Water pooling on concrete steps

[Jim Beaver]

My front porch and steps are made of concrete. Water from the lawn sprinklers pools on one of the steps because the step apparently wasn't finished quite level. The water pools, then evaporates, then pools again on the next cycle, etc., etc. It's not deep -- it evaporates within an hour or so on a warm day. But when it's more or less dry, it's greener and greener, apparently from algae forming.

Is it possible to "refinish" the top of a concrete step in a manner both practical and aesthetically pleasing? If it's hundreds of dollars, I'll live with the "moss." But if there's a cheap and effective remedy, I'd love to know about it.

Jim Beaver

[buffalobill]

[m Ransley]

There are concrete repair products made for recoating, they possibly have Vinyl in them or some other plastic and are designed for thin resurfacing. I dought it would last for more than 5 years but for one step it would be worth trying, There is a machine made by Porter Cable you might be able to rent it is a diamond rotary tool that gouges in groves like the ones done on road resurfacing, but handheld and 1000$, If you cant find a rental, Bleach should be used to kill the mold, Muriatic acid to etch it and power wash ot just wash it good. Or cut a drain grove in the concrete with a a power tool, grinder or circular saw and conctete blade.

[Richard J Kinch]

The technical term is "birdbath".

If it is slight, consider grinding it down. A disc sander will do it if the aggregate is soft. Otherwise you need a concrete planer with a diamond disk.

[Steve B]

Take a circular saw and concrete cutting blade and score it with shallow grooves to a shallow depth, say 1/8" ... just enough for it to drain. You can do it in straight lines in either direction, or make a pattern. You can draw them with a pencil or pop them with a chalk line. You can be creative, just don't cut too many grooves or too deep. Start with a few, and wet the steps and see if you need to cut more.

Steve

[ephedralover]

Just leave it. In a perfect world all concrete would drain correctly. I would not put a coating on it, as it will look well, coated. I would not saw cut it either, this won't look right either. Just adjust your sprinklers and bleach it when it gets bad.