Is your patio or walk plain, chipped or worn out? We check the slab first, then give it a colored or stamped finish made for outdoor use.
Decorative concrete in La Porte, IN is concrete finished with exposed stone, added color or a stamped stone or brick pattern, so your patio, walk or floor gets the look you want along with a solid slab under it.
Most calls start with a plain or worn slab the homeowner is tired of looking at. The first question is whether the old concrete is sound enough to take a new top or has to come out, because that one answer changes the whole job. We're based in La Porte and work across the cities around it, so if yours isn't listed, give us a call and ask.
The price moves with the size of the area, whether the old slab stays or goes, how much base work the ground needs and which finish you pick, since a stamped and colored surface takes more hands than a plain texture. The schedule turns on the same tear-out and base work, any permit paperwork, and curing, the wait while new concrete hardens before you put weight on it. I'll put your numbers in a written estimate once I've seen the spot.
Decorative finishes take their own steps and experience, so judge any crew on decorative work they've done and not just plain slabs. Here's how it goes with us.
I started this business in 2023 and I still do every estimate in person. I walk the spot, check the old concrete and ask how you'll use it, because a patio, a front walk and a garage floor each need a different finish.
You get a written estimate that says whether we'd put a topping on your slab or pour new, and which finish we'd use. If the old slab can't carry a new top, the estimate says so and says why.
We're licensed and fully insured. Once you say go, we sort out the paperwork, set the pour date, and I'm on site with the crew until the job is done and cleaned up.
I look hard at your old slab before we talk about resurfacing, because a new top won't fix a slab that's heaving or cracked clean through. If it's sound, we clean it up and put the topping down. If it isn't, we tear it out, dig out and pack the base, and pour new. Then I help you pick a finish built to hold up outside, with enough texture that it isn't slick when wet and a slope that sends water away from the house. When the budget gets tight, I'll tell you to spend it on the base and not the pattern, because nobody sees the base on day one but it's what keeps that nice top from cracking with the dirt underneath.
Decorative work often ties into other jobs around the yard. A stamped patio on a slope may need concrete retaining walls to hold the ground behind it. Thin decorative toppings usually do best indoors and on accent areas, not under truck tires or plow blades, so if you want a finished floor inside, our concrete floor installation work is the place to start.
Every job runs through the same four steps. The early ones decide whether the top holds up.
On a new pour we dig out and pack the subgrade, the dirt the slab sits on, evenly and with no wet spots, so the slab doesn't settle with the dirt. New concrete shouldn't go on cold ground, so we wait until it isn't.
We plan the pour so we aren't finishing in midday heat, because a top that dries too fast turns weak and dusty later. On an overlay, we carry the old control joints and any moving cracks up through the new topping so they don't tear it.
Color, stamps or exposed stone go in while the concrete is still soft, since a pattern only takes while the surface can be pressed. Then we cut the joints so any cracking lands in the lines we chose and not across your pattern.
Before we leave, I'll tell you when it's ready for foot traffic and when it's ready for a car. We clean up the site and I walk it with you.
Send a few photos of the slab you have now, its rough size and the finish you're after, and I'll know what to look for when I come out. You'll hear back within one business day, then I come out, look at the spot and write up a free estimate with no obligation. Prefer to talk? Call (219) 258-7141 or email sales@laporteconcretecompany.com.
(219) 258-7141Yes, if the old slab is structurally sound and the new topping can bond to it, meaning grip the surface instead of peeling away. When it can't, pouring new is the better use of your money, and the estimate will say which one your patio needs.
It can, if the outdoor mix is made for it. Freeze and thaw cycles drive water into the surface and can pop a topping apart over a few seasons unless the material is formulated and air-entrained, which means tiny air bubbles are mixed in to help it resist freezing and the flaking that salt causes. Ask any contractor what outdoor mix they'll use, and know that our work is satisfaction guaranteed.
Across the US, installing a stamped concrete patio usually costs about $24 to $29 per square foot. That's the national market and not our price. I'll give you your own figure after I've seen the spot.
The City of La Porte takes building permit applications online, through its building permits page. Whether your decorative job needs one is the office's call, not ours, so before work starts we check with the office that covers your address, and when a job needs a permit, we take care of it.
If your job falls under a La Porte County permit, the county's Building Commissioner won't issue it unless the general contractor and every subcontractor are registered, so check each one before work starts. When a job needs contractor registration, we take care of ours. We do the same work in nearby cities like Michigan City and Westville, and most decorative calls there start the same way, with a tired patio or front walk.
Decorative work has to be poured and finished in the right conditions, so getting your estimate done early leaves room to pick a good pour day. Call (219) 258-7141 or use the form.
If you're not sure your old slab can take a new finish, give me a call and we'll talk it through.
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