OT- Spalling concrete

Any suggestions other than tearing it out and replacing it. Have a walkway that had a lot of snow-melt used on it, now its spalling and was wondering if there are any products or methods of fixing it. thanks

Nope. Overlay with 2" of concrete, you do a patch job but it'll look bad. You could have it ground..too expensive...I'd be interested what others will say.

Try this website.
http://www.quikrete.com/PDFs/Projects/RepairingBadlyPittedAndChippedConcrete.pdf

Sounds like a poor concrete job, concrete poured to wet will do this. Try rubbing your hand with a leather glove on it an see if the concrete comes off on the glove if so then it was poured to wet.
The only cure is to remove and start over make sure your concrete guy knows what a slump test is and then make him do on the new concrete. It must be fairly dry and stand up when the slump test box is removed. No more than 2 inches of slump for a 12X12X8 in tall box with 15% slope on sides.
A lot of people want to pour real wet concrete because its easier to work with but its also a lot weaker and will crumble off later on. Good well poured concrete will look good for 100 or more years.
Walt

I looked at Pat's website and that is for severely damaged concrete. Most spalling I see from salt/snow melt usually only has pitting that is a 1/4" to 1/2" deep at the most. Not deep enough to skim coat any concrete or cement mix and expect it to stay. I suppose there is some type of liquid acryllic stuff you could try to trowel on. Probably a waste since it won't stay either but something to think about if you are a good troweler. If it already looks bad then what the heck except that stuff is usually a dark grey color and may look worse when it peels off.

If you tear it out and start over or if you top coat it with 2" of concrete, the trick is to get the right kind of mix and then float it and trowel it just right to avoid spalling the next time. Your concrete company can probably tell you as I can't think of the best mix off the top of my head. Same of the methods of floating and troweling, you need to get the rock and fines in the right place with some but not too much cream on top. It's been a while for me but a regular concrete finisher here will tell you. Maybe a finish spray and keeping it covered and wet in the hot sun will help cause part of the problem is how the concrete cured also.

thanks guys, BC is right the damage is only quarter to half inch deep, just looks bad. Was caused by snow melt I'm sure, customer used a lot on this area and it's the only bad spot. they may have to live with it or pony up to replace the walkway.

I had used some epoxy floor coating once that was really thick and could fill small voids. Don't remember the name just that I got it from sherwin williams. Wonder if it would work for your situation?

There are 2 methods that I have used but both need to be done when the concrete is installed. One is air entrainment at the source (mixing plant)
The other is a 50-50 mix of kerosene and boiled linseed oil applied with a hand sprayer.
Check whether it is boiled or raw linseed oil
short memory

I can't tell you how to fix it , but the main reason for spalling is the aggragate in the mix. If you are going to replace the concrete make sure you pay extra for granite or the best aggragate available in your area. If you live where there is a freeze thaw cycle use air entrainment. Also if you can pour the mix in the spring it will give the cement more time to set up by winter. I learned this all the hard way. The worst is I knew better. Dale

Overlay it with Stencil-crete.Call SCP (Specialty Concrete Products) and talk to Marshall.www.scpusa.com

I had a whole garage floor do that caused by a different situation. The solution is to tear it out and repour. I looked at all sorts of possible fixes(topping, epoxy, sand blasting,etc, ad nauseum) and a tear out was the only pratical soluton.