Decorative Concrete in Medford MA - a finish you like, with the upkeep known up front

Most people who call us have a patio, walk or front entry that works fine but looks tired, or they're pouring a new slab anyway and want more than a parking pad. The price mostly turns on the size, how many colors and patterns you want, whether old concrete has to come out first and how much base work the ground needs. The schedule turns on the weather, the cure and whether the job touches the sidewalk or curb. If you're set on a pressed pattern, our stamped concrete page covers that finish in more detail, and your written estimate lays out your own numbers, including what's covered and what isn't.

I start by walking you through the finish options and the upkeep that comes with the one you pick, so the cost you plan for covers more than pour day. Then we check where the water runs, because a slab that falls toward the house sends water at your foundation, and we dig out and pack the subgrade, the soil and gravel the slab sits on, instead of raking dirt level. We set forms, add rebar, steel rods that hold the slab together, where it needs it, and pour early in the day so midday heat doesn't leave a weak, dusty top. Once the color and pattern are in, we cut control joints on time, shallow grooves that tell the slab where to crack, then let it cure, the wait while it gains strength, before we seal it. When a budget gets tight, people want to trim the base because nobody sees it on day one. I'd rather simplify the pattern than skimp underneath, since a nice finish on a settling slab cracks right along with it.

Decorative work often sits next to other jobs. A patterned patio on a sloped yard may need concrete retaining walls to hold the grade, and stains and textures work indoors too, on a new basement or room slab from our concrete floor installation work.

Medford's rules mostly come in when the work reaches the street. The city's Engineering Division issues permits to owners for driveway work, curb cuts, trenching and sidewalk occupancy, and for work on city sidewalks, curbing and roadways, the contractor has to be licensed with the city to get the permit. For a backyard patio or walk that list doesn't settle it, and whether any job needs a permit is the building official's call. So we check with the office before the job goes on the schedule, handle the application when one is needed and tell you up front that we're the ones pulling it. On an existing, owner-occupied home with one to four units, Massachusetts also requires the contractor to be registered as a Home Improvement Contractor.

Lots around here tend to be tight, with houses close together and runoff from roofs and neighbors' yards that has to go somewhere, so I check where the water goes before we talk patterns. If your yard runs toward a stream, river or wetland, the city requires a filing before anyone fills or alters it or its buffer zone, so I ask about that at the visit. We see the same tight lots on jobs in Somerville and Malden.