The decorative process of exposing aggregate has been around since the early 1900s, well before pattern concrete, blocks,or slab became trendy. But this method is far from being ready for retirement. An exposed aggregate finish offers numerous advantages. And many of today’s contractors are finding creative ways to take exposed aggregate to a new level. An exposed aggregate surface is obtained by placing concrete and then removing 3mm of the concrete to uncover decorative aggregates . Because of its durability and skid resistance, an exposed aggregate finish is ideal for most homes.
You start by digging out 200mm of ground and laying 100mm of hardcore. Compact this thoroughly then, use timber shutter around the edge of the area you want to concrete. Then poor your concrete and level as you would a normal slab of concrete. Next seed the concrete with your chosen aggregate working this into the surface of the concrete. Then you spray a liquid retarder onto the surface of the concrete, leaving this for 24 hours to cure then jet wash the surface off, exposing 3mm of the aggregates which we seeded the concrete with.
