Finishing Concrete Steps Facing Surface

[DD716TED]

The house has concrete steps at the front door that were poorly finished on the front facing vertical surfaces. Photo attached. I would like to apply something to smooth the pitted surfaces before repainting. Can I just buy a bag of premix concrete, mix it, and apply it to the pits and then smooth it with a trowel? I would pressure wash ther area first and maybe even apply something to help the concrete bond.. Am I on the right track or is there a better way / method to do this? Am seeking ideas and help as the local BB stores are clueless.. Thank you

[pushkins]

No, cement/mortar won't work for the long (over even shorter term) it will flake off pretty quickly, Concrete specifically won't work simply because it has aggregate in it (rocks) and you will never be able to trowel it on and smooth it out.

What you can use is a product just as available from Quikcrete called Quikwall it is a surface bonding cement that is specifically designed for surface coating. It's also used to surface coat dry stack block walls and as a water proofing product. What makes it ideally suited to your scenario is that you mix it up just like mortar and trowel it on the the surface, it can be pre colored (it's white ish ) to match and it's fiberglass reinforced for strength. It's easy to trowel on and easily worked with and can be brushed for a non slip surface. It also takes paint very well as you mentioned you wanted to repaint the steps.

I've used quikwall extensively on a huge variety of applications (including pond lining) with excellent results. Pressure washing first is advisable and for extra bond strength use "Bonding adhesive" available at big box stores.

Almost forgot, Quikwall is available at big box stores as well.