"Paying Attention to Details" – Concrete Stamps in Dallas, Texas
Concrete stamps can imitate the appearance and texture of stone, conceal defects in the existing concrete, cover up broken concrete, update and transform exposed aggregate surfaces, and turn drab and ugly surfaces into beautiful and interesting ones.
With such a wide range of possible uses and outcomes, the cost and duration of each project can also vary. The cost to lay down a concrete stamp may depend on the amount of material and stain used, the amount of labor needed to complete the project, the time to lay down a stamp, and other factors.
Outdoor concrete stamps typically take 5 to 7 days to complete, weather permitting. Indoor stamps may take 5 days or less.
The most time-consuming step is often the very first one, which is surface preparation. The existing concrete is cleaned and cleared of any dirt, debris, stains, sealers, and flooring materials such as wood, tile, or concrete overlays. New concrete generally requires less preparation than remodels.
We have a $1,500 minimum for all concrete stamps as it is a fairly complex process. A larger work crew is needed for these projects than for other forms of decorative concrete. The crew also needs to have a higher skill set to create concrete stamps. Both factors affect the cost.
Concrete stamps also use a large amount of material per square foot. The material cost can be as high as a third of the cost of the project depending on how many square feet are being done. Generally, larger projects cost less per square foot than smaller projects.
If the existing concrete is plain and smooth, 50 pounds of stamped overlay material will cover an area of around 22 square feet. However, to cover a concrete surface made of exposed aggregate, which is a very textured surface, we would need to use more material for every square foot, increasing the cost.
At this home in Dallas, we were contracted to lay down concrete stamps over the front porch and back patio. It was a small project but tailor made for dressing up the area.
Some of the steps of the stamped concrete process – such as surface preparation, pouring the material, and stamping a texture – cannot be skipped. Other steps – such as staining the concrete or scoring a tile or stone pattern – are optional.
For example, the homeowner wanted concrete stamps with stone-like textures and also an individual stone pattern with the grout lines being filled with mortar. This increased the amount of time to complete the project as it had many steps.
The homeowner also wanted to apply a stain to the concrete stamps. We normally include up to two highlight stain colors applied randomly across the surface in our pricing.
If instead you wanted to stain individual tiles or stones in a random pattern then that would increase the cost a little more as we need to individually stain each one.
At this Dallas home we were asked to use two colors, a terracotta base coat with a darker highlight on some random, individual stones. The idea was to complement the home’s red brick and It came out looking really nice, well worth the price of admission.
