Imprinted concrete surface flaking off - Help and advice on repairs

[Ray w]

HI i would like some advice on my drive and patio it was laid in july 09, in dec 09 the surface started to flake off in small pieces about the size of a 5 pence coin in random places all over the drive, i rang the contractor and his reply was that it was caused by road salt he came in may 2010 and re-coloured the areas that had flaked off then re-sealed the drive.
In dec 2010 it started to do the same again i rang the contractor but no reply by jan 2011 the drive way and this time the patio were really bad but as the same is happening to the patio it can not be salt so continued to ring contractor until finally in late march he came to look ( shrugged his shoulders and said i can't afford to put this right ) he ten started to blame the concrete supplier for supplying the wrong mix, he would ring them and get back within the week, no reply so wrote letter got reply back saying they haven't decided if it is down to the weather or not, no contact since.
As i don't think i will get any where with the contractor i would like advice on repairs or some one who can repair it, how to stabilize the surface until it is repaired and is any one local to congleton to give price and advice on repairs
Sorry to go on , many thanks Ray

[GB_Groundworks]

im not far from congelton, but the only thing i do with PIC(pattern imprinted concrete) is take my breaker to it, we hear this a lot on here people think its the best thing sliced bread and im yet to see a decent pic driveway anywhere in this country. it flajes, cracks and discolours mainly due to poor installation.

your contractor seems like a bit of a joke, using every excuse he can to get away with it

i dont think youve got many options really, a sealant wont help in the long run but maybe somebody with more pic experence can help

[lutonlagerlout]

as giles states correctly ,there isnt really effective repairs for PIC
its a 1 hit job and has to be installed 100% correctly or this happens
sorry
LLL

[Ray w]

Hi thanks for your replies, the choice of pic wasn't taken looked at as being the best thing since sliced bread but was looked in to and on other drives in the area and low maintenance. a block paved drive is a lot of work to keep pristine i have had 2 in the past and 90% all end up with ruts with the car driving in the same place.
I have since found out that when you research pic it is mostly usa web sites and they don't seem to have a problem unless you forget to re-seal after 3 to 5 years, i found this web site to late because as you say Giles faults are usually poor installation for this reason i went for 4 estimates and picked not the cheapest but the one who seemed to talk the talk had a good portfolio and was a member of the fmb.
it did rain very hard after the first coat of sealer and it cratered the sealer very badly but the contractor said don't worry as next coat will settle it down, if you look closely at the surface the flaking is happening more where these small blisters are now reshowing, we have a similar problem in the motor trade when newly applied paint gets damp before or during application and cause's micro-blisters later down the line maybe it was the damp getting trapped in the sealer.
I have seen where they have repaired spalled concrete by topping it with polymer based product and re-stamping it but only on usa web sites, is any one aware of this product over here.
many thanks Ray

[GB_Groundworks]

Simeon from ronacrete has some overlay products that might help he pops on most days, if not you could cover it and have resin bonded gravel lol

[Dave_L]

There are some very nice pic driveways down here,all done nicely.....but it is a very skilled job.

Something resin-bound is really the only option to overlay the surface but this won't be cheap.

[cookiewales]

There are some very nice pic driveways down here,all done nicely.....but it is a very skilled job.

Something resin-bound is really the only option to overlay the surface but this won't be cheap.

could be better to put down the real stone what pic copies but doesent last resin also can look false there is good out there but can be as dear as setts :;):

[simeonronacrete]

If the surface is strong enough it is possible to plane off the top of the surface and apply a thin bonded layer. This could be few mm of Resin Bonded Surfacing or 15mm of Resin Bound Surfacing.

You will lose the PIC appearance but it sounds like it's already a goner.