Choose Your Ideal Style

Decorative concrete has several advantages over the other options. First off is flexibility of design. The pattern, shape, and color options with concrete are virtually unlimited. Unlike pavers, you shouldn’t need to use herbicide to kill weeds growing up through your concrete patio. Also, you don’t have to worry about differential settling of individual pavers during freeze/thaw cycles, or when animals and insects burrow under your patio. Unlike wood decking, concrete presents no splinters or yearly re-staining, and concrete is more durable than wood. To top it off, concrete is usually the least expensive!

The main reasons for the cost difference are additional labor, materials, and experience. The smallest decorative concrete job takes a minimum of 2 days to complete due to the timing of the various steps involved. Contrast this with regular concrete, which can be formed, placed, finished, and sealed in one day. The special tools and materials needed for decorative concrete also contribute to the cost, as does the experience of the installers.

There are colors available to match or complement virtually any décor.

Decorative concrete is still just concrete. It will do everything that regular concrete will do, including cracking. We will attempt to repair and prevent cracking by using a polymer-acrylic bonding agent with our concrete to enhance durability, as well as using existing cracks to form our grouts.

There is usually no warranty against cracking. According to the American Concrete Institute (ACI), they should be expected. As a result, no knowledgeable contractor can guarantee against them. We can, however, try to control them using the methods described in the previous question.

The pigments used are colorfast. However, they can begin to appear faded or washed-out if not properly maintained. When a neglected surface is correctly re-sealed with a quality clear sealer, the original color is restored.

A periodic washing and re-sealing with clear sealer is all that is required to keep your concrete looking new. This is easily done by the owner or by us. The frequency of re-sealing is on an as-needed basis. It all depends upon traffic, weathering, and the amount of direct sunlight to which the sealer is exposed. A general rule of thumb is to re-seal about every 5 years or so.