Why Experience Matters

When considering who you choose to contact when looking to hire a concrete company, it is important to consider what type of concrete contractor you are hiring.  Concrete companies that are geared toward doing concrete walls and foundations are probably going to be the best at those types of projects. Concrete paving projects like commercial parking lots and gas stations are normally done best by small commercial contractors that pour a lot of parking lots. When it comes to decorative concrete projects like concrete staining or stamped concrete, those projects are done best by an experienced decorative concrete company. Experienced decorative concrete contractors will be able to identify your needs and figure out how to best achieve that result.

Many concrete companies advertise stamped concrete services. But the simple fact is that if they don't spend a lot of time doing something, it's very hard to truly become an expert at it. Stamped concrete is a highly specialized service that has a huge learning curve and there are many nuances that only stamped concrete companies that have completed hundreds of stamped concrete projects will know. This experience makes a huge difference in the final product. A small mistake can ruin the entire look of the project.

Concrete stamping is a skill set that is learned over time and is executed using specialized tools and techniques, combined with artistry. Being able to solve problems while the concrete is wet is a crucial skill for a great final product.

Superior results for stamped concrete begin well before the concrete arrives. Having enough manpower and all the necessary products may seem obvious for construction but it is vital in concrete, where the product is on a ticking clock.  Once the concrete is mixed, it will be hard in a matter of hours, whether it's done right or not. 

After the concrete arrives, the need to for experience begins. An inexperienced contractor may mix the integral color incorrectly in the truck, either by using the wrong quantity or by not ensuring that the color is mixed thoroughly, leaving streaks and uneven color. 

Some projects require more than one load of concrete. Without the proper mixing technique, an inexperienced contractor may end up with a large color contrast between pours.

Use of admixtures to delay the set of concrete from one load to another is often necessary to make sure all concrete remains soft enough to stamp throughout the project. Knowing how fast a crew can stamp is crucial for using these admixtures and it is piece of the puzzle only experience brings.

Once the concrete is poured, finishing the concrete completely in a continuous manner is necessary. Returning to finish edges or missed areas will result in a slab with different coloration in those areas. Many projects done by an inexperienced contractor may show where the release powder was thrown out, then finished in. Not only is this bad for the concrete but it creates a very odd and visible look. The concrete is darker in those areas, and it is obvious every place that finish was applied.

After finishing, experience is needed to know when stamping should begin. Depending on weather conditions, the stamping window is generally less than two hours from start to finish. If the contractor starts stamping too early, the concrete will stick to the stamp or create a sunken spot. If the contractor begins too late or stamps too slowly, they will not be able to get an impression into the concrete with the stamp.

Once the stamping begins, understanding how the pattern fits together and how stamps need to be placed is key. I have seen many completed jobs where it is obvious that the contractor didn’t have the experience using the pattern and set the stamps down incorrectly. They also didn’t know how to fix the mistake in a timely manner and just left it and tried to move on. No matter how good a contractor is, mistakes will still happen. A footprint from stepping off the pattern accidentally, a dropped stamp or a spot where the concrete stuck to the mat- these things can occasionally happen to even the best stamped concrete company.  Understanding how to fix these problems quickly and get back to stamping makes the difference between an experienced and inexperienced contractor.

Another important aspect to many stamped concrete jobs is being able to start the pattern square and keep it that way throughout the process. “Growing” or “shrinking” the stamps in small increments as they are placed is another skill that develops with experience. As the stamping process nears completion, other skills may be needed. When stamping around a pool, island or firepit, it is often necessary to being able to stamp in textures or apply dummy joints to assure that the pattern blends correctly. When stamping around an object, it is not possible to keep all of the stamps connected side to side. A contractor starts on one side and stamps around to the other. Where the stamping comes together at the start and finish, the pattern will not line up, no matter how much care is taken. Stamps always move slightly and often have very small gaps between them. As a result, moving a stamp 50 different times with a gap of 1/32” of an inch means the final pattern will be off by several inches by the time the two sides meet, not to mention differences in squareness. Being able to fix this problem is another difference experience makes.

Once the stamping is done, finishing the job the next day also requires an experienced contractor. Areas in the sun will get harder quicker than shaded areas. This means that the results may look different between those areas. Sun areas may be lighter or darker than the shade areas, as more or less release will take to the concrete. Knowing how to adjust this difference by removing release or adding release to achieve uniformity is key to a great result.

The above are just a few of the things that separate an experienced stamped concrete contractor from one that only does stamped concrete a few times a year. Without the requisite experience, it's unrealistic to think the outcome of stamped concrete from an inexperienced contractor will approach the quality of one well versed in the many tricks of the trade.

In addition to the techniques above we learned over the years, we also use other processes when creating borders and applying release that create a subtle difference in quality between our stamped concrete and others in the business.

When you are choosing a stamped concrete contractor, you should ask how many stamped concrete projects they have done. At Rockford Stamped Concrete, we have completed more than 250 projects, so you know we have the experience to make it look great! 

You should also look at the pictures your potential contractor has. I have seen pictures posted by other contractors where dark blotches and huge sunken birdbaths are clearly visible because the contractor tried to stamp the concrete while it was too wet. Other times, ridges and lightly colored areas and mat marks are visible where the contractor either missed texturing an area or didn’t overlap the texture mats correctly. Some of these photos show darkened edges where the contractor finished release into the surface with a tool after the release was applied.  Be sure to look closely because many of these pictures won’t even show the areas where the contractor failed to tamp the stamp deep enough to leave an impression, or the concrete got so hard there is almost no texture inside the stamped stone outline.

While these things are issues that affect the quality of the job, the biggest problem these pictures show is that the contractor who did the work doesn’t even realize it was bad work! Contractors don’t want to show off their mistakes, so posting these pictures shows the lack of knowledge about what a quality result even is. With concrete, these mistakes are not as obvious to a homeowner as unlevel siding or missing singles but to an experience decorative concrete contractor, it’s the same thing. These mistakes are glaringly obvious.

Many times, the inexperienced contractor will bid a project for less money because he does not realize the time, steps and manpower necessary to do the job correctly.  While price is an important factor when considering who you will hire, it is wise to think about the following ideas as you make your decision:

"It's unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little.

When you pay too much, you lose a little money -- that is all.

When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.”

-John Ruskin (1819-1900)

If you saved some money by choosing the cheapest contractor but the final result is a product that doesn't look good, was it worth it?  You will be looking at that concrete for many years to come.

As stamped concrete contractors, we owe our clients the best quality work.  That quality comes with experience.  And that experience is worth something.