I’m getting ready to “pave” the road in Dos Manos. I want to make the base out of reinforced concrete for strength, so I can walk on it when necessary without cracking or anything. I also want to top it off with a layer of tinted mortar to simulate old asphalt. What I’m wondering is, would it be best to pour the mortar while the concrete is still curing, or wait until after it has fully hardened?
Ray,
When you say “reinforced concrete” do you mean concrete with re-bar ? Depending on the thickness of the concrete the re-bar will oxidize, thus, it will expand with moisture intrusion and cause a failure. I’m sure you won’t want to pour a 4" slab for you road, this is enough to prevent a failure for many years. The thinner the concrete the more likely it will fail due to expansion of the reinforcement of re-bar. If you do pour a substantial base I would try an asphalt slurry sealer to simulate you road .
Dan
P-Town & West Side RR
I have some galvanized steel bars I was thinking of using, to prevent rust issues. I’ll also be using some galvanized hardware cloth, which I’ve already used extensively in other concrete or mortar structures.
The total slab thickness will be about 2 inches.
Mesh will work.
1/2 and 3/4 rock will work. 2" for a walk way is about it. Do it right the first time.
I have found that fiberglass rod aggregate, available at concrete plants, maybe in Home Cheapo works well to prevent cracking during freeze/ thaw conditions here in the NorthEast. The concrete can be tinted directly without adding the layer of parging on top of the pour with may eventually spall off. The tint is a powder or liquid you can have added/add to the pour, or you can sprinkle the powder on top of the pour and trowel in with your final troweling into the cream. You can even stain the finished, cured concrete rather than risk the spalling.
If you do parge the walkways, apply a bonding agent between the walk and mortar.
Good Luck!
The mortar will stick better if the concrete surface isn’t smooth.
But having said that, years ago I bought some concrete paint that was kinda sandy. It was used to paint the concrete creek bed I built.
20 years ago and still hasn’t pealed off. But I can’t remember what it was called. I think it was prolly an “anti skid” concrete paint.
They can tint it to any color you want. It would make great roads and streets.