04: Patio Project: prepare the surface

The first step is to prepare the surface to be painted. I first removed all patio furniture and hosed it off thoroughly. The TV3 segment recommends Behr Concrete Etcher and Rust Remover to prepare the surface.

I happened to have a leftover "Bond-Lok" (Concrete Cleaner + Degreaser) from a Quikrete 2-part Epoxy kit I had purchased for painting my garage floor. The instructions advise applying it by pouring it with a non-metal watering can. After "watering" the patio with the cleaner, I used a standard push broom to spread it around. It turned white as soon as it hit the surface of the concrete -- similar to peroxide on a wound. I then hosed it off, avoiding the remaining garden adjacent to the patio surface so plants were not damaged.

The next step was repairing the pitted, crumbling areas of the concrete. (Please see the first post on this patio project for photos of the problem.) I used a concrete patch that is sold in a small tub. I ended up going through one tub I had on hand plus I needed TWO more! Wow!


Here is where I ran into a bit of a challenge. The consistency of the three tubs of Pre-Mixed Concrete Patch varied. The first was OK. The second was superb -- like the consistency of frosting. It just smooooothed on. The third was problematic. It was lumpy, thick and just did not spread well at all. I watered it down, mixed and mixed and mixed and added more water, and mixed some more. I did my best to patch with this. In hindsight I think I should have returned it to the store and gotten a fresh batch. But I figured I could sand it down to a smooth finish that would be suitable for painting. My friend and I had had success in smoothing the larger patio with my hand-held Black-and-Decker sander. The smaller bedroom patio had more damage to it than the larger main patio.