Stamped concrete services in Pleasant Hill CA - a pattern that hides the joints
Tired of a plain gray patio or cracked driveway? We pour a new slab, then stamp and color it to look like stone or brick.
Is stamped concrete just regular concrete with a pattern?
Our stamped concrete services in Pleasant Hill start with ordinary flatwork, a flat poured slab like a patio, walk or driveway, that our crew colors and presses with a pattern in the same pour before the top sets up. Under the pattern it still needs what any slab needs, a packed base, the right thickness and steel sized to the job, so you get a stone or brick look on a slab built the normal way.
Most calls I get about stamping come from people with a plain gray slab they're tired of, or a new patio in mind that should look like stone without laying stone. The price moves with the size of the area, how much old concrete comes out, how much work the ground needs before we pour, and how many colors and pattern details you want, while the schedule turns mostly on the weather for pour day and on whether a driveway or walk out by the street needs a city permit first. Concrete is a bad material to change your mind about, so I'd rather settle all of that at the estimate, where you get the numbers for your own space.
What happens after you call about stamped concrete?
Call or send the form
Call (707) 750-8660 or fill out the form, and we'll set up a time for me to come see the space. We're based in Pleasant Hill and work across it and the cities around it.
I walk the space with you
I come out myself, look at the ground and where the water runs, and ask how you use the space before we get to patterns and colors. Your written estimate spells out the base work, thickness, color method and sealing, so you can hold it up against other quotes line by line.
We plan around your house
If you go ahead, we schedule around your cars, your kids and your neighbors, and we keep the work inside the city's construction hours of 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. Stamping can't stop halfway, so we start early enough to finish the whole slab inside that window.
We pour, finish and clean up
Our own crew does the work, and I'm usually there on pour day. We haul off the old concrete and clean up, and the goal is a yard that looks the way we found it, minus the gray slab.
How we pour stamped concrete, and the work that goes with it
On a stamping job we break out and haul off the old slab, then dig out and pack the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, because a base that's only raked level settles with the dirt and takes your pattern down with it. I check where the water runs so the new slab falls away from the house, and we set the forms, the thickness and the rebar, the steel inside that keeps cracks tight, to what the space has to carry. Stamping gives us one shot before the surface sets, and a slab stamped late loses its detail with no fix short of grinding it off, so we time the pour to stay out of the midday heat, have the color, the stamp mats and every hand in place before the truck shows up, and lay out the control joints, the cut lines that tell the slab where to crack, so they disappear into the pattern. If the budget is tight, I'd rather you pick a simpler pattern than skimp on the base, since nobody sees the base on day one and everybody sees it once it sinks.
Stamping usually doesn't stop at one slab. Stamped patios tend to connect to a path, and we can pour a matching walk, or a plain one with a stamped border, as part of our concrete sidewalk building work. Out front, a stamped driveway often runs right up to the garage, so we can plan the garage floor concrete to meet it at the same height, with a smooth finish inside where you don't want a pattern catching every tire track and oil drip.
Get a written estimate for your stamped concrete
We reply within one business day to set up a visit, then I come out, look at the space and write up a free estimate. There's no obligation to go ahead.
Stamped concrete questions in Pleasant Hill
How much does stamped concrete cost in Pleasant Hill?
Installed stamped concrete across the US usually costs about $8 to $20 per square foot, and that's a national figure for finished work, not a Pleasant Hill quote. Where your job lands turns on the size, how much old concrete comes out, how much base work the ground needs and how detailed the pattern and color get. My written estimate gives you the number for your own space.
Should I use integral color or color hardener on a stamped concrete driveway?
For a driveway, one field guide calls color hardener the common choice because it gives a harder top, but its color lives only in that top layer, so deep damage shows gray and an uneven application leaves it blotchy. Integral color runs all the way through, so a chip or saw cut shows the same color and the slab ages without pale scars, though it won't give you the deepest or brightest tones. I'll go over both at the estimate, since a patio and a driveway can call for different answers.
When does stamped concrete need resealing?
Reseal when the slab stops shedding water and stains or the color loses its depth, not after a set number of years. Resealing is the most common upkeep stamped concrete needs, so it's worth checking now and then whether water still beads up after a rain or a hose-down. As with all our work, it's satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
What is the best way to seal stamped concrete?
A topical film-forming sealer, one that coats the surface, is the most common choice for stamped concrete because it brings out the color. One field guide advises two thin, even coats, since a heavy flood coat can bubble, blush white and turn the slab slick when it's wet.
Do I need a city permit for stamped concrete in Pleasant Hill?
You do for work in the public right-of-way or an easement, because the city requires an encroachment permit there, including for curb, gutter, sidewalk and driveway work. That usually comes up with a driveway apron or a walk out by the street. For anything else, I'll tell you which office handles your address, and when a job needs a permit, we take care of the paperwork for our part of the work and point you to the right city or county office for the rest.
How do I check a concrete contractor's license in California?
Use the state licensing board's license lookup, which shows a contractor's license information, including complaint disclosure. The one to look for is the state's concrete contractor license, which covers forming, pouring, placing, finishing and installing flat and other concrete work. We're licensed and fully insured, so ask me at the estimate and look us up.
Other concrete work that pairs with stamping
Concrete sidewalk building
If the walk to your front door is cracked or sinking, a new sidewalk can match your stamped slab or stay plain beside it.
Garage floor concrete
Pitted or cracked garage floor? Replacing it alongside a new driveway saves a second tear-out and gives you a clean, even slab for cars, tools and storage.
Get your stamped concrete on the calendar
Call (707) 750-8660 or send the form with the rough size of the area, what it's used for and a color you like, so my first visit can go straight to patterns and the ground underneath.