Patio & Walkway Resurfacing in Sacramento, CA

What Older Patios Are Hiding

A patio slab from the 1960s or 1970s has usually been through several rounds of improvement: a painted section, a tile border that came loose, a patch where a post or clothesline once stood, a layer of paint or a stain applied decades ago. In neighborhoods with some of the area’s oldest homes, such as Carmichael, that layering is the norm. Every one of those coatings has to come off, because an overlay will bond to the paint, not the concrete, and fail along with it. Grinding takes the surface back to clean concrete, and any patch that sounds hollow is removed rather than buried.

Shade, Mildew and Hard Water

Side-yard paths and the shaded part of a patio stay damp longer and grow mildew and moss, which has to be killed and scrubbed out of the pores or it will show through a pale finish. Areas within reach of the sprinklers often carry white hard-water rings and efflorescence, the mineral salts that wick up through the slab and dry on the surface. Efflorescence is treated with an acid-based cleaner and rinsed until the surface tests neutral; covering it with an overlay traps the moisture that brought it there.

Wet Ground Under the Slab

Many patios in this region sit over a hardpan. In Citrus Heights, the Fiddyment soil mapped across much of the city has a cemented layer about two and a half feet down, and winter rain can sit on top of it under the slab. A patio that looks dry on top in March can still be wet underneath, and cement-based overlays applied over a saturated slab cure poorly and lose their bond. Spring work is timed around that, and a slab that stays damp after a few dry days is a sign that drainage needs attention first.

Doorways, Steps and Edges

An overlay adds thickness, and at a sliding door that small height can push water toward the threshold or stop the door clearing. Finishes are feathered thinner at doorways so the surface still falls away from the house. Steps on a walk get special care: the overlay wraps the nosing (the front edge of each tread) so it does not chip off, and each step stays the same height as the next. That matters on the stepped walks that climb the sloping lots in Fair Oaks, where an uneven rise is a trip hazard.

Choosing a Texture

A smooth microtopping, a skim-coat overlay troweled to a fine finish, looks clean under a covered patio but can be slippery when wet. A light broom or knockdown finish has more grip for an open walk. For stone or plank looks, see stamped and decorative overlays; for a deck around water, the pool deck page covers what changes.

How long does it take? A typical patio is two or three days from prep to sealer, plus cure time before furniture goes back. Walkways are often quicker.

Questions About This Work