User Review
( votes)
I told you guys that it would some day come to this: I’ve finally broken down and had my driveway professionally refinished with elite crete concrete resurfacing and cement stain. As you’ve seen from my experience, results and articles on Ready-Mixed Concrete Patch, Concrete Crack Repair, Cement Painting, Behr Stain, Driveway Refinishing, Paint Stripper, etc, etc…I needed help and I finally got it. I interviewed a few different people that did various types of concrete stamping , complete driveway replacement, concrete resurfacing. stone surfacing, tar and other driveway surface repair and refinishing. I ended up with a product called, Elite Crete. Let me explain how I came to this decision and then, I will talk about the results and what I did with my cement porch.
I talked to three different traditional cement driveway refinishing companies. My estimates ranged from $4600 to $8000 for a completely new driveway, including ripping out and hauling off the old cement, pouring the new, refinishing and curing it. The costs for just refinishing the driveway, without replacing the entire concrete was $2,600 to $4,000. My hesitation for replacing it with a traditional cement driveway was based on the fact that cement will not endure salt and other things used to keep the driveway safe to walk on in the winter time. My north-facing driveway rarely gets any sun during the long, cold winter months and I just couldn’t see spending $2,600 – $8,000 to get something that didn’t work before. The next thing I looked into was a driveway stamping company that would refinish my existing driveway and porch with an acrylic based product that was resistant to salt. I was quoted about $7,800 for both my 150 Square foot porch and 1000 square foot driveway. This sounded expensive to me, but doable. The warranty would last for 10 years, as long I agreed to let the company come back every two years to re-stain it at cost of about $1.00 per square foot. That’s about $550 per year to keep my warranty intact. Yikes.
Finally, I contacted a company called, Everstone which refinishes driveways, patios and pool decks with a beautiful, glossy-looking stone surface. The company owner wisely recommended against the stone for my driveway, telling me that the repeated movement of turning car tires would wear grooves in the surface. He did, however, sell me on the idea that the stone would be an attractive and inexpensive upgrade for my small sidewalk and porch area adjacent to the driveway. Furthermore, he recommended a product and company he had just partnered with for the driveway. Elite Crete makes a polymer based concrete product that is resistant to salt and other ice removers. He showed me some samples in various shades of gray and tan. The Elite Crete surface has a rather rough, yet attractive-looking appearance and texture. His estimate came to about $5,000 for the entire driveway, and about $1,600 to do the porch and sidewalk using his Everstone product. I was sold. The color I chose for my driveway was beige with chocolate highlights which matched the bricks on my house. The surface has an interesting, look to it, almost like a tweed carpet with a bit of a rough texture. The color and style is not so significantly different-looking from a cement driveway that the neighborhood HOA would be concerned. It’s pretty close to looking like a normal driveway, but definitely with a slight upgrade in appearance. I will talk about the stone sidewalk and porch in an upcoming post. Now, back to the driveway.
There was some, small concern by the contractor whether or not the driveway concrete underneath was in good enough shape to get the job done. You need a good flat surface underneath that can be made smooth enough in order to apply the Elite Crete surfacing mixture. As it turned out, my driveway did present some difficulties. Two days of concrete grinding were required in order to prepare the concrete for the Elite Crete. Between the surface preparation and actual coatings of Elite Crete, it took about 10 days to finally get the job done. Normally, this would take them about 2-3 days, but the weather would not cooperate. There was never a stretch or two of days without wind, rain and/or snow. Can’t have it freezing or wet while they are applying the coats. After the first coat was applied I became a little nervous about the color looking a little more yellow than I had imagined. This was only because the final coats, two-tone chocolate color and 3-coats of stain had not been applied. Finally, after a long 12-hour day, they finished the job! Overall, I am extremely happy with the results. The Elite Crete has a little bit rougher surface and appearance which will make it much safer to walk and drive on in the icy winter months. If I need to, I can use salt and other ice melt chemicals to clear a path to my door without having to worry about ruining the surface. I was only slightly disappointed that there are still some small areas where the grooves from the grinder are showing. The Elite Crete representative assured me this would not affect the integrity and durability of the surface. For a driveway that was in such bad shape, a little of grooves won’t bother me. As you can see by the photos, the hours and money I spent with Dap Ready-Mixed Concrete Patch, Concrete Crack Repair, Behr Stain and concrete stain stripper are no comparison to the final appearance of the Elite Crete application. There is a reason why sometimes you have to pay good money to do something right.
Obviously, the appearance of the complete job is only part of the Elite Crete review. My driveway will be under warranty for 10 years as long as I agree to re-stain it every 2 years. I will keep you up to date on the durability of the Elite Crete Product, how well it cleans up, and it does in the snow. Thanks to my failed concrete projects, there is more information on this blog about cement stain, driveways and concrete refinishing than all other topics combined. Hopefully, the information will save some people some time and money, not to mention the aggravation of a peeling or cracked driveway.
Sika - Sikacryl - Gray - Ready-Mix Concrete Patch - for Repairing spalls and Cracks in Concrete and Masonry - Textured - 1 qt
32% Off
INSL-X SU031009A-01 Sure Step Acrylic Anti-Slip Coating Paint, 1 Gallon, Light Gray
5% Off
KILZ Over Armor Wood & Concrete Resurfacer, Exterior, Textured, Slate Gray, 1 Gallon
KILZ Low-Lustre Enamel Porch & Patio Latex Floor Paint, Interior/Exterior, Slate Gray, 1 Gallon
Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair
10% Off
Rubbermaid Reveal Cordless Battery Power Scrubber, Gray/Red, Multi-Purpose Scrub Brush Cleaner for Grout/Tile/Bathroom/Shower/Bathtub, Water Resistant, Lightweight, Ergonomic Grip (1839685)
13% Off
Drawing Desk : Draw, Paint, Art
Home Improvement: Season 6
TimTin 1400 G/ 3.08 Lb Blend Color Chips Concrete Floor Coatings Decorative Paint Flakes for Walls Garage Floor Paint Interior Exterior Floors (Black, White, Gray)
I will have to confess to being a little bit obsessed with my beautiful driveway. I’m not sure I can ever drive a car on it again. This afternoon, my wife started sweeping debris from the garage onto the new, beautiful, Elite Crete finish, and I nearly had a coronary. I’ll be okay. I just wanted to go an entire week with a flawless and spotless driveway. Is that too much to ask?
We have an Elite Crete driveway, pooldeck and sidewalks. They are awesome after 5 years now.
Jill,
That is encouraging to know that your Elite Crete Driveway, Pool Deck and Sidewalks have held up so well. I’m looking into maybe doing it around our pool, as opposed to the Everstone. It really does look great and seems very durable.
Rob – how has the driveway been holding up? Are you still satisfied with the product? I’m considering having my pool deck done with the coating.
Jay,
The surface is holding up great. However, a few, hairline cracks appeared across some of the slabs. These cracks, though, have nothing to do with the integrity of the surface. Probably more to do with things settling – and nothing that can really be done about it. Same thing would happen with cement I’m sure. It’s easy to repair, I’m told. The elitecrete installer really tried to persuade me to have the surface resealed every two years and it is due this year. I decided to forego it. At .85 per square foot, that would cost me over $1,000 which seems exorbitant. I would like to find out how to seal it myself, but have not been able to find any instructions online about how and what to use. If anyone knows how to seal or stain elitecrete, please let me know. Oh, one more thing – I’m not happy with the color I chose, which looks kind of yellow in comparison of the other gray, cement driveways on the block. I highly recommend using one of the gray shade colors when you choose.
I bought an old house(built in 1977) The garage floor half is a smooth quary tile on one side and the other half concrete about a 1/4′ to 1/2′ below the quary tile. In reality it’s the concrete slab floor.
A local contractor says he can apply an apoxy coating to the entire garage floor and bring the floor level without removing the quary tiles or doing anything special on the slab floor.I’m afraid he is just pipe dreaming and it wont hold up. The garage is 420 sq. ft. and he is asking $1608.
Rob, how does I look now. We are planning a backyard patio extension and resurface this summer in Colorado Springs.
Keith
Keith,
I think the concrete has been very durable. I just wish I had chosen more of a gray-tone color. I do have a crack across one of the sections, but that happens regardless of the material used to resurface a driveway. It is easy to fix I am told. I would like to get mine re-stained and look into a grayer tone color as someone suggested was possible. My own installer doesn’t seem to know about re-tinting the color and I cannot find anyone else who knows about EliteCrete.
I am a property maintenance company. This product was applied on the sidewalks by a private certified contractor from their office. The product has peeled off, discolored, and spider cracks every where. Regular concrete would not do this. I have been trying to file a warranty claim but no one will return emails and the phone rings endlessly. I would never use this company or product again. Should have just paid the few thousand more and did concrete.
Mike,
It sounds like you had a poor installation. a crack here or there is common even with concrete, but I have had no peeling whatsoever. I have a very harsh, northern exposure that endures a lot of ice and shoveling and after 5 years it is very solid. I paid more for the Elite Crete than I would have paid for normal concrete. It is an upgrade not a cost-saving measure. I’d complain to the manufacturer about the installer.