aktick

Anybody done concrete stamping lately? I'm planning a patio for the new house, and want to do some kind of stamping. I have a friend who does a lot of flatwork who is going to help me with it (read: I'm going to be his servant while he does it all for me ), so he has some ideas, just looking for more.

This is the company he gets his stamping tools and colors from - http://www.butterfieldcolor.com/prod...one_tools.html - I linked directly to the stone stamps because I think that's what I want. Just not sure exactly what yet.

Here's a pic of the back of the house:



One thing I keep hearing from people is don't make it too small, or you'll regret it. The patio door/window is 6' wide, and from there it's about 4.5' to the end of the house to the right, and 9.5' to the spot where it juts out to the left (it's where the fireplace is, stupid thing).

I was thinking something like 12'x12', but that might even be too small? I guess I plan on eventually having a table/4 chairs and a grill out there at the very least.

Should I just do a square/rectangle, or could some curves/arcs be worked in to make it look cool?

And any stamp/color recommendations from the site above? I'm thinking something more simple and not too rough, just because it'd be a bigger pain in the ass to clean and shovel off in winter.

Deftones

if you are going to do it, go large. not worth getting equipment out there and pouring only a small slab. I'd say at least 16x16 if you are going to do it right.

Sdallnct

I had stamping done at our former house in Arizona. It turned out nice. You can get pretty creative with the pattern and and have a different pattern at the borders. In addition, you can and usually want to do some sort of a stain to complete the look.

Such a huge area, I'd consider multiple "patio's" with sidewalks and flower beds to separate them.

pyro383

I would say to bury that drain pipe and continue the patio. Best thing would be to take some string and mark out the area to get a better feel for the size.

CRM114

We had it done. I'd do the entire width of the rear of the house. We did all curved with a circular part that juts out. We used something similar to the "Large Stone Fan" to form a circle. The rest is like that "Tetra Stone" except more random. We also had a similar step down like you where we built up matching concrete steps down to the patio with a big second step landing.

One problem we have is that you have to recoat it every year or so. This is a major pain in the ass if the patio is big like ours. And the color is chipping away at spots.

jonw9

^ Or lay out a garden hose to get a feel for size.

I would go from the corner of the house to the close corner of the chimney, which is about 20'.

Then I would come out a decent amount, and probably make the yard edge an arc, or maybe add some sweeping curves.

You want enough room where you can put a grill, patio table and chairs, yet have enough room to walk through with people sitting there.

Maybe something like this:

CRM114

Thats sort of what mine looks like but way bigger. We found that it was nice to have a table area and have another seating area for chaises and things. (I used a rope to show the guy what I wanted.)

krblgc

how much would this cost?

aktick

Thanks guys...I like how that one you posted looks, Jon. This one looked similar, but simpler:



I think I'll definitely go all the way over to the chimney area, not sure if I'll run it all the way to the back garage door (which is another 15' or so from the edge of my picture)...if I did go that far, it'd just be more of a walkway.

How about steps? My guy said it's easy to do a single step, but when you get into more than one, it's trickier. It's 18" from the ground to the doorway now, but that will probably be at least a couple inches less from the patio base. Code here says 7" is the max step size, but since we're doing it on our own we could get away with a little more I'm sure. Probably want the step(s) to be the entire width of the patio door, even though the door obviously only opens halfway?

Sdallnct

We had ours for 5 years in the open Arizona sun and never had a problem. Ours was "stain" so it really shouldn't chip like paint. I mean I'm sure if you took out a 1/2 divot or something it would be an issue. But as stain it soaks a little in the concrete and normal scratches or wear shouldn't really effect the look.

On ours they did 2-3 coats of stain (going heavier in some areas to give depth). They then put on a seal coat. He recommended that I reseal it every year, but to be honest, I never did and never had a problem.

Perhaps freezing weather would be harder on it, but in Az, no problems.

aktick

With the coloring, they can either coat the top or mix the coloring right into the cement mixer, so it's the same color all the way through and you don't have to worry about chipping. Of course that costs more since they have to do it plus clean out their mixer.

CRM114

The concrete itself was colored and then they shake colored powder on it to give it the random stone look. THen they put something on it to make the powder blend. Then they seal it. The chips (or wear marks) reveal the base color. (Could be wrong about the actual series of events.)

Our patio is probably twice as big as the one in post #6 and it was around 8 grand.

aktick

Ahhh, I see. I'm probably going to do a grayish color, so I'm not even sure if I'll get the concrete mixed with the color. Might just do the top and the powder thing.

CRM114

Our was beige base with black, gray and brown thrown in and then blended.

aktick

Any other color/stamping patter/shape recommendations? As of now, I think I'm going to try something like the one jonw9 posted. It will be about 20' wide and come out about 18' at the furthest curve.

Also, any suggestions for what to do along the edge for landscaping? Anything? Some sort of rock? Plants? FWIW, I have a puppy who will for the time being be tied up not far from the edge of it. Eventually I'll have a fence so won't have to worry then about plantings getting destroyed by his cable.

Pointyskull

We had an estimate last night to:
- bust up/haul away our cracked 10 x 15 slab
- install a Unilock brick paver (15 x 15) patio
- cost $2400

It was our first estimate, and considering I had no idea what the cost might be, I'm wondering if that's high/low/average...

Any thoughts would be appreciated...

aktick

I'm not much help in how much it should cost, since I'm doing my own, but I know one of the main benefits of doing stamped concrete is it's cheaper than actual pavers and can give basically the same look, if done right.

Dr Mabuse

As to 'other recommendations'.

Have you looked into stone?

I just went from a concrete to stone a couple years back on a house and it looks a lot better.

aktick

Well sure, if we had your funds, stone would be an option.

Pointyskull

Appearance-wise, yes.
But I'd be concerned about cracking down the road sometime with stamped concrete...

aktick

Yeah that's definitely a concern. But in my case I don't want to spend that much and doing concrete will be much easier.

Although if you use quality concrete, form things up right, use plenty of rebar, and get things colored right, the cracking shouldn't be an issue for a loooong time. Even with crappy midwest winters.

Pointyskull

The guy who quoted me the paver patio last night also did decorative concrete, and his quote for a 15x15 slab, tinted and given a "granite" appearance was only $300 less than the $2400 paver price.

aktick

Yeah? I figured it'd be more. Maybe if you're doing a square patio the pavers are a lot easier to do?

FWIW, I'm doing about a 20'x18' patio, with curves, and I'm planning on about $600 in cement costs. I'm not sure if you've priced out pavers if you bought them yourself? But $2400 doesn't seem like a real lot, especially if you're in Chicago-land? And it'd probably be a quick enough job that they'd be in and out in a couple days, so fewer headaches.

Pointyskull

Yeah, ours is just a square. And I am not a do-it-yourselfer - not by any stretch - so doing this myself is far from an option.

aktick

I was just curious what pavers cost, since I never really looked into them, just assumed they were too pricey.