Stamped Concrete in St. Louis, MO

Stamped concrete is a regular slab that gets pressed with textured mats while it is still soft, then colored and sealed so it reads as slate, flagstone, cobblestone or brick. In a city full of red-brick homes and limestone foundations, it is a popular way to give a patio or front entry a masonry look without hundreds of individual pavers that can heave, settle or grow weeds in the joints. HomeGuide's patio guide lists stamped concrete patios at $9 to $30 a square foot.

Where it fits

• Back patios, often with a border in a second color
• Front walks and entries, especially in front of brick houses
• Driveway borders, with plain broom-finished lanes in the middle
• Areas around a pool or fire pit, with a textured pattern and grit in the sealer

We usually advise against stamping a whole driveway or a steep walk. Deep patterns hold packed snow, and sealed stamped concrete is slicker when wet than a broom finish.

How the color works

Most stamped jobs use two colors. The base color is mixed into the concrete at the plant, so it runs all the way through and a chip does not show gray. Before stamping, a release powder or liquid goes on the surface to keep the mats from sticking. It collects in the low spots and darkens them, which gives the varied look of real stone. After the slab cures, the excess release is washed off and sealer goes on to deepen the color and protect the surface.

Picking a pattern

Ashlar slate, a mix of rectangles in several sizes, looks like cut stone and suits most patios. Random stone and flagstone look more natural beside planting beds. Running bond and herringbone brick patterns go well with St. Louis brick homes. If your house is in a City Historic District, the Cultural Resources Office reviews exterior work there, including on-premise walks and drives, so we choose colors and patterns that can pass that review and allow time for it.

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Winter and sealer

Stamped concrete faces the same freeze-thaw as any slab, plus one more weak point: the sealer. Where it wears thin, water and salt reach the colored surface, and that is when stamped work fades and begins to flake. We pour on a compacted stone base with air-entrained concrete, cut control joints along pattern lines where they disappear, and seal after curing. Keep salt off stamped concrete entirely and use sand for grip.

New slab or overlay

If an existing slab is solid and level, a stamped overlay can sometimes go over it. HomeGuide's resurfacing guide lists stamped overlays at $7 to $15 a square foot for a single pattern and $15 to $20 for complex designs. An overlay will not fix a slab that has sunk, heaved or cracked through, since those cracks come back through the new surface. In that case a new stamped slab is the better value.

Upkeep

Sweep, rinse and clean up grease or food spills quickly. Reseal every few years, sooner on walking paths, or as soon as water stops beading and the color looks dull. Resealing on time is what keeps stamped concrete looking new.