Browse Forums Paving & Concreting 1 Apr 18, 2020 2:05 pm Hi everyone, I was hoping i could please get some advice on our newly finished exposed aggregate driveway. My building and construction knowledge is very slim so your help is really appreciated. Our driveway is just completed and when we had a good look, we noticed lumps of silicon put in certain places. It looks like there may have been some stones missing and so they squirted silicon in and then placed extra stones on top to fix the gaps. Is this normal? The concrete man who did the concrete said that you won’t be able to notice it at all once the driveway is sealed. Now that it is sealed, we find it absolutely no different. You can see the silicon stand out with it being very lumpy and shiny. It is all along the edges where the concrete meets the footpath (council wouldn’t let us cut the footpath out) and in random spots throughout the driveway. I am really not happy with it and incredible disappointed. We have spent a lot of money on it and it is just not what we excepted. I was just wondering if it is normal to use silicon to fill gaps or holes where stones may be missing? Thank you for reading and for your help. It’s really appreciated. Re: Silicon in our new exposed aggregate 2Apr 18, 2020 2:19 pm I do a lot of work with an exposed agg specialist and I have never seen silicon used to repair a job. It sounds like an attempt to fix a poorly finished job. Can you post some pictures? Exposed agg is very unforgiving to poor processes and once the concrete is placed and finished the repair options are very limited. I'll be interested to see the pictures. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Silicon in our new exposed aggregate 3Apr 18, 2020 3:17 pm Thank you very much for your quick reply. I have attached some photos. I’ll be interested to hear what you think. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Silicon in our new exposed aggregate 4Apr 18, 2020 3:33 pm Xenia Thank you very much for your quick reply. I have attached some photos. I’ll be interested to hear what you think. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ They have over applied the retarder and it has pooled along the edges. When they have high pressure washed it it has over exposed those areas allowing all the stones to be washed out. Not a very good job. It should look like this along the edge. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Silicon in our new exposed aggregate 5Apr 18, 2020 3:40 pm The silicon has just made it look worse. Unfortunately that is "set in stone" as they say. There is no real way to save it. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Silicon in our new exposed aggregate 7Apr 18, 2020 7:44 pm [quote="chippy":2kisiaus]The silicon has just made it look worse. Unfortunately that is "set in stone" as they say. There is no real way to save it.[/quote:2kisiaus] Chippy - when exposed agg has been poorly finished, what are the remediation options? Does is simply need ripping up? Can it have a smooth finish added on top? Can you tile over it or what? We are meeting with our builder this week and Id like to understand our remediation options Re: Silicon in our new exposed aggregate 8Apr 18, 2020 10:10 pm Hi alymei As a finished product there is very little that can be done to fix a bad exposed agg job. If the exposure is inadequate the job can be sandblasted to even it up. The job can be honed to a smooth surface which can help to minimise some issues and that slurry that is honed off can be used to make a colour matched patching material, but a honed finish is a different finish and is expensive, though it's cheaper than the last option. The last option is to cut it up, rip it up and redo it. The concrete can be tiled over as it is simply a concrete slab (as long as it was done to correct engineered standards) but it's not really an option for an entire driveway. Any attempts to patch will stand out and won't really be to the standard of the original concrete. Unfortunately exposed agg concrete is an industry that has a fair few cowboys. People (and builders) get tempted by cheap metre rates and the guys who offer it just don't care. Sometimes the jobs go well and look good, sometimes they go bad, look terrible and they just walk away. Their legacy is there for good unless someone is prepared to pay the $$$ to rip it all up and do it again. Like many tradies the guys who are good don't drop their rates, they know what they are worth and know that taking the time to produce a good quality job costs. Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Silicon in our new exposed aggregate 9Apr 19, 2020 2:54 am chippy Hi alymei As a finished product there is very little that can be done to fix a bad exposed agg job. If the exposure is inadequate the job can be sandblasted to even it up. The job can be honed to a smooth surface which can help to minimise some issues and that slurry that is honed off can be used to make a colour matched patching material, but a honed finish is a different finish and is expensive, though it's cheaper than the last option. The last option is to cut it up, rip it up and redo it. The concrete can be tiled over as it is simply a concrete slab (as long as it was done to correct engineered standards) but it's not really an option for an entire driveway. Any attempts to patch will stand out and won't really be to the standard of the original concrete. Thanks Chippy - with our job it affects our driveway and 30sqm of alfresco - the alfresco is just disastrous though, its honestly shocking with mass craters over the surface. So we were wondering if tiling over it is an option. Unsure how I feel about our driveway, its a disappointing scenario. For the people who started this post - don't accept the work - its unacceptable IMO. 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