Decorative Concrete Ideas for your Driveway

Concrete is not just a gray slab. If you want to install a Stamped walkway, driveway, or patio, there are several ideas available for decorative concrete that you can use to shape up your yard. You can also take the benefit of various concrete styles to make your unique space reflect your design. Use the creative decorative concrete ideas to enhance your home beauty using various finishes, textures, and colors. Here are some decorative concrete ideas to help you decorate your home efficiently.

Concrete and Color

When you consider renovating the concrete driveway, you will probably be looking for the gray slab. But, concrete is available in various colors and not only gray. Concrete can be given integral and topical colors too. As integral colors give richness, you can add these colors to the mixture. On the other hand, topical colors give a more aesthetically and pleasing look, and these colors can be added to the top layer of the concrete. It doesn’t matter what color you choose, you have to choose a color which gives a natural look.

Polish Concrete Polished

The greatest option for decoration using the interior concrete floor is polishing. Polishing can give a pleasing look, that too at minimum cost. You can use polish to your brand new concrete floor or give a new look to the old floor. When you choose to polish your concrete, you also choose low maintenance of it.

Concrete Stamps Decorative

Flat or plain surfaces are dull and boring. Concrete stamping can spice up the look of your concrete floor. Stamped concrete looks a lot like natural brick or stone and adds class and dimension to your home’s exterior. Whether you need something that looks like cobblestone, slate or has an in-between look, stamping can provide you the look you need. For the outdoors, you can create an inviting and charming concrete patio by adding stamped concrete. All stamped concrete helps you create a decorative concrete patio, and its features are similar to the brick, cobblestones, or stones without having to loosen your pockets too much. It also allows you to build an embossed and textured surface with custom designs with elaborative patterns.

Exposed Aggregate

The exposed aggregate concrete gives a unique, simple, and great look to your home. It removes the concrete top layer and exposes the aggregates that are inside. This type of decorative concrete comes up in various aggregate sizes and provides the same durability as the conventional concrete while providing a unique look. You can combine it with the integral color provide a different look to your concrete.

Concrete Stain and staining colors

Stained concrete can make your concrete floor more attractive. It can be applied to the exterior as well as staining  interior flooring. A wide range of options is available to select from, and you can get the perfect look you want for your floor.

Make a Functional, Contemporary Concrete Fireplace/FirePit

In most of the older homes, the fireplace is outdated and does not fit into the interior design. The concrete surfaces can complement all style and allows you to integrate columns, pillars, ornamental elements, and decorative trim into the interiors. With the fiberglass, you can improve the aesthetics of your concrete fireplace and make it more sturdy and unique. With decorative concrete, you can construct gas and wood-burning fireplaces safely. Create a Vibrant Water Feature for Your Patio, The stylish water feature makes your patio or home more peaceful and elegant. By using stamped and colored concrete, you can mount a stunning fountain into your patio or home. It will require low maintenance and easy to clean. If you build a fountain on your own instead of buying it, you can save a few hundred dollars for yourself. If you feel adventurous or skilled to do it yourself, you can also create a decorative pond or waterfall that can seamlessly blend into the surrounding landscaping. Use modern techniques to construct astonishing water features for your home.
Concrete is adaptable and a great material that you can use for patio, walkway, driveways, fireplace, etc. If you do not want to use the traditional gray look of the concrete, you can choose decorative concrete options, as mentioned above. This will make the concrete construction keep looking awesome for an extended time.

Five Uses for Decorative Concrete in Little Rock Arkansas

This summer is the time to liven your landscape design with some of the best decorative concretes you can find in Little Rock, Arkansas.
We’ve come up with creative ways you can achieve this, here’s five of them:

Benches
With decorative concrete, you can make beautiful chairs and benches. When placed in the right spot, a decorative concrete bench could bring peace to you when placed under a tree or in the garden where you meditate.

Fire Pits
If you feel like there’s something missing in your backyard, a decorative concrete fire pit may just be what you need.
You can create a delightful and safe fire pit where you can roast hot dogs, s’mores and more. It also comes in hand if you wish to enjoy the company of loved ones and friends while you keep warm by the fire pit.

Ponds
For those that have always wanted a fountain, waterfall or koi pond, this is your chance. With decorative concrete, you can create a pond that’ll enhance the design of your landscape. When you make a pond with top of the line decorative concrete, we’re sure your backyard will turn to a safe and relaxing haven.

Retaining Walls
If you wish to complement the design of your landscape or if your yard is sloped, you’ll appreciate retaining walls. First, they look nice and they also prevent erosion. At the same time, they support plant roots.

Patios
Ideal for all outdoor areas like pools – with decorative concrete you can explore your creative side with colours and patterns. In the first place, a decorative concrete patio is not as expensive as bricks, tile patios or natural stone it is designed to imitate.
In most places, especially in Little Rock Arkansas, a decorative concrete patio can increase the value of your home by 15%. With a decorative concrete patio, your curb will have a lot of appeal and your home will be more enticing to prospective buyers.

Driveways
If you want a durable, long lasting drive way solution, decorative concrete solution is your best bet. You can repair it and the colour does not fade provided it’s sealed every two to three years.
Decorative concrete driveways go a long way in enhancing your house. If you’re creative, you can transform your driveway with designs that look like authentic looking sandstones, Roman texture slate, Ashlar slate, Flagstone, brick, Cut Cobblestone and more.
With decorative concrete, you can imitate top natural materials such as tile and stone without boring a hole in your pocket.

Some other benefits of decorative concrete are:

• Creating a long-lasting surface that’s easy to care.
  Revitalising damaged concrete.
  Custom colouring that matches the current architectural styles.
  Limitless design options.
  No slab replacement or demolition so jobs are done as fast as possible with less disorder.

If you aren’t happy with the state of your driveway you don’t need to constantly whine about it. You can fix it by talking to several decorative concrete experts in Little Rock Arkansas. They’ll advice you regarding the best decorative concrete overlay that will make you proud.

We always give free estimates, Call us today! 501-762-3999

Stamped concrete driveways in Little Rock Arkansas

There’s a secret some home owners in Little Rock Arkansas use to improve the value of their property which is unknown to many – stamped concrete. This may come as a surprise to you but this trick has been done for years and have proven to be quite successful.
For those that are new to stamped concrete, it’s the same regular concrete you know but with a significant difference. It’s imprinted and designed like precious stones like slate and flagstone among others. In addition, this concrete driveways can be imprinted to look like wood flooring, brick or tile.
Presently, stamped concrete have been used more often that before in several construction sites in Little Rock Arkansas. The reason for this is not far fetched, most homeowners prefer it because of the cost of installation and how it increases the value of their property.
In this article, we’ve listed ways you can use stamped concrete in your home:
1. Decoration of driveways and patios
If you want to create expensive replica of materials, your best option is to use stamped concrete. One of the major reason is that stamped concrete conserves the natural worth of the original material. Most importantly, it doesn’t compromise the quality which in turn adds value to the property.
In most cases, it is used to design driveways and hallways. If you wish, you can choose to use stamped concrete that comes in the same colour of the tiles and natural stones in your property. By doing this, you’ll have an eye-catching blend and the overall look of your house will be enhanced.
Another advantage of using stamped concrete is that it can be used to design intricate patterns on your floor. You can also use it together with other materials like acid staining – this is the perfect finish for the floor.
2. Entryways
There’s a saying that goes “you only have one chance to make a first impression.” For this reason, you have to ensure the entrance of your home or office should make a grand first impression. With stamped concretes, you can create stamping patterns at entrance points which gives a personified appearance that’s welcoming to guests.
If you would like to upgrade your entry way, this is also the best choice. With stamped concrete, your entry way will come alive in the best way.
3. Outdoor uses
Another use of stamped concrete is that it can be used in the driveways and in the garden area instead of the regular cabro blocks. For those that have used it before, they can attest to the fact that it feels more natural and appealing in the compound.
You can also use stamped concrete for the floor finish of your swimming pool. Apart from the fact that it is durable, your pool patio will also have an elegant and stylish look. Stamped concrete also enhances the magnificence of your outdoor area and it also increases the value of your property should you want to resell.
4. Artistic designs
The use of stamped concrete has gone beyond the construction industry as it has found its way to the art industry of Arkansas. The designing patterns of stamped concrete can be used on the walls of various rooms, showers, kitchen counters and any room that needs a creative touch.

Contact us today for your Free estimate in little rock arkansas 501-762-3999

How to create a concrete driveway?

Do you want to make a crack-free and strong concrete driveway for your home? Creating a concrete driveway is not a difficult task, as many people would think. Here are pro tips to help you in forming edges, smoothing, curing, and leveling while building a concrete driveway like a pro.

Set the forms

One of the most common problems with a form is that it can collapse or bulge under the wet concrete’s weight. To avoid this, create strong forms by using thick boards. If your forms extend more than the below ground, you should pack some soil against it. Whereas, if the forms extend over 6 inches above the ground, minimize the spacing between different stakes and brace them with each other.

Form curves using Masonite

Hardboard is used to form curves as it is less expensive and flexible. Hardboard requires extra reinforcement for preventing collapsing or bulging of the forms due to the wet concrete weight. For belowground forms, you have to place the stakes that are not more than the 3 feet. On the other hand, place the stakes 16 inches apart, if forms are above ground. When creating curved sidewalks with parallel sides, build one side and then use a gauge board to create the other side.

Stakes the forms tight

Stakes that are above forms can create hurdles for the screed board, and without these obstacles, the screeding concrete is solid enough. Before you start pouring, you need 5 minutes to cut off the protruding stakes. If your form tops are near the ground level, ensure that the screed board does not drag against the level of the ground.

Create a solid base

To make a crack-free concrete, a well-drained and firm base is important. If you want to make a solid base, use a compacted soil with the various inches of base material like gravel. And, the perfect base depends on the soil and climate conditions. The perfect idea is to pack a soil with the plate compactor, but remember if your soil is sandy, don’t use the gravel.

Vibrate the bubbles

While pouring the concrete, air pockets can get trapped against forms, and it may lead voids into the vertical surfaces. Generally, this does not matter when you are creating driveways or sideways. But on stairs, walls, curbs, or aboveground, it looks like a piece of Swiss cheese. To prevent this, you need to use a 2*4 and plunge along with the forms. Then, tap the sides with the help of a hammer along with all forms.
Avoid using too much water
There is no need to add extra water unless your concrete is too much dry. Carefully measure the water quantity, and if you add too much water, it can weaken the mixture. Extra water can help you make your work easier, but it may make your slab weak.

Floating your edges

Once screeding concrete is complete, it’s time to float. Floating the stones in the mixture pulls the cement and makes the surface smooth as a cream so that you can easily broom or trowel the surfaces without snagging gravel chunks. When creating the driveway or sidewalk, get a helper who can begin floating before the entire screeding is complete. However, if water puddles form on the surface after you screed, you have to delay the floating and wait until the water puddles disappear completely.

Deep cut the control joints

The grooves in the concrete are known as control joints as they control the cracking. The grooves create straight breaks and not the ugly break patterns. These control joints can limit the number of cracks that may appear later. You can make the control joints by plowing the grooves into the wet concrete just after floating, or you can cut them with the saw the next day. Also, you can make a joint with the help of a groover in wet concrete, which is easier and creates less mess.

Curing Concrete

Water is important for the chemical process because it hardens the concrete. Once you make the concrete hard enough that you can’t make impressions with your fingers, spread the plastic effectively. Eliminate the wrinkles by stretching the plastic and put the weight on edges to avoid moisture escaping. When you notice the drying signs, lift the plastic and sprinkle more water. Depending on the time of the year you should keep the driveway damp for a a couple days upto a week, whereas, for patio or sidewalk, keep it damp for at least 2 – 3 days.

 A & P serves as a Concrete contractor Little Rock arkansas to Hot Springs, Ar we always provide free estimates and quality work.