Stamped concrete services in Orange TX - a patterned slab on a packed base

A stamped concrete patio in the Beaumont area usually costs about $8 to $17 per square foot, and that's the going market rate, not our price. Reinforced concrete costs more per square foot than un-reinforced, and the pattern, color and base work move the number too. Your own figure comes from the written estimate after I've measured.

Color hardener is the common choice for a driveway, because it builds a harder skin on top that stands up to traffic. Trade guides point out that its color lives only in that top layer, so a deep chip shows gray concrete, and uneven spreading leaves the color blotchy. On a quiet patio, integral color, pigment mixed all the way through, is simpler and more forgiving, and a chip shows the same color, though it won't reach the deepest or brightest tones.

Reseal when the surface stops shedding water or stains, or the color starts looking flat, not on a set calendar. Decorative concrete guidance warns that resealing every year just for shine builds up sealer that takes time and money to strip off. Most stamped work gets a film-forming sealer that coats the top and brings the color out, and too much of it, or putting it on too early, can spoil the look.

Wait until the slab has cured, and how long that takes comes down to the curing method, the temperature, the humidity and the mix. The sealer type changes the wait as well, and penetrating sealers generally need the concrete fully cured and add little color to the surface. Ask us which sealer we're using, and we'll follow its maker's directions.

The city's Planning and Community Development Department takes building permit applications by mail or email, and its building permit application lists Concrete as a permit type. That form also says any work in a special flood hazard area needs an elevation certificate, so check your property on the city's flood risk website, and Orange County explains that permits are required for all development, paving and grading included, not just buildings. We're licensed and fully insured, we work on both sides of the state line from Beaumont and Port Arthur over to Lake Charles and Sulphur, and we handle the permit side with whichever office covers your address when the job calls for one.

New stamped concrete usually cracks because the ground under it settles or the joints went in late or not at all. Any slab can crack, so we cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a straight place to crack, and we cut them on time. On a stamped slab we line them up with the pattern so they read as part of the design.