Homeowner Guide
Should I recoat or replace my patio or pool deck coating?
Replace a Metro Detroit patio or pool deck coating when the film is unknown epoxy, amber from UV, or split at freeze-thaw joints, because driveway salt and Michigan winters will finish a skim coat, and the published rule is 100% removal, a 4.0 lbs moisture check, and a UV-stable rebuild—not leftover garage chemistry on the old layer.
Recoat means a new UV-stable topcoat on a known, bonded outdoor film. Amber indoor epoxy and peeling kits are replace jobs.
Delamination percent and recoat-to-replace cost ratios that are not on the facts ledger are [VERIFY]. A dedicated outdoor price table is also [VERIFY]; calculator quartz is $6–$10 / sq ft as a first pass.
How do I decide recoat versus replace on a Michigan patio or pool deck?
If the film is unknown, amber, split at joints, or peeling at the salty driveway edge, replace. Recoat is only for a known UV-stable system that is still bonded.
Why is failed outdoor epoxy a full strip?
Unknown films hide indoor chemistry. UV and chloride find it.
The published rule is 100% removal to bare concrete. Calculator removal adders are $1–$2 / sq ft extra.
After strip, use calculator quartz $6–$10 / sq ft only as a sketch. A patio-specific installed rebuild total is [VERIFY].
How do sun and driveway salt change the recoat call?
Ambering is UV. Edge peel at the drive is chloride plus freeze-thaw. Neither is a topcoat-only problem.
1940–1980 Metro Detroit decks are often open broom with no vapor barrier under the slab. Test MVER before you refresh anything.
If more than 50% of the field is a salt-scaling network, treat it like the indoor flood-coat rule: rebuild after the film is gone.
If I replace, how soon can we walk, and can you do it in the cold?
Polyaspartic light use is typically 24 hours. Quartz broadcast is listed at 24–48 hours. Many polyaspartic systems install from about 35°F to 100°F+.
Standard epoxy is 3–7 days and wants 50°F–90°F. Outdoor January epoxy is how you get a soft film that winter finishes.
Warranty language is 15+ year residential (per quote) for polyaspartic. An exterior-specific year count is [VERIFY]. A recoat on a failed film does not inherit that language.
What do people ask about patio recoat versus replace?
No. Failed or unknown epoxy is 100% removal. UV and driveway salt peel the new layer with the old one.
Ambering means the chemistry was not UV-stable. Recoating with the same aromatic epoxy yellows again. Strip and rebuild with an aliphatic / polyaspartic system.
A coating-delamination percent cutoff is [VERIFY]. What is published: unknown epoxy is a full strip, and more than 50% pinholes or salt-scaling is a rebuild after strip.
A recoat-to-replace cost ratio is [VERIFY]. What is published: removal adders $1–$2 / sq ft extra, and calculator quartz $6–$10 / sq ft as a first-pass rebuild sketch. A dedicated outdoor table is [VERIFY].
Yes if the film filled joints that needed to move. Recoating copies the split. Honor joints on a strip-and-rebuild, and fix ponding before any film.
Polyaspartic light use is typically 24 hours. Quartz broadcast is listed at 24–48 hours. Pool-open timing beyond that is [VERIFY]. Get the window in writing.