pattern imprinted concrete

[JohnHamer1977]

hi,

anyone attempted pattern imprinted concrete before?
i intend on doing the whole way round my house (front/side/back) getting rid of the plain concrete patio at the side and the grass/mud front and back.

how did it go?
any tips?
did you train with anyone first?
if yes, what company did you use?
where did you buy your kit?
or did you rent it?

thanks

 

[noseall]

this is one job i would definitely leave to the ones in the know.

i believe the kit is very expensive to buy.

it is a high-risk job weather wise.

you may also need p.p.

don't forget expansion joints.

good luck!

 

[Thermo]

ive lost count of how many ones ive seen done by pople in the know that have their own "expansion" joints in them ruining the finish. Virtaully impossible to repair once it happens. (for joints read CRACKS!!!!)

 

[JohnHamer1977]

ive lost count of how many ones ive seen done by pople in the know that have their own "expansion" joints in them ruining the finish. Virtaully impossible to repair once it happens. (for joints read CRACKS!!!!)

what do you mean by there own expansion joints mate... you mean they didn't make any expansion joints or they did but they were a mess?

 

[noseall]

he means,

 

[JohnHamer1977]

you have to have expansion joints unfortunaly to stop the surface cracking, they might normally be built in but they can be cut/sawn it's normal in PIC

might not be asthetically pleasing but they need to be there
yo would try to be on the edge of the imprinted pattern but it's bound to cut across at some point

 

[Thermo]

ive lost count of how many ones ive seen done by pople in the know that have their own "expansion" joints in them ruining the finish. Virtaully impossible to repair once it happens. (for joints read CRACKS!!!!)

what do you mean by there own expansion joints mate... you mean they didn't make any expansion joints or they did but they were a mess?

i mean many of the ones ive seen done, have had the expansion joints cut into them, however they still have various large cracks in the slabs

 

[masona]

It's a pity they don't do it in small sections to the shape of the pattern somehow

 

[^woody^]

I'd rather let the romany lads "in the area with some tarmac left over from a job around the corner" do my drive for £50, than let the monstrosity that is patterned imprinted concrete anywhere near chez woody.

 

[JohnHamer1977]

certainly seems to be a love it or hate it thing

like it myself, I have neighbours with PIC and the have been happy with it for the last 5 years, it's not even needed re-sealing, you can not see the control joints unless you really look for them

 

[roughcaster]

Yep, I think it looks naff too Woody..... Sorry JohnH.!!

Roughcaster.

 

[JohnHamer1977]

ive lost count of how many ones ive seen done by pople in the know that have their own "expansion" joints in them ruining the finish. Virtaully impossible to repair once it happens. (for joints read CRACKS!!!!)

what do you mean by there own expansion joints mate... you mean they didn't make any expansion joints or they did but they were a mess?

i mean many of the ones ive seen done, have had the expansion joints cut into them, however they still have various large cracks in the slabs

Ahhh, I understand mate - yes that would look terrible and you'd have to jack the lot out to fix it I think
Although, I know you can overlay over normal concrete, not sure about overlaying over PIC.
There are some good colour sealers out there now that seem to be able to hide things pretty well, I saw a post on another forum where the guy actually took his installer to court due to exposed aggrgate etc
He bought some sealer from ebay and while it would not replicate the tones that you obtain when stamping (on a good job) but it still looked great afterwards.