Sounds like you have an 'urbanite' project on your hands. That's arch-i-speak for the product known as recycled cracked concrete. I think you have a variety of creative options that will give completely different looks. 1. - If you choose to work with your existing cracked concrete in place you can use a dry lay or a wet set technique of laying colored pebbles in between the cracks- this give a more rustic hand-made look. For great inspirational images google the work of Jeffery Bale. http://www.jeffreygardens.com/ ( his blog is quite wonderful too ) Fine Gardening Magazine interviewed him several years ago and he provided a "How to" article for them which is as wonderful as he is . The second option is to saw cut the existing concrete into manageable square or rectangle sizes and refit them into a grid like pattern. This will render a fairly modern look. You can then fill in between them with groundcover plants or pebbles or tumbled glass or tumbles terracotta . Take note that depending on how thick your original concrete was poured that these newly cut squares or rectangles are going to weigh a sh!t load. A 3x3 foot section could potentially weight close to 200 lbs. If you go with this method I would definitely have a massage therapist lined up at the end of the project. If the concrete is too slippery as you mentioned you have a couple of options to roughen it up : sandblast or acid wash. Both techniques will change the color a bit . As far as drainage goes - I really don't like to give any advice on these forums because one really needs to see the site to fully understand what one is up against. There are just too many variables when dealing with drainage to take into account to provide you with accurate and sound advice. If you decide to take a modern approach to cutting the concrete check out the work of Shirley Watts and her 'blue garden'. Another example of a designer who is wonderfully creative and produces works of art form the landscape. - http://www.sawattsdesign.com/ ... and one last bit of inspiration from another landscape designer who sculpts gardens ..check out the photo site of David Feix. He has done some very exciting work with coloring concrete slabs and installing colored Indonesian pebbles in between the colored slabs. link - http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=david%20feix%20trejo%20garden

Sorry, just saw your reply. We wound up removing the footings (or, more specifically, we broke off something like the top 6 inches and buried what remained).

That's really not accurate^^^. You can install on concrete, but there's a difference between all fresh vs topping an existing slab for a typical patio. Concrete runs $120-$200 per yard, CA-6 $50. A concrete company will charge from $5-$10 per SF for a slab. Could you get away with just a rough screed instead of bull floating it to perfection? Maybe, but you'll probably have low spots and ridges from aggregrate collecting water. And concrete is not designed to move, gravel bases can. Concrete is not designed to drain water (which is why it is recommended to drill holes), gravel is. If that slab heaves for some reason, there's no fixing it. If a gravel base heaves, remove the pavers, repair base, and reinstall. Compaction of a 4"-6" base is just that, there are no lifts. Concrete laborers are much more expensive than landscapers, not even talking about concrete finishers. If you like the look of concrete or stamped concrete, do that per industry standards (gravel base as needed for poor soils). If you like the look of pavers/porcelain tile, do that per industry standards (gravel base). If you like stone, do that per industry standards (gravel base). Now, if you live in a non-freezing climate and want brick or stone with mortar joints, then you can start with a concrete slab.

I think you can, but you can also use porcelain ‘pavers’ designed for exteriors. I wanted to use Daltile Xteriors collection, when I was researching my new patio, but I didn’t have the budget for the concrete pad. Check it out here https://www.daltile.com/xteriors. I’m sure there are other brands.