This concrete patio, walkway and driveway were all completed by Denver Concrete Inc. Denver Concrete Inc is a full service concrete contractor in Denver offering residential and commercial concrete services.
We are definitely a little different than most contractors, we never stop taking pictures of our work. Call it pride or just attention to detail, but these pictures are more important than just having nice images to put on our website. We document our project from beginning to end and use these pictures to communicate with our customers.
This project was completed near Red Rocks Country Club in a new development. The home owner most recently purchased the home and was finishing the new landscaping and concrete features throughout.
Denver Concrete Inc assisted the customer with the design, color scheme, excavation and complete install.
BELOW, Photos of the property before Denver Concrete Inc started on the project. The customer wanted to install new stamped concrete borders to the driveway that would match the same look and feel of the new stamped concrete patio that he wanted to install.
The customer wanted to also pour a new walkway that would go alongside the home from the driveway to the back patio. The new walkway would have colored borders and traditional non-colored concrete as the actual walkway.
The new back patio to be installed would be a stamped concrete patio with saw cuts every 3' set at 45 degrees to the home. There is also a border to the new patio that would be cut in.
Denver Concrete Inc is super diligent about preparation. A concrete patio, driveway, walkway, stoop or floor should never be installed on "dirt". Meaning the base should be prepared for the new installation of concrete. We see many installations by other concrete contractors that do not involve preparing the base.
Preparing the base does add cost to the project, but it is minimal compared to the price of tearing out concrete and replacing it. A solid compacted base will provide the support for the newly installed concrete. In Colorado, especially in areas around Denver it is critical to have a solid base before installing concrete as this will help prevent the concrete from dropping. If a concrete pad starts to shift in the base underneath, it will typically drop in elevation. Serious movement creates major cracking and this will show in the surface of the concrete.
After the base has been prepared, it is time to set the forms and re-bar if the project calls for it. In this particular case with the homes location and shifting soils, Denver Concrete Inc recommended the customer install re-bar every 2' on center. This back patio had a deep "thickened edge" all throughout meaning that there is a riser or face that would be exposed and need to be finished.
As described, the customer wanted to install matching borders (same as back patio) in the front of the home. Many of the homes in the area have installed similar borders using flagstone or other hardscapes.
Stamped concrete is a lot less maintenance than a hardscape like brick, flagstone or concrete pavers. The property owner wanted to have the least maintenance possible for their landscape, so Denver Concrete Inc recommended a stamped finish.
In the picture to the left, the borders have been prepared, base has been compacted and road base installed. The borders are ready to be poured.
To the right is the border of the driveway and the new concrete sidewalk that will be connecting the front driveway to the back patio.
All areas have been prepared, compacted, formed and are ready to be poured. The next step will be the concrete delivery and actual pour and finish of the new stamped concrete patio.
Colored concrete (Desert Sand from Solomon Colors) was used as the intrinsic color the concrete. This except for the walkway, the walkway is bordered with colored concrete and non-colored traditional concrete is used in the center of the new colored borders for the concrete walkway.
This concrete patio, walkway and driveway borders were poured using 4,000 psi concrete from Martin Marietta. Ordered with a slump of 6". The pour was completed in September which traditionally is a great month to pour as the weather starts to cool. A fast cure during hot days can lead to the separation of the surface from the underlying concrete. The longer the cure, the more dependable and reliable the finish of the concrete.
The concrete is mixed with the color in the barrel truck to give the concrete "intrinsic color". Some contractors attempt to color the concrete after it is poured giving the surface color. This will look good initially, over time it will deteriorate an start to erode leaving the non-colored concrete to be exposed.
In the adjacent video Denver Concrete Inc pours the new patio using a skid steer to transport the concrete. This is not typical; however in this case the customer could save the cost of a concrete pump as the landscape had not yet been installed. If Denver Concrete Inc were installing this after landscaping a pump would have been needed to avoid damage to the landscape.
With concrete poured and the float complete, the crew will now add the stamp texture to the surface and apply "hardner" or release to the surface. This is done to give the patio that natural look and feel of stone. Without a release color the
new patio would just be one solid color and there would not be any gradients or contrast to give the definition in the stamp any kind of form. Coloring with a release will fill in the low areas with either a highlight or lowlight giving the surface a more three dimensional look. Below are images of the concrete patio after it has been finished with a stamp and the release is applied to the surface.
This perhaps is the most stressful period of the project for the customer as the patio simply looks horrible for a couple of days. We like to let the release sit for at least 48 hours before power washing and sealing. These are the final steps to installing a stamped and colored concrete patio.
Above, the stamped concrete has been finished. The "stamped" areas appear dusty as the release that is applied is a powder. This release needs to remain on the surface as it cures. As previously stated, this will give the concrete surface a more 3 dimensional look.
The new walkway has been poured, you can see the difference in the image above to the right, the border for this project was poured separately as it was a completely different color than either the stamped concrete patio or the driveway borders.
Above is the final installation, after cleaning the release, sealing the concrete and landscaping. The stamped and colored concrete takes on a whole new look after it has been finally prepared.
The saw cuts in the surface of the back patio are at 45° to the house. A 10" border has been cut around the main patio, this could have been poured in a completely different color, the customer wanted to keep the same color for the border in this case.
As you can see the colored concrete border for the walkway complements the coloring of the patio, but this border is not textured/stamped.
Final cost for patio, walkway and driveway borders $16,020.00. The total size of this project was 1,020 sq ft. This gives an average per sq ft price on this stamped concrete project $15.69/per sq ft. The average price in Denver according is $5 - $12 per square foot according to HomeGuide, that price does not include concrete which they have priced at $2 - $7 per sq ft. This would give a range of $7 - $19 per sq ft for finished stamped concrete. From what we have seen in the field, we usually see a price of around $16 - $18 per sq foot for stamped concrete in Denver.
To find out what your stamped concrete project would cost, call Denver Concrete Inc today (303) 622-3191 for your free stamped concrete estimate or simply fill out the form below and one of our concrete experts will follow up immediately to schedule your in person estimate!
Whether you are considering a stamped concrete patio, traditional colored and finished concrete patio or a concrete driveway, we are here to help! Simply fill out the form below and one of our concrete experts will schedule an in person estimate with you right away!
