Can I lay cement over cement for my patio?

Jon McClure
by Jon McClure
I'm laying a new patio this year. Is it ok to lay over a previous cement pad?

  3 answers
  • Shoshana Shoshana on Apr 06, 2017

    Indeed it is. Just make sure that before you apply the new cement that all loose material is removed. Weak cement can be removed by hand with a chisel and hammer or you can rent a lightweight demolition chipping hammer that blasts away material. Can't wait to see how the new patio looks!

    • Joe Joe on Apr 13, 2017

      Indeed it is...if you want to waste time and money. Bonding to existing concrete is not a good idea at all.

  • William William on Apr 06, 2017

    Fact: Fresh wet concrete does not normally bond well to existing dry concrete. There is nothing in basic portland cement that will act as a bonding agent. Portland cement concrete works well in mass and provides great compressive strength but not bond.


    Concrete is marvelous stuff but in time it will deteriorate. When it does, you either have to patch it or replace it. Assuming that it is structurally sound the least expensive alternative is to patch it. However patching it requires some attention to detail or your patch will not last. So that you don’t waste too much time or money, we should probably discuss what “structurally sound” means. If your sidewalk has either heaved or dropped at almost every joint, repairing it will not provide a long-term solution. The slabs are likely still moving. If your slab has so much sand and gravel on the surface that despite sweeping and sweeping and squirting and squirting it just keeps coming back, don’t waste your time on repairs. If you have multiple cracks that run so deep that they appear to run through the slab, a repair would only be temporary. The solution to all of these problems involves a jackhammer and bags of one of the Sakrete concretes.


    http://www.wikihow.com/Add-Concrete-to-Existing-Concrete

  • Pat Pat on Apr 07, 2017

    we just bought 2 bags at home depot, they cost about 15,.00 each, they have some kind of bonding agent in there, haven't tried yet tho