Patio or walk looking plain and gray? We add pattern, color and a sealer over a base we dig out and pack first.
Decorative concrete is a slab with pattern and color worked into it and a sealer over the top. At K&L Laredo Concrete Construction, we pour it for patios, walks and driveways in Laredo and the cities around it.
Stamped concrete is the most common kind. We press a pattern into the fresh concrete and add color, then seal it once it's cured. The sealer does more than protect the surface, because it also sets the final look. Under all of that is the part I care about most, a base that's dug out and packed hard, because a pretty pattern on loose dirt cracks and sinks like any plain slab.
The price mostly comes down to the size of the area, how many patterns and color effects you pick, and how much base work your ground needs. The schedule turns on the weather, since hot, dry, windy days are hard on fresh concrete, and on the city's permit review when the job needs one. Your estimate puts each part on its own line, so you can see where the money goes.
The pattern is what you see first. These three things, under it and inside it, decide whether it still looks good years from now.
The subgrade, the dirt the slab sits on, gets dug out and packed hard before forms go up, and we check where the water runs so the slab falls away from your house. If the budget gets tight, I'd rather trim the pattern than the base, because nobody can fix a bad base once it's buried.
Concrete shrinks as it dries, so it's going to crack somewhere. Control joints are cuts we make on purpose so it cracks along a straight line we chose, and on stamped work we line them up with the pattern so they blend in. Joints cut late or skipped are why old slabs crack in random places.
One color maker says its color hardener, worked into the top of the fresh concrete, gives more even, stronger color and a wider range, whites and pastels included, than integral color, which is mixed all the way through. If you want a light or pastel shade, tell me at the estimate, since it changes how we'd color the slab.
Every job follows the same few steps, and I'm there for each of them. Here's who does what, and where the city's permit review fits in.
Call (956) 508-9209, seven days a week from 6 AM to 11 PM, or send the form and tell us what you want to dress up. We'll set a time for me to come look.
I come out, measure, and ask how you'll use the space. You get a written estimate with each part on its own line. If the job needs a permit, we handle it with the city, which allows up to 21 days for review.
Our crew digs out and packs the base, sets forms, pours, stamps, colors and cuts the joints, with me on site. Then it cures, the wait while it hardens and gains strength, before we seal it.
Before we pack up, I walk the finished job with you, show you where the joints run and tell you when it's ready for foot traffic and furniture.
Every extra pattern or color effect adds cost, so the design is where we settle the budget. The most affordable stamped look is one pattern in one color. A second pattern for a border, or effects like hand-applied stain accents, raise the price with each one. I'll put the options next to your number and help you land on a combination you're happy paying for, not the fanciest one on the sample board.
A sealer makes stamped concrete easier to keep clean, but it can turn slick. One sealer maker warns its product may be slippery when wet once it cures and suggests an anti-skid additive. Near a hose, a pool or anywhere that stays damp, we'll talk with you about mixing grit into the sealer so it grips underfoot instead of feeling like wet tile.
Decorative finishes reach past the patio, too. Where a yard steps down, a colored face on concrete retaining walls can tie in with the patio beside it. Inside a shop, addition or garage space, the same color work is easiest to get right when it's part of the concrete floor installation from the start rather than added later.
The lowest-cost way to get a stamped look. It reads clean on a big patio or a long walk, and it leaves more of the budget for the base work underneath.
A contrasting border or hand-applied stain gives the surface depth and looks closer to real stone. It costs more, so we usually suggest it along the edges or near the door, where people notice it most.
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time for me to come out. The estimate is free, done at your place and written out line by line. There's no obligation to go ahead.
(956) 508-9209In Laredo, permits run through Building Development Services, and the city says work without a permit isn't allowed. We check with the city whether your patio or walk needs one before we start, and when it does, we pull it as your contractor. If you'd rather ask yourself, that's the office to ask. On permitted jobs the permit is posted at the property so the city's building inspector can find it easily.
If your design runs out to the street, through a driveway apron or the public sidewalk, that part sits in the city's right of way. The city only lets contractors registered as Street Cut Contractors do driveway and sidewalk work there. Tell us early if your job reaches the curb so that piece gets planned with the rest.
Around Laredo, most decorative calls we get are for back patios, front walks and driveways that are plain gray and starting to look tired. Plenty of them sit on bases that were raked flat instead of dug out, which is why we look under the old slab before we talk patterns. We do the same work in the cities around Laredo.
I learned concrete on my dad's jobs, setting forms and pulling screed boards from the time I was a teenager. I started this business in Laredo in 2021, after years working beside him, so we've been on our own for five years. I come out to look at every job myself, and our crew does the work with me on site.
We're fully licensed and insured. If a design won't hold up on your ground, I'll tell you so, or send you to an engineer, before we pour anything. Your satisfaction, guaranteed. Call (956) 508-9209 or send us the form and I'll come take a look.
If your new patio sits on a slope, a retaining wall holds the soil back so the slab and its pattern aren't pushed or undercut over time.
Planning a new floor for a shop, addition or garage space? Color and finish come out best when they're planned into the pour from day one.
We're based in Laredo, TX and do decorative concrete across Laredo and in the cities around it. If you're nearby and not sure we come out your way, call and ask.
Installing stamped concrete usually costs about $26 to $31 per square foot across the US, and that's the national going rate, not our price. Where your job lands depends on the size, how many patterns and color effects you choose, and how much base work your yard needs. Your own number comes on a written estimate with each part on its own line.
For a natural look, one sealer maker's guide points to water-based sealers, which give a softer finish with little or no odor. The catch is they're sensitive to temperature and moisture, so sealing day has to fit the weather. If that's the look you want, tell me, and we'll plan around it along with the grit option above.
Yes. Concrete poured in hot weather generally holds up about as well as concrete poured in mild weather, as long as it reaches proper strength and curing keeps the surface from drying out. High heat, low humidity and wind cause the trouble, and they mostly show up in summer. We'll go over when we'll pour and how we'll keep the surface from drying out.
In Laredo, the hired contractor typically pulls the permit, and a homeowner who pulls it is treated as the contractor for the project. When your job needs one, we pull it as your hired contractor, so that role stays with us and not with you.
Mostly, clear the area and keep a path to it open for the crew. Move furniture, planters and grills, and tell us about sprinkler lines, cable or anything else buried where we'll dig. Keep pets and kids off the fresh concrete until I tell you it's ready.
It depends on the weather and the sealer, so I'll give you the timing at the walk-through instead of guessing now. The concrete has to cure first, and the sealer needs its own time to dry before furniture goes back on it. Walking on it too early can scuff the pattern you just paid for.
Call (956) 508-9209 or send the form with the rough size, the pattern and color you're thinking of, and whether the work reaches the street, so I show up ready to talk through the right options.
