Stamped concrete services in Duarte CA - a pattern planned before the pour
Tired of a plain gray slab or an old patio that's chipping? We pour stamped concrete with the color and joints worked out first.
- Service
- Stamped concrete services
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- (626) 416-2143
How do you know your old slab is due for stamped concrete?
Chipping and flaking on top
Thin pieces are coming off the surface, and the patio looks rough and dusty. That usually means a weak top from a pour or finish that went wrong, and water getting into the bare patches lets them spread, so a patch rarely holds or matches.
Cracks running every which way
Cracks wander across the middle of the slab instead of following straight lines. That usually means the joints were skipped or cut late, and the longer you wait, the more the pieces shift until an edge turns into something to trip on.
Water sitting on the slab
After rain or the sprinklers, water pools on the patio or runs toward the house. That usually means the base settled or the slab was poured with the wrong fall, and standing water keeps washing out the dirt underneath.
What goes into stamped concrete in Duarte?
Stamped concrete services in Duarte, CA give you a new patio, walkway or other slab that's colored and pressed with a pattern like stone, brick or slate. Our crew pours the slab, floats and trowels it smooth, then presses stamping tools into it while it's still soft and lifts them off, so the pattern is part of the concrete itself.
Most calls start with a plain patio that's cracked or chipping, or bare dirt where you'd like one, plus a picture of a stone look you saw at a friend's house. The price moves with the size, the pattern, the color method and how many colors, whether an old slab has to come out, and how much work the ground needs before anything is poured. The schedule turns on what the city needs first, the tear-out and curing, which is the wait while the concrete hardens enough to use. Your own figure comes from the estimate, once I've seen the site.
Details to note before an estimate
- Rough size of the area
- Old slab, cracks or pooling water
- How the space gets used
- Pattern and colors you have in mind
How we handle stamped concrete services
Before anything is ordered, we settle two things with you, the color method and where the control joints land in the pattern, because both are hard to change once the concrete is down. Control joints are the cuts that give a slab a planned place to crack. Then our crew digs out the old slab and loose soil and packs the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, because a nice pattern on a base that was only raked level will settle with the dirt under it. If the budget gets tight, I'd rather you pick a simpler pattern than cut the base, since the base is the part you can't fix later without a jackhammer. Concrete is patient that way. It shows you every shortcut, just not on the first day. We check where the water runs so the slab falls away from the house, then pour, smooth, color and stamp it, and cut the joints where we planned them. For spots that get wet, we'll ask whether you want grip added to the sealer.
Plenty of stamped jobs sit right next to plain concrete. If your new patio meets a cracked walk to the gate, our concrete sidewalk building work ties the two together at the same height, and when the garage needs a slab that takes car weight instead of a pattern, we pour garage floor concrete over the same kind of packed base.
Other concrete work that often goes with it
Concrete sidewalk building
A new walk from the driveway or gate to a stamped patio keeps the levels even, so nobody catches a toe where old and new meet.
Garage floor concrete
Garage slabs take car weight, oil and hot tires, so they get a plain, hard finish over a packed base instead of a pattern.
What happens after you call about stamped concrete in Duarte?
Call or send the form
Call (626) 416-2143 or send the form, and I'm usually the one who answers. If your city isn't on our list, ask anyway, since we work across the cities around Duarte and further out.
I come look at the site
I check the ground, where water runs and how the slab meets the house, and I ask a lot of questions. Then I write up an estimate that lays out the pattern, the color method, where the joints go and what it costs, so you can decide with all of it in front of you.
We sort out the city first
Before anything is scheduled, we find out whether your address falls under the city or the county and what the job needs from that office. I tell you what we found and who is handling each piece.
Prep, pour and walkthrough
Our crew does the dig-out, the base, the forms, the pour and the finish while I'm on site checking the work. When it's done, I walk the finished slab with you.
Questions before you book stamped concrete
What is the best way to color stamped concrete, integral color or color hardener?
One pigment maker says color hardener, a color product worked into the surface, gives a denser top that resists wear and lasts longer, while integral color is mixed into the whole load, usually at the plant. The same maker says hardener takes more time and skill and can peel away later if it's applied poorly, while integral color is harder to keep even across a big job because the mix affects the shade. For a large area or more than one color I lean toward hardener for those reasons, and on a small, single-color patio integral color is the simpler choice.
Will my stamped concrete patio crack?
It can, because well-designed joints control and minimize cracking but can't prevent it entirely. The goal is for any crack to happen along a joint that sits on a line in the pattern, where it hides, instead of cutting across a stone. That's why the joint layout is settled before ordering, and you're welcome to ask exactly where each joint will fall.
How do I keep sealed stamped concrete from getting slippery when wet?
Ask for slip resistant granules in the sealer on the areas that get wet. One sealer maker's data sheet says its stamped concrete sealer can get slippery when wet, especially on smooth surfaces, and that the granules can be mixed into the wet sealer. Where it goes is your call, whether that's the whole patio or just the spots near a hose, a step or the pool.
How much does stamped concrete cost in the Los Angeles area?
Installed stamped concrete in the Los Angeles area usually costs about $15 to $30 per square foot. That's the going range for the area, not our price, and where a job lands in it turns on the pattern, the color method, how many colors, whether an old slab comes out and how much base work the ground needs. Your own figure comes from the estimate after I've seen the site.
Do I need a permit for stamped concrete in Duarte?
For a stamped patio, yes, because the City of Duarte requires a building permit to build, alter or repair any structure and names patios in that rule. Drainage, grading or landscaping done along with it needs its own permit, and any work in the right-of-way, the public strip along the street, needs a separate Right of Way Permit that a licensed contractor pulls from Public Works. The city says rules on height, location, materials and design can apply even without a permit, so it suggests calling the Community Development Department at 626-357-7931 ext. 230 or 235 before you start, and the contractor calls Underground Service Alert at 1-800-422-4133 at least 48 hours before any digging.
What kind of contractor should I hire for stamped concrete in California?
Hire a licensed concrete contractor, since California's Contractors State License Board defines that trade as the one that forms, pours, places, finishes and installs flat and other concrete work, which is what stamping is. We're fully licensed and insured. I came to concrete late, after years in a warehouse, learned it on other contractors' crews and started this business in 2020.
Get a written stamped concrete estimate for your slab
Send the form and we'll reply within 1 business day to set up a visit. I come out, look at the site and write up a free estimate on site, obligation-free. Our work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
Explore our services and areas
Services
- Concrete driveway building
- Concrete patio construction
- Concrete sidewalk building
- Garage floor concrete
- Decorative concrete
- Concrete retaining walls
- Concrete floor installation
- Concrete pool decks
- Concrete steps construction
- Slab foundation building
- Foundation installation
- Concrete parking lot building
- Concrete footings
- Foundation raising
- Concrete cutting
Call about your stamped concrete job
The phone's answered every day from early morning until 11 at night, so call whenever you're standing out there looking at the old slab.