Lets Talk about Stamped Concrete or Freaking Decks!!!
so I have a two 10 feet long by 8 feet wide decks in my back yard - one deck is elevated and one is on the ground. the deck is about 8 yrs old and the wife would like to wreck it and go with stamped concrete.
My guess to have the concrete poured and stamped was $9,000 to $12,000 - anyone have any thoughts on my guesstimation.
My thought on the deck, is to pull it all out and build something on the ground. My thought would be to get a bunch of those pressure treated posts that are 6 inches by 6 inches and build something that is about 18 to 24 inches off of the ground. And then use composite wood for the deck itself.
My other thought is to use the 6 x 6 posts and basically build a box and fill it with some 3/4 crushed and then tamp it smooth and then lay down some small pavers. Could then finish off the edge of the wood box with a nice plexi glass railing.
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Stamped is slippery and I am pretty sure you have to seal with every year...$$$.
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We are getting someone to do our backyard in the spring. Very small patio 620 sq. ft. They rip out the existing deck, brick pavers, grass. Then do the leveling/forming, gravel then rebar and concrete with colour (non-stamped), for ~$12k.
that's a ripoff company i use is about 11$/SQ.FT that includes digging/leveling/forming, gravel then rebar and concrete. Your paying like 5grand to demo a deck
We really need a CP concrete guy! Someone cheap and reliable. I would love to get some concrete work done but I hate how expensive it is!
When I extended my driveway guy was quoting 8 dollars a sq/ft. This guy did seem extremely sketchy and I only did it because 2 of my neighbors did as well. I believe 10 dollars a sq ft is normal for regular concrete? I may be out to lunch though as my memory fails me.
the company I use, I've known their finisher since 1989 and he has like 40 years of experience finishing concrete. from driveways and sidewalks to parkades, bankers hall and either maxbell or olympic oval (memory sucks)
hardest working dude I've ever seen..he's in his 60's and regularly outworks all the younger guys.
I miss the new deck we put in at my old house, hard to believe that was 4 years ago this summer. Where has my life gone?
Anyway, add my vote for composite decking. Here's some before and after shots with what we did, for possible inspiration/criticism/discussion/whatever. We replaced the crappy builder's deck with a larger, lowered composite deck. More space, better curb appeal and a little actual privacy on the lowered deck were all bonuses.
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I got a stamped concrete patio put in at my place a about 3 years ago. It's just basically a 12 foot diameter circle, on which we have a few patio chairs and a small table. Anyway, it cost me about $2,500, complete. They put a sealer on it, and it is still good to this day, but it'll probably have to be re-sealed in a few more years. It isn't that expensive to re-seal it.
On my front porch/entry, I have Trex. It still looks pretty good and it's been there for 7 years now.
A couple of years ago, I replaced my front walk concrete blocks with stamped concrete, and did everything myself. Most of it is about 36" wide, but it flares wider to match the front steps. The whole thing is about 24' long.
Though not perfect, it still looks awesome.
when we built our place (6 or 7 years ago) we looked at doing stamped concrete on our deck, but the cost was crazy expensive
one thing to remember is if you're 'covering up' an existing deck with stamped concrete that it is engineered to hold the extra weight. i know when we discussed it with our builder he made sure the deck could handle the extra weight - giving us the option to add the stamped concrete at a later date. i think the main difference from a 'normal deck' was that the joists were on a 12" center in stead of a 16" center. the posts and beams might have been beefed up a bit too.
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We are getting someone to do our backyard in the spring. Very small patio 620 sq. ft. They rip out the existing deck, brick pavers, grass. Then do the leveling/forming, gravel then rebar and concrete with colour (non-stamped), for ~$12k.
The existing setup sucked. Grass is a giant dog toilet, pavers and wood deck at different levels rendered it unusable. They are going to level/grade it so no steps to the back door. Kids will be able to play hockey and ride bikes now. Will see how it turns out.
The guy said stamped sucks for some reason I cannot remember (slippery?).
Yikes!!!
$12k? That's more than double than what it should cost.
Stamping doesn't add that much work. It's actually a pretty simple process It is more work but not much more than what they already have to do.
Your 620 sq ft.. patio should only cost about $$5500 and that's even a little high and you can find someone who would beat it. They usually charge $8-$12 a sq ft.
Edit: Ok, I just read that you are only adding colour. That makes it even worse. Don't be one of those guys that drives up the prices because you're willing to pay that price.
We had two quotes last year in the $20k range, thats why we thought it was a good deal. There is no access to the backyard so everything has to be by hand, not sure if that makes a difference.
I'm assuming by bigger companies? They can charge those rates because they're busy enough that they can over charge and they'd rather do one job at $20K than 3 jobs at $7k. They really don't care if only 1 in 10 call them back.
And it does make a small difference but not a whole lot.
We had two quotes last year in the $20k range, thats why we thought it was a good deal. There is no access to the backyard so everything has to be by hand, not sure if that makes a difference.
might make a difference if they can't get a bobcat in, is there a fence that you can take a section out? cheaper to dismantle and repair a section of fence.
Lets Talk about Stamped Concrete or Freaking Decks!!!
