If you need to renovate your outside patio area, you may be looking at options with a critical eye on your budget. After all, you need to do something about the condition of this area and you want to make a good impression, but you're not sure if the finances can stretch to some of the more exotic or highly decorative materials. In this case, maybe you should consider decorative concrete, as this may be able to tick all the right boxes in your equation. How could this help you?
Take the Lead
As you undertake your home improvement project, you will need to make sure that you come up with a patio solution that is not only good to look at but relatively easy to maintain. You may be worried, as some of the solutions you have considered may not be as simple and may require another slice of cash, should they be in need of repair. In this case, you may need to take the lead from some larger commercial environments, where they use decorative concrete extensively for those very reasons.
Appearance
When you choose this approach, a specific pattern will be stamped or imprinted into the surface to replicate the look and feel of those other materials. You'll be able to come up with a great finished result that can mimic the appearance of tiles, brickwork or slate, while you can choose from a variety of different colours and patterns to boot. Most importantly, this solution will be a great deal cheaper to implement.
Simplicity
This type of approach is also quite simple and can easily be handled by an efficient contractor. Once they have poured the concrete onto the base and let it set, they can use stamps or dies to create the appropriate pattern. This will be a lot simpler than bringing in individual paving units and positioning those by hand and will be reflected in the cost of the project.
Calculation
It may also be difficult to determine how many individual paving stones you would need due to the size and shape of the stones and the footprint of your job. This would certainly add to the project in terms of labour, but it would be relatively easy to lay the concrete down instead.
Long-Term
Don't forget that this approach will also be much simpler to maintain and will generally put up with any ground subsidence without too much issue. Individual paving stones, on the other hand, could move out of place and would certainly need to be reset, as they would otherwise cause a safety hazard.
The Best Approach
Talk with your concrete suppliers about stamped concrete and build this approach into your project plan. To learn more, contact a concreting service.
