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It’s just a small portion of the patio that you can see, but most importantly look at the beautiful yard you see from a beautiful patio. The patio is Ashlar slate stamp. Charcoal on Charcoal. We used a running bond brick border to tie it all together. After reviewing my pictures I thought to myself, why just show the patio? This is what the homeowner sees when they step out on their stamped patio. Oh and by the way, they absolutely love their new stamped patio.

If you like the look of stone, this might be the patio finish for you. While there are several stone stamps on the market this one is called Canyon Stone. The look of the surface imitates worn natural looking  stone. The pattern is an  irregular shape which makes it hard to pick up a repeating shape. We poured this patio over a year ago and the homeowner was gracious enough to send me this photo.  Going from memory, I believe the color is Hayfield with brown accents.  It is a beautiful patio and as you can see is large enough for a firepit, chairs and tables. Feel free to leave a note or contact me if you have any questions.

We put together a video of the stamped textured post we posted in March. I think it turned out pretty well. Let’s recap: We arrived on site and tore out the existing steps and tile that was on the upper surface of the porch. We formed a cantilevered edge along with the steps and doweled in with rebar. When we poured the porch the concrete was wheeled from the street and shoveled into the porch. After screeding off and bull floating we ran a jointer around the perimeter of the porch giving it a broom finish texture. On the inside of the perimeter we slate textured the concrete. We used the color gray with a blue release. Upon clean up and finishing we applied a sealer. I hope you like it. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

It all starts with planning and communication. You can see that in the photo. It’s beautiful. This does not happen by wishing of course. It is a matter of sitting down with the homeowners and getting ideas and interchanging thoughts.

The photo is a follow up of an earlier post we shot while the patio was under construction. The process was to pour the footings first. We then were able to lay the block. After the block was laid we formed and poured the block along with the sitting bench. With the walls up and poured this allows us to back fill the areas with stone and pouring of the stamped concrete. Then the stone is applied to the walls.

The sitting wall was formed using a chipped stone edge form. The upper patio is poured using a large slate stamp and for the lower area we used a salt texture and saw cut diagonally approx. 4′ on center. The transition height from the upper to the lower patio is about twenty inches.

I Love it when a plan comes together. As you can see in the photos there is a void between the patio and the shed. Well the homeowner makes at least one trip a day to his shed and this area is just begging for a sidewalk. No ordinary sidewalk either. First we ordered a load of stone and dirt. We used the dirt to fill in the low spots in the yard and used the stone for fill under the sidewalk. Then we installed some 2 x 4 forms. The concrete is then poured with color. After we get the concrete smooth and hardens just enough, we cover the sidewalk with release. Release does two things for us. It keeps the stamps from sticking to the concrete and also adds a second color into the finished product. The stamped we used is called a running bond brick stamp. Before you know it, it’s all done. The area off to the right with the artifical grass is now being used as a chipping platform. At least that was the intended use. The dog may have other ideas. Give us a call, we would Love to do this for you.

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You may not be able to make it out in the picture on the left. It’s a mess. That is why we have jobs. We know how to fix and repair concrete. We tore out all the loose material on top of the original steps and look at the mess. On the right you can see what we did. We used a lot of elbow grease and rebar. Colored the concrete with a light gray and stamped the top with a slate texture and broomed border. We used a blue release and from what the owner tells me it’s beautiful. I can’t wait to see the final product and share it with you.

We install cobblestone edging too. It is quite popular in the area we live in. The photos below illustrate some of the steps we go through during the installation process. Generally speaking it is more expensive than the concrete edging. The cobblestones themselves are the main factor for the additional expense. They really look nice and the end product reaches the same objective as the concrete edging does. The cobblestone outlines your driveway nice, giving the driveway crisper lines. It will keep the mulch from migrating from the adjacent bed also. The edging also helps to direct rain water. For instance in this job the rain water will go down the driveway to the street in lieu of going into the bed next to it. Whether you decide to put in cobblestone or concrete I hope you give us a call, we would love to do it for you.

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Do you want a spot for your cat or dog to lay? How about a nice border to go around your exotic plants? We can do that for you. We installed the edging to border the pavers, thereby keeping the pavers in place and keeping the mulch in the bed where it belongs. Oh, and it’s kind of hard to talk about the sitting bench on the wall with such a beautiful cat there. She just loves the smooth top and I would guess that the bench might be a little warmer than the air giving her a nice warm spot to lay. We have a myriad of colors to choose from for your concrete. We build your sitting wall to any shape, size or color you want.  This isn’t something store bought. It is all built by hand to your specific requirements  and finishes. Whether you choose pavers or concrete for your patio you can add to it with a sitting wall or concrete edging.

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A lot of times when we pour a patio, sidewalk or driveway the owner wants a border. Borders are nice because they set off the interior portion of the concrete area. In this photo for instance we used a border at the transition area from a patio that was poured years ago to the new one you see here. I suggested the border on this project for two reasons. First the original patio to the left was poured several years ago. I do not know the color or stamp that was used on the old patio. Even if I knew the color of the old patio, I know it  will not match the color of the new concrete patio. So I suggested a border to transition the two patios together. The border  does two things for this patio. It throws in a new color and a new texture. In this instance a  brick border with a darker color. Now, when looking at the patios poured it is much more difficult to notice the difference in the color or texture , because your eyes are drawn more to the darker color and busier pattern of the brick stamp between the two areas.  Something to think about if you are planning on enlarging your patio area.

I wanted to post this picture so you can get a better view of stamped concrete. This is a large slate pattern. As you can see the texture is pretty realistic. I remember that we decided to use a light color release so as to not have very dark grout lines and gradients. Being that this is a real picture it shows you how the grout lines and indentations pick up darkness just from the environmental conditions. Hopefully this may help you make your decisions a little easier when you choose the colors for your stamped project.

When I write my blogs I get carried away thinking that you have been reading my earlier posts. Well in most circumstances I do not think that is the case. Silly me for thinking that way.

So let me start out by explaning to you what we are illustrating. The sitting wall you see is 100% concrete. We begin by excavating below the frost line. Then,  the wall is formed up with plywood.  A bunch of re- bar is installed,  then the wall gets poured. The bench top is poured along with the wall using a color that the owner has chosen. How do you like the chipped stone edge? The edge is created with a form liner.  A molded piece is installed along the forms before pouring the concrete to create this. Let me mention an important step here and it may be the most important thing you do if you decide to attempt this yourself. Stripping the forms. The bench top is cantilevered over the wall. This is a very weak point in the concrete when the concrete is fresh. By fresh, I mean the concrete is not at full strength yet. It takes approx. 30 days for concrete to reach its full strength. Also when stripping the forms you want to make sure the forms actually “fall” or drop to the ground below. You do not want to apply any upward pressure on the cantilever while stripping the forms. It can create a crack. If it happens you don’t have to worry about the cantilever falling off, it will just be a visual thing.

The next step after stripping the forms is to install the rocks. My rocks are concrete and I apply them with a trowel. The concrete is mixed in a five gallon bucket and is plastic enough to apply at approx. 3/4 to  inch thick. After it hardens to a certain point I then carve the rocks to there shape. Now the fun begins! Transforming the gray concrete into colored stones.

We started installing the sitting wall and patio this past week. I am going to publish a series of photos along with a video of the whole project start to finish. Let me begin by telling you the process as to our progression. We began by stripping the site of vegetation and topsoil. We brought in 21’s (stone)  spread  and compacted.  The next day we excavated for the sitting wall, formed and poured it. After the wall set over night we stripped the forms and installed sand over the stone. Now we are ready for the pavers as you see here.  Hopefully I can keep your interest so you will come back and watch the installation of the sitting wall, fire pit and patio.

I can almost with a fact tell you that stamped concrete is less expensive than pavers. I do know a little about the cost of pavers, but being that concrete is my business there may be someone out there that will tell me hogwash, this, that and the other. I just got off the phone with a paver supplier. I priced a 15 x 20 patio and 4 x 20 walkway. One 4 x 1 step and a 4 foot fire pit. Total cost of the pavers including the options of step and fire pit totals approx. $2,100. The material alone costs $4.34 sf. By the time you add in the labor, stone and sand base with the edging and nails and you would be at the higher end of an expensive stamped patio like the one you see above. Any advantages or disadvantages? I believe when it gets all said and done it all comes down to personal taste and design. I am not going to get into the paver vs. concrete war on this post. The final decision is made by you and I believe for the money you can not beat stamped concrete for the price.

What is old is new. That is said quite often for clothes or architectural designs among other things. The same can be said for concrete finishes. I don’t know how many of you have seen or even noticed concrete that looked like this. Being that I am a concrete guy and am always observing concrete finishes, I have seen it. This is stamped concrete made to look like rock salt finish. Believe it or not what they use to  float rock salt into the top of concrete. The next day moisture is applied to the concrete and the rock salt dissolves leaving all the little holes.   In the old days you would not have colored concrete and decorative saw cuts, it would of remained the natural color of concrete.  The concrete in the picture has been colored  and with release added for a secondary effect. You really can’t see it here but the saw cuts are on a diagonal to the structure it is next to. This finish works now just as it did in the good old days.

Stamped Concrete Patio

Basically it’s gray on gray. It’s a very popular color combination. It looks natural and the highlights of the dark gray release become part of the ashlar slate.  This all started with a blank slate. The owners steps came down to the Earth like so many do. They wanted a change.  This is what we came up with. I really like the way they have decorated the patio. The different colored chairs and tables contrast well with the color of the patio. That is a nice way to dress up a wooden fence too. Hanging baskets and plant stands.This stamp is our most popular and has been requested a lot. It is called Random Ashlar Slate. Thank You to my customer for sending me this picture. It really looks nice!