Concrete for courtyard - what are my options?

[billbeee]

Hey alpsy, you're getting some good answers here mate, beginner's luck eh?

The most expensive concrete I have ever used (all 45cuM of it) was a white quartz type aggregaten and fines using white cement, all trucked up from south. The job was all polished afterward.

White cement would not be an awful lot dearer than gray, and would definitely be different, though it finishes up light gray not white because of the composition of the rest of the mix. Imagine the old white cement terrazzo mixes you used to see.

It would make a nice main floor with a darker border as has been suggested.

I agree with a Burnsey and Tubby2, stencil is passe', one off architect design jobs don't consider it any more.

I wouldn't polish an open area like yours though. I'd go for a good old fashioned exposed aggregate. No bigger than 10mm.

On another part of the white cement job we laid into the top of the wet surface different colours of smooth river pebbles. We then ground and polished the floor. They looked quite effective and set off the standard mix. Something like a few hand fulls of larger dia. smooth pebbles could set off a finer exposed aggregate quite nicely.

In Darwin we pay through the nose for stuff from south, but we have a few small local importers bringing in some nice stuff from Indonesia, like these graded river pebbles, and lava rock slabs.

There is no end to the decorative finishes for concrete, but I'd hate to be parking a car on something really exotic.

If you are doing it to make a feature, make absolutely sure it doesn't crack! People expect and don't notice cracks in normal concrete, but if you have gone to a lot of trouble then any sort of a crack will stick out like dogs balls.

On an area your size, it will cost stuff all extra to make it a bit thicker and use a thicker mesh than standard. Don't let the concretors add extra water to make it easier to lay. Pour it at the correct slump. Full stop.

Just as an aside, the guys that did the last lot of exposed aggregate for me, surprised me by using sugar as the surface retardant. I have always used a retardant supplied specially for the job. They used a couple of kilos of Home Brand sugar in say 10-20 liters of water and laid it on with a hand pumped garden spray.
They also used a 3000psi water blaster. Always with a large fan well away (like 1200) from the surface, but they had the power and the volume of water to hit it and finish it off at the optimum time. No p--ssing about with tiny Karchers or garden hoses. They did a twenty odd meter long driveway with a waving serpent like contrasting spoon drain down the middle. Totally consistent with no variation from pour to pour.

Cheers
Bill

[kpalmer]

I'm presently putting the finishing touches to an architectural concrete website.

There will be photos, explanations, a free DVD you can order, assistance on exposed aggregate concrete, polished concrete floors and honed concrete.

We should only be another week or so away from launch and there's a temporary website sitting at our URL at present. Feel free to take a look, if you have any questions or need advice feel free to drop us a line.

Thanks.

The website is at -
http://www.concretewa.com.au

[alpsy]

thanks for all your help guys.

slab goes down tomorrow - nervous with fingers crossed.

will let you know how we go and cant wait to have it polished.

julie

[bugsy]

what about large concrete pavers?

in a terracotta colour.
they look great in a court yard and also will give alittle if movement happens.

you could buy them as you can afford them and put them down

[Burnsy]

what about large concrete pavers?

in a terracotta colour.
they look great in a court yard and also will give alittle if movement happens.

you could buy them as you can afford them and put them down

thanks for all your help guys.

slab goes down tomorrow - nervous with fingers crossed.

will let you know how we go and cant wait to have it polished.

julie
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[alpsy]

floor down - looks like ordinary concrete ... lol ... looking forward to having it polished.

also put up the blueboard panels ... should i just have them rendered or do i have other contemporary looking options?

cheers,

julie

[pharmaboy2]

lookin good - - you could render nearly all of it and have the odd narrow section with a flashy metallic tile up to the top for example -

however you really need plant life- a row of yuccas would look good, and putiing them into 1 m long planters with those little wheels on the bottom (with brakes) would mean you could have them down the wall normally, or across the garage door when guests are there - sort of a moveable wall.

[alpsy]

Hi guys,

Walls now rendered, floors polished, stackstone up and bluestone tile around pond.

Need to sort out box around hot water system system, do lighting around concrete perimeter and inside pond, followed by pump / fliter to blow 3 - 4 fountains of water, paint render and then add some plant life. What does everyone think? Anymore suggestions as all the ones given have been great

Cheers,

Julie

[Planned LScape]

A few black/grey/blue feature pots with some Yucca, Cordyline or Draceana in them would finish it off, a screen for the stromy pipe and hotty service (I think you mentioned that) too

Have you allowed conduits for the lighting and power under the concrete or behind the walls? Some water lights shining up into the water cascade would look nice, perhaps the blue ones for night effect, and some circular flush lights for the concrete perimter (if you have conduits and wire underneath), if not maybe some wall mounted lights

[alpsy]

was thinking about a box under the hot water system to hide gas pipes and house powerboard and transformers for lighting. screen idea is interesting as it could possibly hide most of the drainage pipe also. just not sure how to do it to look smart and contemporary.

i ran conduit for the perimeter of the concrete ... want to fill with large white or grey pebbles with led lighting. didn't run any for inside pond but believe it can still be concealed well and covered with pebbles. want to shoot lighting at fountain so water spouts look illuminated and then fill pond with a few koi's ... just need to work out filtration for which im thinking undergravel filter.

yukkas and dracaena draco are two of my favourite plants just need to to figure out how to incorporate them

cheers,

julie