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What to Expect When Installing a Curved Stamped Concrete Patio – A Light Grey Ashlar Slate Patio Design

June 22, 2020 / 159 Comments

Stamped concrete is a beautiful and affordable option when designing a large outdoor patio for your backyard. We have been overhauling our backyard for sometime, working to create a backyard oasis in our small suburban backyard. After doing tons of research on stamped concrete designs and colors, we selected the Ashlar Slate stamp in light grey for our backyard patio. Throughout the process of having our patio installed, we had so many questions that made the process seem intimidating. So I decided to create a simple guide of what to expect when designing a curved stamped concrete patio in a light grey Ashlar Slate stamp to help guide you as you create your own dream backyard patio.

After checking out this guide, head to my backyard reveal post to see how I enjoy outdoor living with our new stamped patio!

Curved Ashlar Slate Stamped Concrete Patio Costs & Specifics

Our patio is just under 500 sf, and is about 6″ thick at the tallest portion. The total cost was $6,500 after tax to have it installed. We live just north of the Seattle area for reference, and received quotes between $5,000 to $10,000 to have this project completed. The cost of our patio included the concrete prep work – removing the grass and leveling the area with compacted gravel, building the curved patio forms to create the patio shape, pouring cement with color added (light grey), cutting a 6″ decorative border around the whole patio, stamping the patio with the Ashlar Slate pattern, and sealing the patio.

Additionally, we incurred costs to remove our existing 10×10′ concrete patio. The contractor would have charged us $700 to remove it. Instead we rented a jack hammer and a dump trailer for about $200 and removed it ourselves. This took an entire day, and took an extreme amount of effort. We found someone local who took the concrete, otherwise you will need to add the cost for disposal of the concrete into your budget.

Why I Chose to Install a Stamped Concrete Patio

I chose to install a curved stamped concrete patio with the Ashlar Slate stamp in our backyard rather than have a brick paver patio installed for a few reasons. First, the cost was much lower. The same size patio in pavers was quoted between $8,000-$12,000. Secondly, I wanted to have a larger brick pattern and to be able to select the exact color (since you can have cement dyed to your color preference, with brick your limited to the colors of the bricks). And lastly, I love how flexible concrete is, you can shape it exactly how you want. I altered the shape a few times before the final pour, able to fit it perfectly into the shape of my yard. And, since our yard had poor drainage and was somewhat low before, we were able to build the yard up with the cement and create better drainage.

Why I Did Not Do a DIY Curved Stamped Concrete Patio

Part of our backyard overhaul had originally included a small DIY concrete patio. It was not level, it puddled, it looked terrible. We learned from that small project that we were not skilled enough to do cement work. We also do not own any of the necessary tools or equipment, did not want to have to level the yard or haul the materials, and didn’t feel confident we could build the forms correctly. All these tasks are necessary when installing a curved stamped concrete patio, and they are all huge undertakings that require skill and tools and time. Us simple DIYer’s just were not willing to deal with any of it.

What to Expect During a Curved Stamped Concrete Patio Installation

When you plan to have your curved stamped concrete patio installed, you can expect the whole process to take between a couple weeks and a month, depending on how big your project is, the weather, and your contractors availability. It takes several steps to prepare your yard and to have the stamped concrete laid before your patio is complete. Here is a simple breakdown of what to expect when you have your curved stamped concrete patio installed.

Step 1 – Clear the Yard

You need to clear your yard of anything in the way – landscaping, trees, etc. Any bricks or cement in the way will need to be removed as well, including an existing patio.

Our patio design wraps around the deck, so we had to remove our existing 10×10′ cement patio, the trees lining the deck, and some bricks lining some of the landscaping.

Step 2 – Yard is Leveled and Graded

Your contractor will remove excess landscaping then level and grade compacted gravel covering the area where your new patio will be poured.

Step 3 – Patio Forms are Built

Your contractor will design with you the shape of your patio, and discuss what height you will want your patio. Do you want it level with the landscaping or to be slightly raised? We choose to have our patio raised to meet the stairs for the deck, and to create a border around the patio where we could put a garden bed. This also helped us with our drainage problem since the rain would now be able drain off the patio rather than puddle in our yards low points. Once you decide on your shape and height, your contractor will then build forms to create your desired patio shape. You can usually make small adjustments during this process if needed.

Step 4 – Select Patio Stamp and Color

There are tons of stamps and colors to choose from when designing a stamped concrete patio. For reference, we selected light grey with the Ashlar Slate stamp for our patio.

The photo below is of our actual patio stamped and sealed with Ashlar Slate in light grey.

Step 5 – Cement is Poured and Stamped

Your contractor will pour the cement and stamp it the same day. If you are adding a decorative border this will be cut into the cement with a special tool before stamping. Our patio was stamped with texture first, which is stamped into the border as well. The Ashlar Slate stamp is not stamped into the border.

Step 6 – Patio is Sealed

After allowing the patio to dry for at least 24 hours, your contractor will return to seal your patio. This gives the patio a dark, wet looking finished sheen and helps protect it from discoloration and damage. Due to the rain, our patio was sealed a week after installation. Don’t worry about dark water spots as your patio is drying, those will dry completely before your patio is sealed.

Hopefully this guide on what to expect when having a curved stamped patio installed with light grey Ashlar Slate is helpful as you begin to plan your own backyard patio project. Check out this post to see the full reveal of our backyard oasis. I know I always feel like it is helpful to know what to expect before diving into a project – especially such a huge one like a huge new patio!

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