Q: What can be put on top of a concrete patio to stop the sweating. We thought about brick pavers with plastic under the brick. Will this work? Is there anything else that will work?
Thanks,
Terri
A: Based on what you are describing it sounds like you have ground water coming up through the concrete. Most likely you happen to be on a higher water table and the original waterproofing membrane has either failed or it may not have been properly installed.
You will want to clean the concrete, typically by a process similar to sand blasting where you will lightly abrade the concrete and then seal it. One thing to keep in mind here would be the color of the sweating you are having. If the patio is sweating white tinged water, that means it contains calcium (pulled out from the concrete). If this is occurring you will want to use a bit of bleach over the concrete, as this will remove and calcium residue on the concrete.
What you will want to do is get a roll out waterproofing membrane (naturally you want to get one that is meant to be load bearing). This is assuming you wish to do the brick pavers, if you want to keep the concrete as is, get a concrete sealer and spread out two coats. One running North to South and the other running East to West. There are several sealers, both in colors and clear which can give you all sorts of nice appearances.
To sum up here: clean the concrete then seal it. If you want to use brick pavers as your final look, install a load bearing waterproofing membrane (rolled out per the instructions of the membrane), then install your brick pavers and you should be all set.
