I appreciate how you opened yourself up for criticism. Interestingly, videos like this actually do help in seeing what hitches one might come across the way.
Hi Jayden, I have been doing concrete resurfacing over 20 years. First, let me say; that was a nice video. Now, one thing about having a great outcome to any resurfacing project is a clean mechanical bond. My technique is: 1). I use a grinding disc even out the floor surface. Also this will remove any unstable concrete at the surface level, which may come up later an cause bond failure. 2). Clean the surface, just like you did in the video, which will remove dirt, grease and any loose scale, which again, can cause bond failure. 3). One thing that I ALWAYS do after that is to apply a prime coat of concrete polymer or bonding agent. This will help to assure good adhesion and will also slow down the rapid set of your product that you are applying. Concrete can act like a sponge in soaking up the moisture in the resurfacing product, even an interior floor. Typically, you want to get back on the floor before 24 hours so that your resurface will properly bond to the bonding or priming material. Some types of polymers (Bonding Agent) are what is called non-rewetting, meaning that after the 24 hour window, it will not allow water penetration or a proper bond to the bonding material. (Many people skip this step and still have good results but this is just how I do my projects because longevity and great adhesion is important to me. 4). Time to mix: No matter what the product is, I always add a little of the bonding agent that I primed with into the mix, again, just my preference. When mixing, always put your liquid in first. Then slowly add the dry powder, while mixing. Once it is thoroughly mixed, let it rest for about 2 to 3 minutes. This will help dissolve any dry lumps in the mix. After that time, remix for about 30 seconds to a minute. Also, I like a more flowable mix. It is much easier to apply. I recommend a tool called a Magic Trowel. It looks like a window washing squeegee. Then, pour your material out in a long narrow stream on the floor and move it along with your Magic Trowel, keeping the trowel at about a 30 degree angle. If you try it, it will be apparent how to adjust your trowel. Always work from one side to the other until you cover the entire floor. Keep a wet edge, this means, don't let your edges dry up on you before you trowel more product next to the last strip that you troweled previously. I'm not sure if any of this is helpful to you but thought I'd outline the process that I have been using for years with good success and no failures. Hope This Helps, Lee
Wow amazing comment! Thank you for taking the time for others, even though his project was already done Love when people actually add tips instead of unnecessary comments
Right on the label you show: "Add material WHILE MIXING." You didn't do that. Add it more slowly and do it while running the mixer at a slow speed. Then once it's all added speed the mixer up slowly and be patient until it transforms into a pancake batter consistency. Getting the mix right is essential to getting good results. Also, make sure the mix is stored in a cool place prior to mixing and use COLD water to get the 30 mins working time. Time yourself mixing (no more than about 3 mins) and don't overmix. Good luck.
It’s absolutely not a failure. No one has ever done a project for the first time and came out with perfect results. I’ll bet my farm that the next time you do this, it does come out beautiful. Thanks!
My feedback- you should not use the broom to work through big puddles of the mix. You should have poured the mix on the perimeter and pulled it back with the spreader. If you have practice with drywall compound that would set you up for how to spread evenly. Once you pull it back from the perimeter and have it spread out then you brush. Always pull your strokes in the same direction. Never shovel motion like pushing snow. Honestly, if you're up for improving it...all you need to do is buff it with a concrete grinding disk and call it a day. Bonus points if you grind and resurface again. Practice working drywall compound first!
On the broom, must clean it on every pass with the hose and go slow and gentle. On the lumps, poor in another bucket using a house strainer. Than push all the lumps through strainer., before using strain again. I want yo Thank you for Having the courage to show mistakes because i find although few in number these are the better videos. You learn more from them. Everyone makes mistakes but only the wise learn from them
Yikes! That came out butt ugly rough! Concrete doesn't lie so neither will I. I've done A LOT of resurfacing over the years, no substitute for experience from hard lessons learned but here's a crash course. First off, it's only as good as what it's sticking to, so thoroughly grind the old concrete, and I mean grind it down clean with a carbide wheel on the smoother areas (kicks off dust like 9/11, wear respirator and fans to blow it out and make the neighbors cry) or wire wheels where rough (usually exterior) then hose it out with a broom. Sometimes the product calls for dry floor to be primed first with a bonding agent, otherwise wet... and forget the caulk but chip out the cracks. Always shoot for in the shade, cool, cloudy day or in the evening as hot sun doesn't help. Can't have lumps like that so mix it fast and hard, don't be timid, move that paddle around (I use a 4 arm, seems to work), then get down on your hands n knees and trowel it on so it's flat and smooth, not that lame squeegee on a stick. Finishers prefer a 3"X14-16" lay down / burner trowel, in n out, up n down, away from you n towards you followed by a 5X20" finish trowel (round on one side, use square first to get it flat) side to side in wide sweeping motions, as far as you can reach out, slow, firm and steady. They only sell 4" wide trowels at Home Depot and Lowes, but whatever. The angle is important on hardening concrete, not this stuff so much, just keep the tools scraped clean n wet, constantly. And WHY? would you run a dirty-ass, covered in crud broom over it for a garage floor?! There's usually a window of time when you need to texture it with a broom or sponge. It's tough when you're new mix ridges up against the gooey older stuff like lava, but do your best to overlap, feather it in, a little water here n there. It'll never be totally perfectly smooth the first time over unless it's a small area and you get lucky so come back to scrape, grind and fill then tell 'em to paint it with that durable epoxy paint with chips to hide the imperfections. Better luck next time.
Thanks for posting. Don't beat yourself up my man. Most people wouldn't even attempt to resurface a garage on their own. You motivated me to resurface mine. Thanks :)
Several things I see here. One, grinding the original surface to open the concrete. Two, a primer to increase bonding and create a barrier from potential oils in the concrete from ghosting through. Three, use a different paddle to mix. Eggbeater is good. And yes, slowly add the product. Four, Use a magic trowel to spread it like a window cleaner would use a squeegee. Five, top coat it with a clear urethane sealer. Two coats. Six, I would have filled in those spalled places with Cement All and then the New Crete. Seven, I would have chased those cracks, and opened them up with a v-blade diamond grinder and filled them with Cement All or a two-part epoxy crack filler made for that. Great you tackled that. It was a tough job.
As others have said, best practice is to slowly add the New Crete to water while mixing (a friend helps here). Second thing that really helped me (can be done regardless of the amount of water used) is to thinly pour mixture onto the floor and use drywall knife to chop through the remaining lumps. Essentially this is spreading the new crete out a bit before you trowel/brush it out.
I finished concrete for about 10 years. You did alright for a rookie. You should have kept stirring until all the lumps were out. Even if you need to use a board to smash the larger lumps. Also, you should have done smaller sections. If you would have took more time it would have turned out better. Your broom is not very good and you are brooming with too much force. You should have done it in like four sections. Hammer drilled some 1x4s down to make some nice control joints. Thanks for the video.
Thank you for the video. Sure helps to see these rather than relying on the printed instructions alone. I used a smaller spiral type mixer attachment with my cordless drill and got decent pancake batter consistency. Also used a piece of board to scrape the sides of the bucket to make sure no dry material was stuck there. Ended up using closer to 4 quarts of water per box of material, too. All-in-all though, Newcrete is very hard to work with for a newbie, since it sets up so fast. Also, watching another video I realized I should have pre-patched the deeper spalled concrete areas and cracks with Cement-All and a trowel beforehand. Then used NewCrete only for a very thin "glaze" over the top of it all. Fortunately I have the rest of the driveway to do it right!
I had a hard time with newcrete the other day. But its super strong so decided to give it another shot. The mixing is crucial. Then start with squeege before the brush. I also did the rapid set cement before the concrete in some areas where i had cracks and the concrete went on so nice after that and i didnt need the bonding agent because the cement acted as a primer as long as u get the concrete on an hour after the cement. Im about to resurface my walkway and ill probably do cement first even with no cracks because im still learning and it made my concrete go on so smooth and nice without my little experience. I really like that product. I even used their rapid set asphalt today to fix some street potholes that the city has ignored and it looks professional
Gotta mix it longer and a little more aggressively to get the lumps out. Also when you were trying to broom over those piles of materials, that doesn’t work. You’ll need to flatten those out before you drag the broom on it. You could do a second coat and mix it a little wetter. It would clean it up quite a bit
I have used it, didn't get lumps but I added the flow additive which I think they recommend. anyways, lumps are from not mixing well enough. I think you can do another coat, over the top, hit the lumps with a hammer and break them up. good luck.
Thank you for posting, nice effort...live and learn. I now know mixing is critical and I learn from my mistakes...one thing about concrete, its permanent, not like working with wood!!
I did find some fault with, filling the cracks (especially with a caulk) and your mixing and applying it. Smaller batches applied by hand with a trowel would have been better. I applaud you for trying it. As a building maintenance employee I do have to say that I use Rapidset wall patch, concrete patch and just recently asphalt patch with great results.
It’s actually really good that you were so honest (mistakes & all) with your video because that’s how we learn. I just poured a new walkway today with this product & I had no issues with lumps. You do need to whip the material up really well. I blended that stuff up for 2 solid minutes before pouring. So you might have not just blended it long enough.
Thanks for the well-done video. There are a lot of comments as to the mixing of this type of product. One thing for sure is that on a job this large, a helper is key to a successful outcome. What I do question was your decision to brush finish the surface. Garages, like basement floors, are done with a smooth surface while drives and sidewalks are brushed to prevent slippage in wet weather.
You must be the most humble guy on youtube . The biggest problem you had with your project was how you mixed it then the tools you used to apply it . Knockdown the bumps /lumps and do it again. make or buy a Gauge Rake , and when mixing add your material slowly to water .
Buy a magnesium trowel and a rubber grout type trowel. Trowel it on in small sections. Do a 4x4 foot section. You will get better and better . Regardless, you tried, you learned, you are a successful person
I use rapid set a lot, it’s very strong!! Typically you need to use little bit at a time, I would of spread it with a pool troll, everyone has there own technique, then wound of smoothed it out with a sponge, Like sections at a time, Good job tho man! Doing this king of stuff ain’t easy!!
Your paddle seems to be the root cause of your lumps. Also, as others said, gradually add the powder into the water as you mix; the combination of dumping the whole powder into the water pail and, what appears to be the wrong paddle for the job, is giving you the sad result. My recommendation: check out videos on how to mix concrete for beginners. Look at how it's recommended to mix concrete, and this will definitely help you on mixing this product. On a positive note, your prep is very good!🙂
I know this is a year oldand im not going to criticize, but i have a question. Why do these products say to use that ling handled squeegee? Iim thinking a flat steel finishing trowel would give a much nicer finish. I install flooring, so I'm thinking smooth. Im also thinking two applications. Apply the first one to fill in the voids, then as it hardens a little bit, scrape off any troweling ridges. Let it dry, then vacuum the heck out of it and apply the second coat. The second coat would go faster than the first one because all the small voids and pockets have already been filled. That squeegee might work in conjunction with a steel trowel. Have one person pushing the materisl around to get it where it needs to go, then the second person could just consecrate on smoothing the finish. This looks like a two person job anyway with one person mostly mixing and cleaning tools and buckets, the other doing the work.
Thank you so much for your experience and video!! Question!! Did you ask or discuss about Concrete Sealing???? I'm currently cleaning AND sealing a lot of concrete around house. I'm using silicone crack sealing AND then sealing the concrete surface as well. Just like you, I have a large area of pitted concrete surface that I too wish to Re-Surface. And I'm wondering if sealing the re-aurfaced area will help with the life of the ReSurfacing???
I just did my first resurfacing with this same brand with much success. As others have mentioned mix it in slowly and stir for a good 3-5 minutes so that it’s lump free and you want it to be a bit more thin and watery than how you mixed it here. Also next time skip the brush.. I just used a squeegee and didn’t even broom it and it came out perfect. It’s still slip resistant using only the squeegee. But If you insist on using a broom, get a new one and don’t use this jacked up broom lol, live and learn.. you will nail it next time brother!
@@brentwiens2652 If it’s green from paint, I would say as long as all the paint is grinded off then you’re good. In fact it will bond even better if you grind the concrete, as it will give it some teeth in the surface to grab on to. I noticed it’s the areas that I didn’t grind that didn’t stick as well and now has areas peeling & chipping off, but the slabs that I did use my grinder have no issues at all.
Well, I think people pointed out the things you did wrong. I watched you mix it and said, well, there's 90%of your problem! That aside, a couple other things jump out. One is using the "concrete caulk" For one thing, assuming compatibility between products is risky. No matter what brand you choose, you are always better off using the same brand of products. These are things designed to work together. These guys make a repair product called CementAll. It is part of their suite of products for concrete and what they recommend to use before applying this stuff. You mix a little at a time and apply with a trowel. Looking at how badly pitted some of your floor was, you would have benefitted greatly by using the CementAll to fill and level that area first as well as treat the cracks. let it cure and the next day, take an angle grinder with a medium course flapper disc and knock down any high spots around those repairs. Blow all the dust out before going further. As a couple people pointed out, you want to primarily drag this stuff rather than push it, so working from the edges toward the center is the way to go. For spreading, you want a squeegee They make some with sort of a thick rubber foam type blade. They work very nice for things like this. Don't put too much of this down at one time because its working time is short. The colder the water the better to slow the cure down a bit. Some have suggested using a bit more water, which will probably work as long as you don't thin it too much. Work in small batches so any overlap is on a "wet edge". Watch your time and you're probably better off using two people. One mixing and one applying. Have them mix another batch as you are getting close to done with the first. That will keep your tools wet with new product. I think most people that have problems with this stuff, get themselves overloaded thinking it behave kinda like paint. It doesn't. If you are wanting to get a broom finish, allow enough working time after you get it spread. I think using the proper squeegee will give you a nice finish without a need to broom it. This is a "Live and learn" product and it's always a good idea to try it in a test area first. Maybe on a small section of walk. That, "test it first" approach is good for a lot of things yo are using for the first time. It makes the larger application easier because you have a feel for how it works.
What I love about these guys. It takes balls to fail. You can learn so much from others mistakes. The only 2 mistakes I see is they use a huge heavy broom and they should have use a squeegy, and the had clumps..SO 2 big issues that cause a big fail. but the great thing is you should do it again bro with the 2 adjustments try another quickrete cap or some other overlay material and use SQUEEGY and dont use a broom and make sure smooth as butter and yu can over lay the garage again easy many people do layers. we want to see 2nd attempt the better way..amazing idea to learn from mistakes
You issue with the lumps is your mixing of the product. You really should put your water in the bucket first and mix the product into the water that will help you to ultimately have a much smoother mixture. It is also a very large area to do with the product you used amd without experience it is difficult to get a consistent blended texture with the diffrent mixes you needed to do.
Always add a few inches of water to the bucket first, run it all through until all the dry stuff is gone and only lumps, if the bucket spins it needs water, if yiu can mix without the bucket spinning its good. Once only lumps are left you bring the drill down so the paddle is about 45 deg and let it flip the mud up a little and hit the air then the side of the bucket. This comes from someone who mixes a crap load of mortar, resurfacers, plasters, hot mud, ect. Then use a squeegee not a broom over a trowel floor. Any lumps that happen to get by which won't be many you can pull to you and trowel back into the bucket if needed
You used the wrong material to fill the cracks. You poured the whole bag in before starting the mixing process. You did not use a float or trowel to lay it down flat and smooth
Not sure if this has been mentioned, using a drywall mud mixing paddle is a bad idea. You can see how it pushes the lumps of powder around. The eggbeater mixer type is ideal since it will break down those lumps. It’s important to use the same cement to water ratio. The first batch was a thicker consistency than the second batch which was very fluid, almost like a self leveling. I’m surprised the product actually adhered, in my opinion the substrate needed more preparation.
I'm not a professional, but I've used Cement All and New Crete to repair a concrete pad in front of my garage with pretty good results. A few items to note: 1. Cement work is definitely an art based on experience. Its pretty tough to get great results the first try. 2. Its lumpy because it's not mixed sufficiently: 1. Prob not enough time (I believe the instructions state a full 4 mins) and 2. the wrong type of mixer was used (paddle vs the correct egg beater type for cement products). I have noticed that these products are often lumpy, but proper mixing results in a very smooth mix. 3. Prep here is fairly poor. The cement is heavily stained with lots of pitting. I would argue it should have been ground down with a diamond grinding wheel. Would be a fair amount of work, but i did this myself with great results. 4. Some of the larger cracks/holes/pitting should have been repaired with Cement All prior to New Crete. Repairing those cracks with a caulk type product is not recommended as I would question the adhesion of the New Crete. The cracks should have been chiseled out and repaired with cement all. 5. The broom is a finishing tool only. As per instructions, should be applied with a squeegee or a trowel. 6. This stuff cures fast. As per instructions, broom finish should be applied as soon as squeegeed out. There are additives that can be used with both Cement All and New Crete to delay curing - would highly recommend. 6. The garage in this video is large. It would be difficult to get a nice broom finish over such an area unless it was divided into segments. Others can probably chime in as to best approach, but usually new crete is used for smaller areas where a broom finish can be applied in one pass (eg. a sidewalk, porch, cement pad etc.) 7. And finally, to cut to the chase, the results in this video do look like cr*p. But no worries, get yourself an angle grinder and diamond wheel and you can easily smooth out the new crete and attempt again. Practice makes perfect. I had to do this myself as my first attempt with this stuff looked terrible as well. 8. Extra Note for those saying to using a bonding agent - its not necessary. New Crete includes a bonding agent itself already mixed in.
It looks great for a broom finish but I think with the resurfacers people go for a squeegee look , I think maybe squeegee and then going back with the broom may have helped / I see people epoxy garages flat and do broom finishes outside, the repairs look great. The other product they have is a self leveling skim coat that also works for this - with bonding adhesive
Next time you mix it, have one person gradually feed it in with another person on the drill keeping it spinning; that should help with the lumps. Also, getting one of those egg beater type paddles would help.
Always Start Your Mix With Less Water And Add More Gradually Until You Get The Thickness You Looking For, When You Dump The Mix Into A Full Bucket Of Water It Doesn’t Give The Mixing Paddle Time To Break Down Each Lump While As They Form.
It’s possible that you mixed more than you could safely use before it started setting up and then later in your video you were spreading it with your broom finishing tool instead of your squeegee.
Thanks for the video. I used this product as well and got some dark sections that didn’t cure to the light gray color like the rest of the garage floor. I see you have some dark sections as well. Did this ever cure to a lighter color or did it stay the same? Thanks!
Squeegee first and then use a broom trowel to smooth out the streaksbefore you get to far where you don't have to walk on your fresh work. Uses different type of mixer instead of the flat mixer, it may have helped with the lumps. You still did a good job regardless. Thanks for sharing this video..
other videos ive seen about this product they make sure to state that you should lay it on thin, no more than an 1/8 inch. doesnt appear to be laid out even which may attribute to the brush streaks and inconsistency. aside from that good job. its in the garage so nobody is gonna notice the clumps.
The thing that jumped out to me was the mixing paddle, that style just pushes it around not mixing. The way you mixed it like most ppl have commented on. You were right operator error. Looked better before.
I won't repeat several others comments, but your #1 issue that led to your lumpy mix..... You used the wrong mixer.... Your flat paddle mixer won't get the mix ultra smooth and non lumpy.... Your needed to use the spiral type mixer in order to chop all the lumps out, as others mentioned, adding the mix slowly to water as you are mixing, not all the water into the dry mix as you did in your video
For those doing this, break out the loose chunks in the cracked areas and fill with Cement All first. THEN do the New Crete. Use a float to move the New Crete. You need to let the New Crete set up a bit before brooming.
A little more advice I wouldn't try to broom finish on top of a slick finish and then only do one drag the proper way to do it would have been to come over top that with a hand trowel and let it dry a little bit and then broom it was way too wet to or maybe I've done it a second time with a longer broom that way you get one stroke all the way from the front to back
From the very beginning, dont use caulk use concrete patching for cracks. Then you absolutely need it to be lump free. Use a squeegee, but best when done on hands and knees with a masonry float or trowel
Hi handsome. Great project. May I add a newbie tip: 1 clear all objects out of garage. 2 - go to home Depot and rent a cement diamond cutting vacuum and buy a diamond wheel to cut into and clean all cracks. 3. Pressure wash garage floor. Then it's clean enough to seal. ,Then fill with quality quick Crete from home Depot. Finally topcoat it. God bless you. P. S. Don't forget to buy crypto:XRP, XLM, XDC.
your mixing job was like me when they threw me in jail and i had to work in the kitchen. i was making instant mashed potatos in a big tub thing with a stainless boat paddle. i dumped all the fucking mix in at once and it was to heavy for me to mix it right. guys were trying to reat the stuff and they were choking clouds of unmixed instant potatos. the good thing was they never made me do it again. thats what you did wrong lol
Concrete try adding a little bit of concrete at a time while you're mixing it no don't just dump the whole bag and that's what made it Lumpy try to do it in quarters or 20% at a time just so that until each additional pour of concrete into the water becomes one free then you add the next batch by having all that it's like baking and flour if you put the flour in like that too much it gets lumpy but if you had it in little by little then you get a smoothie mix
I appreciate how you opened yourself up for criticism. Interestingly, videos like this actually do help in seeing what hitches one might come across the way.
very true
Hi Jayden,
I have been doing concrete resurfacing over 20 years. First, let me say; that was a nice video. Now, one thing about having a great outcome to any resurfacing project is a clean mechanical bond. My technique is: 1). I use a grinding disc even out the floor surface. Also this will remove any unstable concrete at the surface level, which may come up later an cause bond failure. 2). Clean the surface, just like you did in the video, which will remove dirt, grease and any loose scale, which again, can cause bond failure. 3). One thing that I ALWAYS do after that is to apply a prime coat of concrete polymer or bonding agent. This will help to assure good adhesion and will also slow down the rapid set of your product that you are applying. Concrete can act like a sponge in soaking up the moisture in the resurfacing product, even an interior floor. Typically, you want to get back on the floor before 24 hours so that your resurface will properly bond to the bonding or priming material. Some types of polymers (Bonding Agent) are what is called non-rewetting, meaning that after the 24 hour window, it will not allow water penetration or a proper bond to the bonding material. (Many people skip this step and still have good results but this is just how I do my projects because longevity and great adhesion is important to me. 4). Time to mix: No matter what the product is, I always add a little of the bonding agent that I primed with into the mix, again, just my preference. When mixing, always put your liquid in first. Then slowly add the dry powder, while mixing. Once it is thoroughly mixed, let it rest for about 2 to 3 minutes. This will help dissolve any dry lumps in the mix. After that time, remix for about 30 seconds to a minute. Also, I like a more flowable mix. It is much easier to apply. I recommend a tool called a Magic Trowel. It looks like a window washing squeegee. Then, pour your material out in a long narrow stream on the floor and move it along with your Magic Trowel, keeping the trowel at about a 30 degree angle. If you try it, it will be apparent how to adjust your trowel. Always work from one side to the other until you cover the entire floor. Keep a wet edge, this means, don't let your edges dry up on you before you trowel more product next to the last strip that you troweled previously. I'm not sure if any of this is helpful to you but thought I'd outline the process that I have been using for years with good success and no failures. Hope This Helps, Lee
Will this resurfacer work in canada winter? Like -20c 😂
Thanks. I want to resurface next to concrete stairs on a 1935 house. I will prime it.
Wow amazing comment! Thank you for taking the time for others, even though his project was already done
Love when people actually add tips instead of unnecessary comments
Right on the label you show: "Add material WHILE MIXING." You didn't do that. Add it more slowly and do it while running the mixer at a slow speed. Then once it's all added speed the mixer up slowly and be patient until it transforms into a pancake batter consistency. Getting the mix right is essential to getting good results. Also, make sure the mix is stored in a cool place prior to mixing and use COLD water to get the 30 mins working time. Time yourself mixing (no more than about 3 mins) and don't overmix. Good luck.
DIYers are always alone!!.
Watching this video makes me look like a professional
Lmao!
Exactly
It’s absolutely not a failure. No one has ever done a project for the first time and came out with perfect results. I’ll bet my farm that the next time you do this, it does come out beautiful. Thanks!
You have to gradually add the resurfacer while mixing, not dump it in all at once
I just watched another video that added all at once.
Thanks man. I've always been a "if it can go wrong, it will" thanks for showing how it could go wrong
You DEFINITELY got that broom finish 😆
My feedback- you should not use the broom to work through big puddles of the mix. You should have poured the mix on the perimeter and pulled it back with the spreader. If you have practice with drywall compound that would set you up for how to spread evenly. Once you pull it back from the perimeter and have it spread out then you brush. Always pull your strokes in the same direction. Never shovel motion like pushing snow. Honestly, if you're up for improving it...all you need to do is buff it with a concrete grinding disk and call it a day. Bonus points if you grind and resurface again. Practice working drywall compound first!
On the broom, must clean it on every pass with the hose and go slow and gentle. On the lumps, poor in another bucket using a house strainer. Than push all the lumps through strainer., before using strain again. I want yo Thank you for Having the courage to show mistakes because i find although few in number these are the better videos. You learn more from them. Everyone makes mistakes but only the wise learn from them
Yikes! That came out butt ugly rough! Concrete doesn't lie so neither will I. I've done A LOT of resurfacing over the years, no substitute for experience from hard lessons learned but here's a crash course. First off, it's only as good as what it's sticking to, so thoroughly grind the old concrete, and I mean grind it down clean with a carbide wheel on the smoother areas (kicks off dust like 9/11, wear respirator and fans to blow it out and make the neighbors cry) or wire wheels where rough (usually exterior) then hose it out with a broom. Sometimes the product calls for dry floor to be primed first with a bonding agent, otherwise wet... and forget the caulk but chip out the cracks. Always shoot for in the shade, cool, cloudy day or in the evening as hot sun doesn't help. Can't have lumps like that so mix it fast and hard, don't be timid, move that paddle around (I use a 4 arm, seems to work), then get down on your hands n knees and trowel it on so it's flat and smooth, not that lame squeegee on a stick. Finishers prefer a 3"X14-16" lay down / burner trowel, in n out, up n down, away from you n towards you followed by a 5X20" finish trowel (round on one side, use square first to get it flat) side to side in wide sweeping motions, as far as you can reach out, slow, firm and steady. They only sell 4" wide trowels at Home Depot and Lowes, but whatever. The angle is important on hardening concrete, not this stuff so much, just keep the tools scraped clean n wet, constantly. And WHY? would you run a dirty-ass, covered in crud broom over it for a garage floor?! There's usually a window of time when you need to texture it with a broom or sponge. It's tough when you're new mix ridges up against the gooey older stuff like lava, but do your best to overlap, feather it in, a little water here n there. It'll never be totally perfectly smooth the first time over unless it's a small area and you get lucky so come back to scrape, grind and fill then tell 'em to paint it with that durable epoxy paint with chips to hide the imperfections. Better luck next time.
Excellent advice, but is certainly a hell of a lot of work.
Thank you
Thanks for posting. Don't beat yourself up my man. Most people wouldn't even attempt to resurface a garage on their own. You motivated me to resurface mine. Thanks :)
Several things I see here. One, grinding the original surface to open the concrete. Two, a primer to increase bonding and create a barrier from potential oils in the concrete from ghosting through. Three, use a different paddle to mix. Eggbeater is good. And yes, slowly add the product. Four, Use a magic trowel to spread it like a window cleaner would use a squeegee. Five, top coat it with a clear urethane sealer. Two coats. Six, I would have filled in those spalled places with Cement All and then the New Crete. Seven, I would have chased those cracks, and opened them up with a v-blade diamond grinder and filled them with Cement All or a two-part epoxy crack filler made for that. Great you tackled that. It was a tough job.
Never seen anyone work in PJ's before. Thanks for posting the vid.
You might consider grinding it with a 7”grinder to smooth out the lumps. And then sealing it.
Love the honesty. The video really helps me a lot.
As others have said, best practice is to slowly add the New Crete to water while mixing (a friend helps here). Second thing that really helped me (can be done regardless of the amount of water used) is to thinly pour mixture onto the floor and use drywall knife to chop through the remaining lumps. Essentially this is spreading the new crete out a bit before you trowel/brush it out.
Sift
How is it 4yrs later?
I finished concrete for about 10 years. You did alright for a rookie. You should have kept stirring until all the lumps were out. Even if you need to use a board to smash the larger lumps. Also, you should have done smaller sections. If you would have took more time it would have turned out better. Your broom is not very good and you are brooming with too much force. You should have done it in like four sections. Hammer drilled some 1x4s down to make some nice control joints. Thanks for the video.
Patch spalling areas and cracks 1st
So assuming someone did something similar.....uh not me of course. What would be the right thing to do now that it's messed up?
@@tigerfriend2000 cover it in an epoxy coating! Lol.
Depending on how bad it is. 😆
@@tigerfriend2000Lavinia 30” propane concrete grinder and grind.
Thank you for the video. Sure helps to see these rather than relying on the printed instructions alone. I used a smaller spiral type mixer attachment with my cordless drill and got decent pancake batter consistency. Also used a piece of board to scrape the sides of the bucket to make sure no dry material was stuck there. Ended up using closer to 4 quarts of water per box of material, too. All-in-all though, Newcrete is very hard to work with for a newbie, since it sets up so fast. Also, watching another video I realized I should have pre-patched the deeper spalled concrete areas and cracks with Cement-All and a trowel beforehand. Then used NewCrete only for a very thin "glaze" over the top of it all. Fortunately I have the rest of the driveway to do it right!
I had a hard time with newcrete the other day. But its super strong so decided to give it another shot. The mixing is crucial. Then start with squeege before the brush. I also did the rapid set cement before the concrete in some areas where i had cracks and the concrete went on so nice after that and i didnt need the bonding agent because the cement acted as a primer as long as u get the concrete on an hour after the cement. Im about to resurface my walkway and ill probably do cement first even with no cracks because im still learning and it made my concrete go on so smooth and nice without my little experience. I really like that product. I even used their rapid set asphalt today to fix some street potholes that the city has ignored and it looks professional
Gotta mix it longer and a little more aggressively to get the lumps out. Also when you were trying to broom over those piles of materials, that doesn’t work. You’ll need to flatten those out before you drag the broom on it. You could do a second coat and mix it a little wetter. It would clean it up quite a bit
I think the PJ’s were the first problem then you needed more water.
Thank you for the video, how does it look now and how cold does it get where you are?
I have used it, didn't get lumps but I added the flow additive which I think they recommend. anyways, lumps are from not mixing well enough. I think you can do another coat, over the top, hit the lumps with a hammer and break them up. good luck.
You sure got that river rock finish😊. Thanks for sharing your video, bro.
Sandles won't let you work at your best. did you use a spatula?
I’d like to guess it’s the mixing paddle you used, it looks different front the ones sold for mixing concrete.
Hello. How looks two years later?
Greetings, I hope you are well. How is the concrete doing at this date?
Did you pressure wash your slab first??????
Thank you for posting, nice effort...live and learn. I now know mixing is critical and I learn from my mistakes...one thing about concrete, its permanent, not like working with wood!!
I don't know all the circumstances, but I've had great luck with Rapid Set products.
You didn't use the squeegee to spread it evenly then use the broom to create pattern.
Cool video bruh. I have never seen someone turn a smooth garage into a rough stone road before!
Great how a mishap can make for a really informative comments section. Thank you for the review.
I did find some fault with, filling the cracks (especially with a caulk) and your mixing and applying it. Smaller batches applied by hand with a trowel would have been better. I applaud you for trying it. As a building maintenance employee I do have to say that I use Rapidset wall patch, concrete patch and just recently asphalt patch with great results.
It’s actually really good that you were so honest (mistakes & all) with your video because that’s how we learn. I just poured a new walkway today with this product & I had no issues with lumps. You do need to whip the material up really well. I blended that stuff up for 2 solid minutes before pouring. So you might have not just blended it long enough.
I had to watch vid with no sound but did you use a concrete sealer afterwards? Could help the finisher look
How many boxes of new Crete did you use
Thanks for the well-done video. There are a lot of comments as to the mixing of this type of product. One thing for sure is that on a job this large, a helper is key to a successful outcome. What I do question was your decision to brush finish the surface. Garages, like basement floors, are done with a smooth surface while drives and sidewalks are brushed to prevent slippage in wet weather.
You must be the most humble guy on youtube . The biggest problem you had with your project was how you mixed it then the tools you used to apply it . Knockdown the bumps /lumps and do it again. make or buy a Gauge Rake , and when mixing add your material slowly to water .
Buy a magnesium trowel and a rubber grout type trowel.
Trowel it on in small sections.
Do a 4x4 foot section.
You will get better and better .
Regardless, you tried, you learned, you are a successful person
Thanks for this! I am sure I could not have done better.
Your video keeps me from trying it myself.
I use rapid set a lot, it’s very strong!! Typically you need to use little bit at a time, I would of spread it with a pool troll, everyone has there own technique, then wound of smoothed it out with a sponge,
Like sections at a time,
Good job tho man! Doing this king of stuff ain’t easy!!
Your paddle seems to be the root cause of your lumps. Also, as others said, gradually add the powder into the water as you mix; the combination of dumping the whole powder into the water pail and, what appears to be the wrong paddle for the job, is giving you the sad result. My recommendation: check out videos on how to mix concrete for beginners. Look at how it's recommended to mix concrete, and this will definitely help you on mixing this product. On a positive note, your prep is very good!🙂
I agree and it’s need to be a little thener
We used this product and it came out perfect.
Thanks for sharing the video -very helpful.
Thanks for your review and sharing both success & learning experiences! Much appreciated!
Heads up this guy has no idea what he is doing and it is completely wrong. I don't think the product is that bad! He had no idea how to mix it!
I know this is a year oldand im not going to criticize, but i have a question. Why do these products say to use that ling handled squeegee?
Iim thinking a flat steel finishing trowel would give a much nicer finish. I install flooring, so I'm thinking smooth.
Im also thinking two applications. Apply the first one to fill in the voids, then as it hardens a little bit, scrape off any troweling ridges. Let it dry, then vacuum the heck out of it and apply the second coat. The second coat would go faster than the first one because all the small voids and pockets have already been filled.
That squeegee might work in conjunction with a steel trowel.
Have one person pushing the materisl around to get it where it needs to go, then the second person could just consecrate on smoothing the finish.
This looks like a two person job anyway with one person mostly mixing and cleaning tools and buckets, the other doing the work.
This is the only video I've ever watched on UA-cam requiring two minutes of ads before the video even starts.
Thank you so much for your experience and video!! Question!! Did you ask or discuss about Concrete Sealing???? I'm currently cleaning AND sealing a lot of concrete around house. I'm using silicone crack sealing AND then sealing the concrete surface as well. Just like you, I have a large area of pitted concrete surface that I too wish to Re-Surface. And I'm wondering if sealing the re-aurfaced area will help with the life of the ReSurfacing???
Great protective footwear?
The guy at Lowes did not recc. newcrete for driving surfaces. Thinking of using it for a 8x16 patio area though.
I just did my first resurfacing with this same brand with much success. As others have mentioned mix it in slowly and stir for a good 3-5 minutes so that it’s lump free and you want it to be a bit more thin and watery than how you mixed it here. Also next time skip the brush.. I just used a squeegee and didn’t even broom it and it came out perfect. It’s still slip resistant using only the squeegee. But If you insist on using a broom, get a new one and don’t use this jacked up broom lol, live and learn.. you will nail it next time brother!
Will that work on a green slab after resurfacing with a grinder?
@@brentwiens2652 If it’s green from paint, I would say as long as all the paint is grinded off then you’re good. In fact it will bond even better if you grind the concrete, as it will give it some teeth in the surface to grab on to. I noticed it’s the areas that I didn’t grind that didn’t stick as well and now has areas peeling & chipping off, but the slabs that I did use my grinder have no issues at all.
Love your transparency! You're a good and honest, hard worker.
Well, I think people pointed out the things you did wrong. I watched you mix it and said, well, there's 90%of your problem! That aside, a couple other things jump out.
One is using the "concrete caulk" For one thing, assuming compatibility between products is risky. No matter what brand you choose, you are always better off using the same brand of products. These are things designed to work together. These guys make a repair product called CementAll. It is part of their suite of products for concrete and what they recommend to use before applying this stuff.
You mix a little at a time and apply with a trowel. Looking at how badly pitted some of your floor was, you would have benefitted greatly by using the CementAll to fill and level that area first as well as treat the cracks. let it cure and the next day, take an angle grinder with a medium course flapper disc and knock down any high spots around those repairs. Blow all the dust out before going further.
As a couple people pointed out, you want to primarily drag this stuff rather than push it, so working from the edges toward the center is the way to go. For spreading, you want a squeegee They make some with sort of a thick rubber foam type blade. They work very nice for things like this. Don't put too much of this down at one time because its working time is short. The colder the water the better to slow the cure down a bit. Some have suggested using a bit more water, which will probably work as long as you don't thin it too much. Work in small batches so any overlap is on a "wet edge". Watch your time and you're probably better off using two people. One mixing and one applying. Have them mix another batch as you are getting close to done with the first. That will keep your tools wet with new product.
I think most people that have problems with this stuff, get themselves overloaded thinking it behave kinda like paint. It doesn't. If you are wanting to get a broom finish, allow enough working time after you get it spread. I think using the proper squeegee will give you a nice finish without a need to broom it.
This is a "Live and learn" product and it's always a good idea to try it in a test area first. Maybe on a small section of walk. That, "test it first" approach is good for a lot of things yo are using for the first time. It makes the larger application easier because you have a feel for how it works.
What I love about these guys. It takes balls to fail. You can learn so much from others mistakes. The only 2 mistakes I see is they use a huge heavy broom and they should have use a squeegy, and the had clumps..SO 2 big issues that cause a big fail. but the great thing is you should do it again bro with the 2 adjustments try another quickrete cap or some other overlay material and use SQUEEGY and dont use a broom and make sure smooth as butter and yu can over lay the garage again easy many people do layers. we want to see 2nd attempt the better way..amazing idea to learn from mistakes
Is there sand in new Crete?
Are they lumps or are they bubbles caused by offgassing from not knowing the first thing about how to us a squeegee
How many boxes did it take?
You issue with the lumps is your mixing of the product. You really should put your water in the bucket first and mix the product into the water that will help you to ultimately have a much smoother mixture. It is also a very large area to do with the product you used amd without experience it is difficult to get a consistent blended texture with the diffrent mixes you needed to do.
Needed a sqeegie to spread and broom for texture, sqeegie would pull most lumps out?
Always add a few inches of water to the bucket first, run it all through until all the dry stuff is gone and only lumps, if the bucket spins it needs water, if yiu can mix without the bucket spinning its good. Once only lumps are left you bring the drill down so the paddle is about 45 deg and let it flip the mud up a little and hit the air then the side of the bucket. This comes from someone who mixes a crap load of mortar, resurfacers, plasters, hot mud, ect. Then use a squeegee not a broom over a trowel floor. Any lumps that happen to get by which won't be many you can pull to you and trowel back into the bucket if needed
Put more coats on it?
You used the wrong material to fill the cracks. You poured the whole bag in before starting the mixing process. You did not use a float or trowel to lay it down flat and smooth
i would go over this with a grinder or sander and try to smooth this out man
No its best if he gives it a second coat instead of griding it if he grind its it would remove the whole thing
0:58 you call a chisel a “odd tool”?
wood chisel, not for concrete - tool abuse!!!😁
Not sure if this has been mentioned, using a drywall mud mixing paddle is a bad idea. You can see how it pushes the lumps of powder around. The eggbeater mixer type is ideal since it will break down those lumps.
It’s important to use the same cement to water ratio. The first batch was a thicker consistency than the second batch which was very fluid, almost like a self leveling. I’m surprised the product actually adhered, in my opinion the substrate needed more preparation.
I'm not a professional, but I've used Cement All and New Crete to repair a concrete pad in front of my garage with pretty good results. A few items to note:
1. Cement work is definitely an art based on experience. Its pretty tough to get great results the first try.
2. Its lumpy because it's not mixed sufficiently: 1. Prob not enough time (I believe the instructions state a full 4 mins) and 2. the wrong type of mixer was used (paddle vs the correct egg beater type for cement products). I have noticed that these products are often lumpy, but proper mixing results in a very smooth mix.
3. Prep here is fairly poor. The cement is heavily stained with lots of pitting. I would argue it should have been ground down with a diamond grinding wheel. Would be a fair amount of work, but i did this myself with great results.
4. Some of the larger cracks/holes/pitting should have been repaired with Cement All prior to New Crete. Repairing those cracks with a caulk type product is not recommended as I would question the adhesion of the New Crete. The cracks should have been chiseled out and repaired with cement all.
5. The broom is a finishing tool only. As per instructions, should be applied with a squeegee or a trowel.
6. This stuff cures fast. As per instructions, broom finish should be applied as soon as squeegeed out. There are additives that can be used with both Cement All and New Crete to delay curing - would highly recommend.
6. The garage in this video is large. It would be difficult to get a nice broom finish over such an area unless it was divided into segments. Others can probably chime in as to best approach, but usually new crete is used for smaller areas where a broom finish can be applied in one pass (eg. a sidewalk, porch, cement pad etc.)
7. And finally, to cut to the chase, the results in this video do look like cr*p. But no worries, get yourself an angle grinder and diamond wheel and you can easily smooth out the new crete and attempt again. Practice makes perfect. I had to do this myself as my first attempt with this stuff looked terrible as well.
8. Extra Note for those saying to using a bonding agent - its not necessary. New Crete includes a bonding agent itself already mixed in.
Can you put color in the mix?
It looks great for a broom finish but I think with the resurfacers people go for a squeegee look ,
I think maybe squeegee and then going back with the broom may have helped / I see people epoxy garages flat and do broom finishes outside, the repairs look great. The other product they have is a self leveling skim coat that also works for this - with bonding adhesive
Try adding mix gradually not all at once?
Throw some Rust-Oleum concrete paint over it. Will make the look more uniform.
Put water in container 1st then add concrete slowly while mixing -be sure to scrape sides of container. This will help to avoid small lumps in mixture
Next time you mix it, have one person gradually feed it in with another person on the drill keeping it spinning; that should help with the lumps. Also, getting one of those egg beater type paddles would help.
I tape sections in parts u apply as u go have to use a pool trowell
Always Start Your Mix With Less Water And Add More Gradually Until You Get The Thickness You Looking For, When You Dump The Mix Into A Full Bucket Of Water It Doesn’t Give The Mixing Paddle Time To Break Down Each Lump While As They Form.
It’s possible that you mixed more than you could safely use before it started setting up and then later in your video you were spreading it with your broom finishing tool instead of your squeegee.
Thanks for the video. I used this product as well and got some dark sections that didn’t cure to the light gray color like the rest of the garage floor. I see you have some dark sections as well. Did this ever cure to a lighter color or did it stay the same? Thanks!
Wondering about that too.
We did this and no lumps. Not sure what went wrong but i mixed and poured and my husband smoothed and broomed. I think it was the water and mixing.
It may have helped to have the paddle stirring in the bucket while simultaneously and slowly pouring in the mix. Not sure
Squeegee first and then use a broom trowel to smooth out the streaksbefore you get to far where you don't have to walk on your fresh work. Uses different type of mixer instead of the flat mixer, it may have helped with the lumps. You still did a good job regardless. Thanks for sharing this video..
Cute stuff how are you doing this morning?😊😮
other videos ive seen about this product they make sure to state that you should lay it on thin, no more than an 1/8 inch. doesnt appear to be laid out even which may attribute to the brush streaks and inconsistency. aside from that good job. its in the garage so nobody is gonna notice the clumps.
The thing that jumped out to me was the mixing paddle, that style just pushes it around not mixing. The way you mixed it like most ppl have commented on. You were right operator error. Looked better before.
I won't repeat several others comments, but your #1 issue that led to your lumpy mix..... You used the wrong mixer.... Your flat paddle mixer won't get the mix ultra smooth and non lumpy.... Your needed to use the spiral type mixer in order to chop all the lumps out, as others mentioned, adding the mix slowly to water as you are mixing, not all the water into the dry mix as you did in your video
For those doing this, break out the loose chunks in the cracked areas and fill with Cement All first. THEN do the New Crete. Use a float to move the New Crete. You need to let the New Crete set up a bit before brooming.
A little more advice I wouldn't try to broom finish on top of a slick finish and then only do one drag the proper way to do it would have been to come over top that with a hand trowel and let it dry a little bit and then broom it was way too wet to or maybe I've done it a second time with a longer broom that way you get one stroke all the way from the front to back
From the very beginning, dont use caulk use concrete patching for cracks. Then you absolutely need it to be lump free. Use a squeegee, but best when done on hands and knees with a masonry float or trowel
My thinking you didn't scrap the sides of the bucket and to large of an section at a time
Looks good, I would have used a broom to brush in long brushes.
More water. And smooth it out with a trowel, then lightly broom if u want a textured finish.
you need a squigy and a broom, the squiggy spreads then the broom just puts on the texture
Good try, my man. Got me laughing when you said you're real handy.
Small paddle mixer slow add on materials ,love the harbor freight multi tool I used to buy two at a time . Sorry for end result ..
Hi handsome. Great project. May I add a newbie tip: 1 clear all objects out of garage. 2 - go to home Depot and rent a cement diamond cutting vacuum and buy a diamond wheel to cut into and clean all cracks. 3. Pressure wash garage floor. Then it's clean enough to seal. ,Then fill with quality quick Crete from home Depot. Finally topcoat it. God bless you. P. S. Don't forget to buy crypto:XRP, XLM, XDC.
Rent a sander then do a decorative Garage floor coating.
your mixing job was like me when they threw me in jail and i had to work in the kitchen. i was making instant mashed potatos in a big tub thing with a stainless boat paddle. i dumped all the fucking mix in at once and it was to heavy for me to mix it right. guys were trying to reat the stuff and they were choking clouds of unmixed instant potatos. the good thing was they never made me do it again. thats what you did wrong lol
Concrete try adding a little bit of concrete at a time while you're mixing it no don't just dump the whole bag and that's what made it Lumpy try to do it in quarters or 20% at a time just so that until each additional pour of concrete into the water becomes one free then you add the next batch by having all that it's like baking and flour if you put the flour in like that too much it gets lumpy but if you had it in little by little then you get a smoothie mix
I think maybe a good epoxy paint would have accomplished what you were after and it would have been mush easier.
SO your review is how is it going to hold up in the future, and clear user error.