Plain gray patio or a cracked old walk? We press a pattern into fresh concrete over a base packed to hold it.
Stamped concrete services in Irvine, CA give you a new patio, walk or driveway with a pattern or texture pressed into the surface while the concrete is still soft, so you get the look of laid stone or brick in a single poured slab.
Most people call us when an old patio or front walk has cracked, sunk or just looks tired, and they'd like something better than plain gray. Stamping only works on fresh concrete, so the job is usually tear-out, a new base, forms, the pour and then the stamping. If you'd rather have a plain path or a garage slab, see our concrete sidewalk building and garage floor concrete pages.
The price moves with the size and shape of the area, how much old concrete comes out, how much work your ground needs and how busy the pattern is. The schedule turns on approvals, the weather and curing, the wait while the concrete hardens before you put weight on it. If the job needs a city permit, we prepare and file it, and if you're in an HOA, we give you the drawings their approval asks for.
Call (949) 518-3401 or use the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out to your property. I look at every job myself, so the person who quotes your work is the person answering for it.
I look over the site, take measurements and ask whether it's a patio, a walk or a driveway, because that decides how thick the slab and how deep the base should be. You get a written estimate that lists what's included, from tear-out and base work to the pattern and the sealer, so you can see what you're paying for.
If you go ahead, our own crew does the prep, the pour and the stamping, with me or my foreman running the job on site. Before we leave, we walk the finished work with you, and I explain how to tell when it's time to reseal.
The base comes first, because the nicest pattern won't help a slab that settles. We dig out to firm ground, pack the subgrade, the soil the slab sits on, and set forms that slope water away from your house. Then we lay out the control joints, the cuts that give the slab a planned place to crack, with the pattern in mind, so a joint follows a grout line instead of slicing through a stone.
The County of Orange notes expansive soil, ground that swells when it gets wet, in parts of the county, and one concrete guide calls for crushed rock under the slab, more of it where the soil swells more. I look at your ground at the estimate, and if there's any doubt, a soils engineer can settle it. To finish, most stamped work gets a topical sealer, a film that coats the surface, because it deepens the color.
What our stamped work covers:
If your stamped slab looks dull or soaks up stains, it usually needs fresh sealer rather than anything bigger. If it has sunk, tipped toward the house or cracked through in many places, the base underneath has usually given way, and I'll tell you honestly that tearing it out and pouring again on a proper base is the better use of your money.
Size matters most, then shape, since curves and steps take more forming and handwork. Tearing out old concrete, hauling it away and fixing poor ground all add to the bill, and a busy pattern takes more time than a simple one. If the budget is tight, I'd sooner simplify the pattern than skimp on the base, because the base is hidden on day one and it's the one part you can't fix later without starting over.
I learned this trade under an old-school boss who made me tear out forms and set them again until they were right, and I've run this business in Irvine the same way since 2013. We do exactly what the written estimate says, keep our mess off your lawn and plantings, and leave your property as tidy as we found it. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Call (949) 518-3401 with the rough size of the area and whether an HOA has to approve it, and I'll come prepared.
Tell us the area's size, whether it's a patio, walk or driveway, and your city. We reply within one business day, and my on-site estimate is free with no obligation.
Installing stamped concrete across the US usually costs about $26 to $31 per square foot, and that's a national figure, not our price. Your own number turns on the things your site needs, so I measure in person and write up an estimate that shows what's included.
The City of Irvine requires permits for most construction and repair, but it exempts walks and driveways that sit no more than 30 inches above grade, the level of the ground around them, with no story below. Exempt work still has to meet the city's codes and county and state rules, and the city asks you to check that your HOA's CC&Rs, its written community rules, allow the project. If you're unsure about a patio or other work, the city takes permit questions at (949) 724-6313.
One concrete guide advises letting new concrete cure for at least a week before you drive on it, so plan to park somewhere else for at least that long. Driving on it before it's had that time to harden is how a new slab gets marked or cracked.
You reseal when water stops beading up, stains start soaking in or the color loses its depth, rather than on a set number of years. Resealing is the most common upkeep stamped concrete asks for, and those are the same signs I point out when we walk the finished job.
A random crack in a driveway is generally not a structural problem, though it can be an eyesore. Control joints help prevent those random cracks, and we lay ours out to follow your pattern so any cracking lands where we planned it.
Yes, for a job like this, because the state's minor work exemption tops out at $1,000 and applies only when the work needs no permit and the unlicensed person employs no one. The license that covers forming, pouring and finishing flat concrete is the state's C-8 concrete contractor classification, and a stamped job is usually well past that limit. We're licensed and insured.
We're based in Irvine and do stamped concrete in Costa Mesa, Tustin and the other cities below. Choose yours, or call (949) 518-3401 if your city isn't listed.
