Stamped Concrete Questions and Answers
Have questions about stamped concrete, scheduling, or our warranty? These answers cover the most common topics we discuss with homeowners.
How do I clean my concrete?
Concrete can be easily cleaned with clean or soapy water. Power washing is usually the least labor-intensive method.
How often does my concrete need to be resealed?
Concrete sealer is a coating that must be applied in very thin layers to perform correctly. For this reason, it will wear away over time and periodically needs to be reapplied to protect your concrete and keep it looking great. Typically, the sealer we use needs to be refreshed every three or four years.
Do you offer resealing services, and can I do it myself?
We perform reseals as one of our services. We send out an annual letter informing customers from 4 years prior that it is likely time to reseal their stamped concrete and what the cost will be. We also provide the option for the homeowner to do it themselves, and inform them of the sealer we use and outline steps of how to do it.
Can salt damage my concrete?
Salt can be very damaging to the integrity of the concrete surface. Below is a flyer put out by the Michigan Concrete Association outlining the specifics of salt use and how it can damage concrete.
Can stamped concrete crack?
Yes, all concrete is prone to cracking, including both stamped and regular gray varieties. Most of the time, the material 'behaves' and cracks in the control joints we create specifically for this purpose. However, hairline cracks can occasionally appear in unwanted places despite proper base preparation and moisture control.
According to the National Association of Home Builders, minor cracking is an inherent part of concrete and is to be expected. To minimize this, we use early-entry saws and recommend wire reinforcement to hold slabs together and prevent small cracks from expanding over time.
Yard damage
Concrete removal and installation require machinery like a Bobcat. Yard damage is to be expected due to the sheer weight of the materials involved. This damage can go from barely noticeable to creating significant ruts.
We do our best to avoid lawn damage through practical means like turning sharply as little as possible or driving in a pattern that distributes the weight over a large area rather than creating ruts by driving over the same areas. Areas of the yard will show more damage where there are pinch points (small areas that we must travel through, like side yards between adjoining houses or through a gate) or areas where we need to turn machinery more sharply.
We do not use plywood to drive on, as it is easily destroyed by heavy machinery and is expensive. Grass grows back, while plywood will not.
If you do not want to spread topsoil or seed yourself, we can provide you with the name of several landscape professionals will provide a quote to do it, or you can contract your own.
Schedule
Questions sometimes arise regarding scheduling and why we are not currently on one job site or another.
We typically work on three or four projects within a given week.
Stamped concrete projects usually take three partial working days to complete. The first day is usually spent with excavation, forming and grading. The second day is spent pouring and stamping the project. The third day is spent stripping forms, washing, sealing and doing final clean up. Brushed concrete projects usually take two or three days.
Most of the year, we like to pour concrete when the temperature is cooler. Cooler weather allows for longer setting time and more working time. Time of the day all makes a big difference. If we’re not at a project in the morning, it’s because we’re pouring at a different one. We will return soon.
Things like weather, availability of redi-mix, availability of pump trucks, and other factors also affect scheduling.
Weather is the single most important factor that influences our schedule. We usually don’t pour if there is a good chance of rain. It’s not that we hate getting wet, it’s the fact that rain can damage freshly placed concrete and necessitate an immediate replacement. We can cover it with plastic for a bit but eventually it needs to be uncovered to be finished properly. If the concrete needs to be covered again after it is finished, plastic marks on the finish may be visually undesirable.
If it rains for a few days in a row, other problems may arise from a wet subgrade. This can also lead to a backlog for the redi-mix company. If it rains for two days, contactors will all be trying to fit in concrete the third day. We can’t always get redi-mix trucks or a concrete pump when we want. Sometimes we have wait until they become available.
It is a bad idea to pour in extreme heat, as the concrete can cure faster than we can finish it. And winds over 20 mph can dry out the surface of the concrete, making it very hard to finish.
We get paid when the job is done, so we want to complete your project. But we don’t save any time or make any money if we must tear it out and do it again. We will complete the project when conditions are right.
Showroom
In many cases, the pattern and color chart pictures on this website, coupled with paper color charts I drop off, are enough for you to pick your stamped concrete design. We currently do not have our own showroom with samples. However, we use the showroom at Concrete Central in Grand Rapids. Their address is 1301 Century Ave. SW Grand Rapids. It is open to you Monday through Friday, 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. If you would like us to meet with you at Concrete Central to discuss some of the options, I would be happy to schedule that with you. As Concrete Central is open to the public, you can also go on your own. Park around the back side of the building and go up the steps. You can either choose to go up the set of stairs immediately to your right, which lead to the showroom, or you can open the door in front of you and walk into the office area, where you can get color charts and further information.
Are we a good match for one another?
While we appreciate the opportunity to meet and speak with you, not all projects are a good fit. Sometimes we decline projects when the scope is either too small, the required skill set for the project differs from our core skill set, or if the budget/schedule do not work for us. Not every project is right for us, nor are we the right contractor for every customer or project.
Warranty
While we strive to control cracking using standard ACI practices like timely cutting of control joints and proper joint spacing, it is impossible to predict with 100% certainty where, when, and if concrete will crack, thus making warranty against cracking impractical. The National Association of Home Builders states in their Residential Construction Performance Guidelines for Professional Builders and Remodelers, Section 12-4-4
“Minor concrete cracking is normal and to be expected. Control joints are placed in the concrete to help control cracks and provide a less visible area for them to occur. Cracking can be caused by elements outside of the contractor’s control. The repaired area may not match the existing area in color and texture.”
Many studies have been performed over the past century in this area and the results have shown that cracking is an inherent part of concrete as a material. Therefore, cracks in concrete are not defects. If it is the nature of the material and cannot be prevented, they are not a defect in workmanship.
We warranty our concrete for an INDUSTRY STANDARD OF ONE YEAR for spalling (surface peeling) of more than 20% of the project and structural failure -sinking or spreading of cracks greater than 3/8 inch in width. We do not warranty hairline cracking.
Don’t see your question here? Call 616.254.7197 or contact us and we’ll be happy to talk through your project.