Smoothing rough concrete

[jdsmith61]

We have a stone walkway that was made out of concrete using one of those forms that you pour concrete into to form stones at the house we bought. The problem is that they did not smooth them out when they poured them so the gravel in the concrete came to the top and made it rough. Is there a way to smooth this or do I need to rip it up.

 

[itsreallyconc]

a concrete walkway in the shape of individual stepping stones ?,,, go cheap, get cheap - do it again OR, if you don't have the skills, learn :beer:

 

[BridgeMan]

Another option to consider is to surface-seal the rough concrete with a thin (1/8" +/-) film of 2-component, lower viscosity epoxy. Pour it onto the center of each stepping stone, allowing it to seek its own level just to the tops of the coarse aggregate--you may have to push it around a bit with the rubber scraper that you used to mix it. To keep the hardened epoxy from being too slick when wet, you can lightly broadcast some silica sand onto the epoxy while it's still a liquid. And to prevent the epoxy from running onto adjacent areas, make a mini-form around the outside of each stepping stone with a doubled layer of duct tape (with a light layer of Vaseline on the contact faces to act as a bond-breaker).

 

[itsreallyconc]

also a good suggestion however if discoloration would be an issue for you, there isn't, to my knowledge, a good uv-resistant epoxy