decks at all, but unfortunately I can first-hand see the effects of a decade of no sealer and it ain't pretty.
I've gotten a bunch of quotes to repair the concrete so far, and there seem to be 3 options but I'm having a really hard time deciding between them. The quotes for all 3 options have also been in the same ballpark, so there's not a much cheaper or much more expensive option.
I don't care too much about appearance, just want to protect/preserve my existing decking so it doesn't become a tear-out but also do NOT want to make it slippery.
- Concrete repair & stain - grinding/surface prep of damaged areas, patching, power wash, acid stain, then 2 coats of sealer. This would pretty much preserve the existing style of my decking, while refreshing the color. Would probably make the decking at least a little slippery unless I choose a fully penetrative sealer which every vendor is steering me away from.
- Concrete overlay - Overlay or overlay system, same as above but a thin 1/8"-1/4" uniform overlay takes the place of Portland cement patches and covers entire decking. There are "overlay systems" that are like roll-on concrete applied like paint too. Idk much about these or how they'd hold up but overlays in general seem to have a really poor reputation in the concrete world from what I've read. Almost guaranteed to start delaminating or cracking within a few years. Likewise they will need to be sealed with an acrylic which will make them at least a little slippery.
- Concrete Spray Coatings Sundek/Kool Deck - These seem to have mixed reviews; seems like a lot of love for SunDek in these forums but others say to stay away due to eventual flaking/maintenance issues. Obviously has the pros of being cooler than concrete and ant-slip. I don't really love the look of them, but the pros might out-weigh the cons unless they are a maintenance nightmare.
I'm likely ruling out the overlay option, but does anyone have any recommendations? What have you done/seen for concrete resurfacing that worked well or didn't work? Any good experiences with SunDek that was applied over a crumbling concrete decking?
