outside concreting

[Yvonne]

I have just finished repairing our outside concrete stairs. The problem i have is that when i have smoothed a nice finish, in ten mins very small cracks appear. I have gone over these with a wet trowl to a smooth finish again but they keep appearing. I am using a very fine grain cement ( light grey).It was very hot yesterday? would this have been the reason. Also how do i now repair before painting.

Thanks Abi

[Poppy]

Think it probably did dry out too quick in the heat 40 degrees in our area saturday and sunday.  Going over it with a wet trowel never seems to work. To repair the cracks you could try making a paste with cement and water and painting this into the cracks, then remove any excess with a well wrung out damp sponge.Obviously try and do this when it is cool or shade it from the sun.

P