DIY repair of outdoor blown concrete

[Guy Carnegie]

I have a shaded area of my garden which was poured with concrete about 8" thick about ten years ago, and the surface has blown with frost cycles. I want to tidy it up, but I'm not about to bring in the big guns to break it all out and repour it or replace with something else entirely, at a cost of thousands.

I'm going to put my shed on it, and have an area alongside with an outdoor bench for planting, storing the trailer etc. It gets very lightweight use, but I just want it to look decent. I don't mind a bit of maintenance year on year. Was looking at self levelling screed etc, but apparently those are not for exterior use and would likely blow off too in years to come.

Any advice for something reasonably hard wearing, with minimal work and cost appreciated. I don't want to raise it up any higher than it already is if I can avoid it.

We are in North East Scotland, so I expect it to be snow covered for a month or two each year.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

To me it just looks like the layer of "fat" has been lost from when it was skimmed, i.e. a few mm deep. In which case it's nothing to worry about. You'd need to show us a closer photo to see what it looks like.

If that surface where it's blown is an intact, reasonably flat surface then you could just jetwash it and blow it off the rest to make it all look the same. Then give it a generous coat of decent quality clear sealant. It should look pretty good. In fact I've previously scrubbed new concrete the day after to remove this layer and give this sort of finish, it looks a bit like the bonded gravel that people pay £1000s for. The sealant should keep the moss away for a few years.

If it's not intact then it was always substandard concrete and needs digging out.

 

[Guy Carnegie]

Not pretty. This is the bit in front of the bins. Rake for scale. That's probably the worst bit. Not spending a fortune on it though