Patio, Porch & Pool Deck Coatings

Yes, with a UV-stable polyaspartic and grit in the topcoat so it isn't slick. The patio has to be sound, level and draining away from the house first; a sunken or tipped patio gets lifted before it's coated.

Not with grit in the topcoat, which is how we finish pool decks. Any wet surface around a pool deserves care, but a gritted coating grips far better than a smooth one.

Seal it if you like how it looks and want it protected from water and salt. Coat it if you want it to look new, with stains and patches covered. Covered porches and pool decks are the usual coating jobs.

Nationally, professional coatings run about $4 to $12 per square foot installed (HomeGuide). We price yours from photos and send a firm number by text within 24 hours. The size, crack and surface repair, any lifting needed first and the finish you pick are what move the price.

No. We use a UV-stable polyaspartic, which stays clear in direct sunlight. Epoxy is the coating that yellows and chalks outdoors, and that's why it doesn't belong on a patio, porch or pool deck.

Not when the slab is prepped right. Porch paint is a thin film over concrete that's usually only washed, so water and freeze-thaw lift it. We grind the paint and weak surface down to sound concrete and bond a much thicker polyaspartic into it. A slab that stays wet or crumbles underneath can still cause trouble, so we check it first.

Yes. A plastic shovel or one with a rubber or poly edge is easiest on it; a steel blade scraped hard or an ice chopper can scratch or chip any coating. Ice melt sits on top of the coating instead of soaking into the concrete, so sweep or rinse it off when the weather breaks.

Normal splash from a chlorine or saltwater pool isn't a problem; it sits on top and rinses off. Spilled pool chemicals are different. Rinse liquid chlorine, acid or shock off right away and store them off the deck, because a strong chemical left sitting can stain or soften a coating.

A dark one can. Lighter colors stay cooler under bare feet than dark ones, so for a deck in full sun we steer you toward a light blend. Any surface in direct afternoon sun gets warm, so look at the samples outside before you pick.

We don't recommend it. A flake coating would cover the pattern you paid for. Stamped concrete usually gets a decorative sealer instead, which is specialty work we refer to a decorative concrete contractor. We can still clean it, caulk its joints, and lift it if it has sunk.

Because a driveway gets plowed, shoveled, salted and driven on in every kind of weather. A penetrating sealer protects it from water and salt without adding a layer on top for all that to wear on. That's why we recommend sealing driveways and walks, and coating the porches, patios and pool decks you want to look new.

Stable cracks are filled and coated over with the rest of the patio. Joints and cracks that still move, like the gaps between slabs or where the patio meets the house, get flexible joint caulking instead, because a crack that moves can show back through any coating.

Most porches and patios take a day, on a dry day. You can walk on it within a few hours, and before we start we'll tell you when the furniture, grill and planters can go back, since temperature affects the cure.

Late spring through early fall. The coating has minimum temperatures for the air and the slab, and an outdoor slab has to be dry when we start, so we pick a dry stretch of weather and check the slab first. Rain in the forecast moves the date.

No, not the way a sealed one does. A penetrating sealer often lasts 5 to 10 years and then gets reapplied, but a coating is the surface itself. Upkeep is sweeping, hosing it off and washing with a pH-neutral cleaner, plus rinsing ice melt off the porch in spring.