Plain gray patio or cracked driveway? We stamp and seal concrete to look like stone or brick, poured over a base packed firm.
Our stamped concrete services in Calabasas start with a pour of colored concrete. While it's still soft, our crew presses rubber mats into it so your patio or driveway looks like stone, brick, wood or tile, and then we seal it.
Most of the price comes down to the size of the area, the pattern and color method you pick, and how much digging and packing the ground needs before we can pour. If the budget gets tight, the base is the first thing people want to trim because nobody sees it on day one. It's the one place I won't cut, since a slab that settles with the dirt cracks right through the pattern.
The schedule turns on the prep, the weather and the paperwork. We'd rather wait for a mild day or start early than pour in midday heat, which leaves a weak, dusty top, and if the city needs to sign off on anything, we sort that out before the forms go in. Once I've seen the site, the estimate gives you your own figure for the work we talked through.
You deal with me from the first visit through the cleanup, so you're not passing questions through three different people. Here's how it usually goes.
I come out myself to see the area, hear what pattern and color you're picturing, and answer whatever you want to ask before anything gets priced. Then I write up the estimate so you have the work and the price on paper.
Once you're ready, we sort out the paperwork for your address and do the prep, digging out and packing the ground and setting the forms. We've been in business since 2020, and I still check the base myself before anyone orders concrete.
I'm there with our crew through the pour, the stamping and the cleanup, so the person who wrote your estimate is the one watching it get built. We're fully licensed and insured, and you can call (747) 269-3817 or use the form below to set up a visit.
A pattern on top can't hide bad groundwork, so we give the base the same care as the finish. We dig out and pack the subgrade, the ground the slab sits on, set forms to the thickness a patio or driveway needs and lay rebar, the steel that keeps cracks from pulling apart. Then we pour, color and stamp it, cut the joints and seal it in light coats.
Stamped work often sits next to other concrete that's due. If the walk to your front door is cracked or sinking, concrete sidewalk building can tie it into the new patio, and if a stamped driveway leads up to a chipped slab inside, ask about garage floor concrete while I'm out there.
Every stamped job goes through the same four stages, and each one is there for a reason you'll notice years from now.
Before we dig, we look at where rain runs off your roof and yard and set the slab to fall away from the house. Water pooling against the house or sitting on the patio is a common complaint with old slabs, and it's easy to prevent at this stage.
We dig out the soft dirt and pack the ground instead of raking it level, because raked dirt keeps settling and takes the slab down with it. Then the forms and steel go in, and I check both before the truck shows up.
We place the concrete, work in the color and press the mats while it's still soft enough to take the pattern, so the crew stays on it the whole time. Timing matters more here than on plain flatwork, the slabs like walks and driveways, because once the top stiffens the pattern won't take.
Control joints are planned cuts that give the slab a line to crack along instead of across your pattern, and one installation guide advises putting them in the pattern's grout lines so they blend in. Once the surface is hard enough, it gets rinsed and sealed.
Tell us the rough size of the area, whether it's a patio or a driveway, and any color or pattern you have in mind, and we'll reply within one business day. I'll come out, look at the site and write up a free estimate with no pressure to book, or you can call (747) 269-3817 or email hi@calabasasconcrete.com.
(747) 269-3817Installed stamped concrete in the Los Angeles area usually costs about $15 to $30 per square foot, and that's the area's going rate for planning, not our price. Where you land in that range depends on the pattern, the color method, the size and how much groundwork your site needs. Your own number comes from the estimate after I've seen the site. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Color hardener is the usual choice for a driveway, because it's worked into the top and gives richer color and a harder surface for tires to wear on. Its color lives in that top layer, though, so a deep chip shows gray concrete underneath. Integral color runs all the way through, so chips and saw cuts match, but it won't reach the deepest or brightest tones, which makes it the better fit if you'd rather have a forgiving finish than bold color.
Stamped concrete isn't finished on pour day because the surface can't be rinsed until it's hard enough to stand on without leaving marks, and that comes after the day of the pour. The sealer goes on only once the rinse water has dried, and that wait is part of curing, the time concrete needs to harden before you use it. Hot, dry or windy weather pulls water out of the top too fast, so when a day like that can't be avoided, early morning or late evening is the most practical time to pour.
One installation field guide advises resealing stamped concrete every 2 to 3 years, so count that as part of what the surface costs you over time. I'll tell you that at the estimate rather than let it surprise you later.
It can be, and one field guide warns that a heavy flood coat of sealer can bubble, blush white and turn the slab slick when wet, which is why we keep our coats light. You can also ask for a nonskid additive in the sealer, and one of the most common methods mixes resin sand or glass beads into it before it's rolled on.
Any work in the public right-of-way along the street needs an encroachment permit from the city's Maintenance Division, so a stamped driveway that reaches into it will need one. Whether the rest of the job needs a permit is up to the city or county, so we check with the office that covers your address before we start and work through what they ask for with you. If you'd like to ask yourself, the city's Building and Safety Division takes calls at (818)-224-2534 and email at BuildingSafetyInfo@cityofcalabasas.com.
California lets someone without a contractor's license take on jobs only up to $1,000, and only when the work needs no permit and they have no one working for them. State contractor law counts driveways and patios as home improvement, and most stamped jobs cost more than that, so the person pouring yours should be licensed. We're based in Calabasas and work across the cities around it, from Agoura Hills to Westlake Village, and if your city isn't on our list, call and ask.
We take calls from 8 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week, so you can reach us at (747) 269-3817 after work or on a weekend.
If you have a question about color, pattern or what goes under the slab before you want an estimate, send it over and I'll answer it.
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