Polishing exterior concrete

George Hartshorn

George Hartshorn

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There is a concrete slab just outside my back door which I absolutely despise. It always seems to be filthly with a green tinge (i'm assuming because of standing water).

I dont know if I have the energy to pull it up and re-lay it as I wont be in this house for more than another year or two, but I did wonder if it might be possible to polish the floor?

I don't need a mirror finish, but I just want something that feels a little more considered and is easier to clean!

Has anyone tried polishing an exterior concrete slab before? Any tips / advice / thoughts?

The slab is slightly sloped and certainly isn't even, so I don't want to go to the expense of renting a grinder if it's not going to be possible

garden floor.jpg
 
Fix the leaks, improve the drainage, add a gutter to prevent water running onto it.

Judging by your sunken gulley, the concrete is at a higher level than when the house was built, and likely bridges the DPC

The other cause of a sunken gulley is a break, allowing leaking water to wash away the earth it stands on.
 
JohnD said:
Fix the leaks, improve the drainage, add a gutter to prevent water running onto it.

Judging by your sunken gulley, the concrete is at a higher level than when the house was built, and likely bridges the DPC

The other cause of a sunken gulley is a break, allowing leaking water to wash away the earth it stands on.
Click to expand...

Would you mind explaining what you mean by sunken gulley?

Yeah I do think that the concrete is higher than the DMP - the water does drain away from the house though as it's slightly sloped. We had thought about putting in a french drain around the exterior of the house to drain the water away quicker though
 
The gulley is the thing that the downpipe discharges into, and runs to a drain. When the house is built, they are normally level with the ground or finished paving, which is about six inches below the DPC. Yours is below.

Old ones are made of brown, glazed fired clay. They are usually broken in the ground and leaking.

s-l1600.jpg

When the ground or paving bridges the DPC, it enables the wall above to be wet. If the drain is leaking, spilling, blocked or overflowing, it provides more water and thus damp.

A leak washes away the ground beneath it, so a broken gulley often sinks into the ground. Some are supported on concrete, so do not sink until the earth beneath the concrete has turned to mud and washed away. Futile attempts are often made to repair them by patching or surrounding with concrete. As this does not replace the broken part, it does not work, but makes later replacement harder.

Digging them out and renewing is a remarkably simple job, though digging out the concrete paving is laborious. This is a good time to dig out the paving and restore the correct ground level.
 
Thanks for the detaied explanation

I've been thinking about this and I think that the current concrete slab may have been installed at the same time as the access point to the public drain that runs through our garden (you can see the metal cover in the image).

If we took up the concrete slab, we'd also have to lower the height of the cover to match the original level.

Do you know if we have to get permission from anyone (assuming Thames water) for this?

Thanks
 
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