More homeowners want concrete that looks like natural stone lately

I finished a patio last month where the client showed me pictures from a magazine, wanting that rough, stone-like texture instead of a smooth finish. It's not just that one job, I've had three calls this season asking for similar looks. We ended up using a combination of stamping mats and a light acid wash to get the effect, but it took way longer than a standard broom finish. The hard part was keeping the color consistent across the whole slab. Now I'm wondering if this is a new trend in my area or if it's happening everywhere. What methods are you all using for these natural stone looks? Any advice on speeding up the process without messing up the texture would be really helpful.

2 comments

2 Comments

foster.drew3d ago

Colored hardener before stamping worked for us to maintain texture and save time.

the_julia3d ago

But is all that extra work really needed for a driveway or patio? We just did plain gray concrete for our backyard slab and it looks fine, nobody even notices. Feels like half these concrete choices are for contractors to charge more. Unless you're building some fancy hotel entrance, who cares?