To follow up in case anyone else runs into this problem in the future. After looking at the floor with the builder and several different professional floor guys....the builder agreed that he screwed up and he hired one of the floor guys to grind the entire floor with a diamond tipped blade/disc.....polish with a polishing disc....and now he is going to re-stain. The grinding made the rough spots much better and got out all of the leaf marks etc. He was even able to patch the hole. However, I am worried about several by-products of the grinding. 1) The patch on the hole looks much better than a big hole....but makes a square with a different "texture" than the rest of the concrete. I am concerned with how this will look when stained. Floor guy said he would go in and make it look less of a defined straight edge shape so it would blend better....but haven't seen this yet. 2) The grinding left a swirl pattern in the floor. I haven't been able to see what the polishing did yet...it may have removed this pattern. My wife thought it looked nice....but I will have to see how it looks after stain. 3) The grinding took off most of the "paste" and now aggregate shows through. I know some people go for this "terrazzo" look....but I am worried about it looking more commercial than residential. I am hoping that going with a darker water based stain will hide most of this. I will follow up with pictures after the stain is completed.

Here are the directions. I wish you could see the pictures of how this looks, but they sent me a color copy, not a link. Since your patio is green, you would probably have to paint it some sort of cement type color to form the 'grout lines' before rolling on the bricks. If you have patience and a steady hand, this is a great cheap fix. Let me know if you do this and how it turns out. Or, if you have any questions. from Cottage Living: for painting old concrete to look like brick. This is the technique I used on my patio that I got from Cottage Living Magazine. They sent me a reprint, since I misplaced the article. I only wish I could post the photos from the article so you could see what she is doing. But here are the written instructions. Let me know if you need any help. You can do it Go Faux it. The plain paving around the 1930's cottage did little to enhance its charm, but tearing out the concrete and laying a brick walkway would have cost thousands. Instead, Claudia mixed a batch of brick colored paint and rolled it right onto the concrete. Initially, she tried stenciling the bricks, but when it looked 'too neat and perfect', she decided to do the job by hand. After painting a 100 foot long path in an afternoon, she was so pleased with the results that she went onto brick her entire driveway. Details: Paint a brick walkway:Gather the goods: 4 inch paint roller, paint tray, custom blended paint 1) Claudia Darr used 1 gallon of Benjamin Moore's MoorGard Low Lustre Latex House Paint (#103-4B) in the following forumla (the paint dealer will know what this means):OY 1x8, RX 5x, BK 1x22, MA 3x, WH1x16, TG 18 2) Clean the area you plan to paint, and let it dry thoroughly 3) Beginning in a corner, use a 4 inch roller to paing " bricks". Make each one about 7 inches long, leaving about 3/4 inch between each brick (to simulate grout line). Stagger adjoining rows so bricks form a wall pattern. Good luck with this and let us know how it turns out. Some tips from me: sweep the area well before you do this. The 4 inch roller is a skinny little roller that I found in the Benjamin more paint store. It came with a roller stick. I attached one of those wooden poles that screwed into the handle of the roller handle. It is the type you would use when you would paint your ceiling. Trust me, you do not want to bend over with the roller for an entire day painting the ground! Experiment on some old newspaper first to get your technique down. And, I first went around the entire outside of the patio laying the 'bricks' out along the edge in the opposite direction that I ran the rest of the bricks in. It makes for a nicer look.

jixxxer: Did you do your staining? If so, what did you use and how did it go? Any Pictures? We're having a front porch poured today and have an old concrete terrace in the back, both of which I'd like to stain. You didn't get any responses when you posted this, but maybe someone will have advice this time around.

I can't say for sure whether that's just dirt, or something more insidious. I agree that combined with the odd patterns here, your interior paint problems worry me. If it's just dirt, I've tried pressure washing and I still find that the quickest and most thorough way to clean vinyl siding is with ordinary dish soap in warm water, and a scrub brush. To minimize the need for ladders, you can get scrub brushes that can be threaded onto extension poles, both at hardware stores. Telescoping extension poles meant for paint rollers fit these brushes. If necessary you can even lash a couple of poles together for a good long reach. Dampen the siding with a spray from the hose, scrub an area, rinse with hose, done. Don't go overboard with the hose pressure.