Concrete patios & sidewalks?
Question:What are some ideas for concrete patios and sidewalks that look good but not too expensive. Stamped concrete is beyond my budget but yet I don't want plain ugly concrete. I have a lot of oak trees in my yard and the debris makes a mess on everything. Any ideas would be appreciated. My house is white siding with grey wooden deck, front porch and grey shutters so need something that would go with a while and grey theme. I'm sure someone has done something really unique that looks expensive but isn't. My contractor just wants to broom finish it and put on a sealer, not very creative for something that is going to be expensive anyway. If you've purchased yards of concrete you know what I'm talking about. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks to all for your help.
Carol
Answers:
If you don't want to pay extra, but you don't want a plain slab, then you could just buy a color pack to mix into the sealer. If you want a grey colored slab, you just mix the color pack into the sealer and apply regularly. This is something that makes concrete look different and doesn't really add any extra labor costs. Stamping or texturing changes require more labor and thus, more expenses.
The color packs are made by Sonneborn and they look like this:
http://www.bestmaterials.com/images/colo...
Designers are paid to be creative, not necessarily a contractor. It's up to you or someone else you hire to give the contractor the work related direction they need to satisfy your needs. If you can't afford the suggested stamped concrete, then you probably can't afford to be too "creative," since everything construction related that entails skill and creativity costs a good bit extra. Just the truth.
you have alot of options so dont limit yourself...One of those would be coloring your concrete with an integral color, its a simple bag of iron oxide coloring that wont fade through solomon colors.com its only about 70 dollars for a bag of color...Also you could pour white concrete with a float finish or a swirl broom finish and then stain it...There are alot of diffrent conc...stains available. You could also look into exposed aggregate which is pretty cheap.Search the web for the most ideas for you project.
Well, to be honest! If you dont mind going outdoors, and having a natural look! I've gone out and gotten flat field stones! flat on some portion mind u! Get enuff to do ur area, and start jig saw puzzling ur patio/walkway together! Go to any old farmstead, and ask to look thru their rock piles, they all have em!! Good rock hunting!
my house is grey and white too. i have used 2ft by2ft flat cement stones to create a walkway from the driveway to the house. and don't forget you can paint the stones to match your grey deck. that would be very nice. my deck is redwood stain and i didn't paint the stones because it gives a good contrast to the rest of the house.
You make a cobblestone sidewalk or patio, with varying shades of gray,white and black.
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