Decorative concrete in Redding CA - a color you've seen on your own slab first

Most people who call have a slab that works fine but looks tired, or they're pouring new and want more than a broom finish, the light brushed texture that gives plain concrete its grip, and if it's a pattern pressed into a new pour you're after, that's our stamped concrete work. The price moves with the size of the area, whether we're finishing a new pour or an existing slab, how much prep the surface needs and which finish you pick. The schedule turns on the weather on pour day, because heat, dry air and wind all change how fresh concrete behaves, and on curing, the wait while the concrete gains strength before you walk or drive on it. When I come out, you get a written estimate that shows what's included, so you see your own figure before anything's decided.

I start by looking at your slab with you and talking through the finish, whether that's exposed aggregate, a texture, a pattern or a stain. On a new pour the base comes first, so we dig out and pack the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, and check where the water runs so the slab falls away from the house. If the budget's tight, I'd rather spend it there than on a fancier top, because a nice finish on a poor base sinks and cracks with the dirt and takes the finish with it. We set rebar, the steel that holds a slab together, pour early so the top doesn't bake into a weak, dusty surface, and cut control joints on time, the grooves that give the slab a planned place to crack. On a stain job we clean and prep the surface, then try the stain on a small test area first so you can see how your slab takes it, since nobody can tell that ahead of time, and we finish with a sealer. On exposed aggregate, we sweep up the leftover grit and stone instead of washing it toward the street, which keeps it out of the storm drain.

Decorative work often ties into other concrete. A concrete retaining wall can carry a finish that matches the stained patio below it, and if the indoor slab you want stained isn't there yet or is too far gone, we start with concrete floor installation so the color has a sound surface to go on.

The City of Redding issues permits for work in the city's right of way, which is the street and the public strip that runs along it, so it comes up when a decorative job reaches past your own lot, like a walk or the end of a driveway that meets the street. Whether your job needs a permit is something we find out, not something I'll guess at. When it does, we check whether your address falls under a city or the county and work through it with that office as part of the job.

Around Redding, a lot of our decorative calls are for slabs that are already there, a patio gone dull, a front walk, a garage floor someone wants finished off. We get the same calls in Anderson and Shasta Lake, and on every one I look at the surface first, because what it's been through decides which finish makes sense.