What a decorative concrete job involves
Decorative concrete is still concrete, which means the base, reinforcement and joint layout matter more than the finish. A stamped slab on a poor base is a stamped cracked slab.
We control joints so the inevitable cracking happens where we put it rather than across the middle of the pour.
Colour and texture get selected against the house and the existing hardscape, not from a sample in isolation.
Curing is the stage everybody rushes. Concrete gains most of its strength in the first week, and how it is protected during that week decides the surface you live with. We cure properly even when the schedule is tight.
If that sounds like the way you would want the work done, the next step is a conversation and a walkthrough. We will look at what is there, talk through what you are trying to get to, and tell you honestly whether we are the right company for it.
There is no cost to that conversation and no obligation after it. We would rather spend an hour finding out a project is not a fit than take it on and do a mediocre job.
How this job runs
Walkthrough
We look at the property and the existing conditions before anything else.
Drawings
Plans and a written scope, so everyone is building the same thing.
Build
Our crew runs the work, with Samuel on site through it.
Walk it together
We close the job by walking it with you, not by sending a final bill.
What actually decides the outcome
Site work is the least glamorous part of a project and the most consequential. Everything above it depends on it being right, and almost nothing about it is visible once the job is finished.
Grading controls where water goes. On most properties that means moving it away from the foundation and toward somewhere it can leave, without pushing it onto a neighbor. That takes planning before it takes equipment.
A retaining wall fails from behind. The load that breaks it is water pressure in saturated soil, not the weight of the earth. So the drainage behind the wall, the base under it and the batter it is built to matter more than the face.
Concrete flatwork is the same story. The base under a slab decides whether it is still flat in ten years. We compact properly, we reinforce where it is needed, and we control the joints so cracking happens where we put it.
Work like this
Truth, trust and transparency. That is the standard, and it shows up in the schedule.Samuel Hand
Related work
Retaining Walls
Walls engineered to hold grade
Drainage, base and batter done to spec, because a retaining wall fails from behind.
Read more
Excavation Services
Digging, grading and lot clearing
Site prep, foundation excavation and lot clearing with our own equipment.
Read moreWhat we put in writing
Forty years on the standing seam metal, thirty on the dimensional shingles. Manufacturer coverage like that is only as good as the installation under it.
We answer for our own work. That commitment is the reason we would rather run fewer jobs and run them properly.
We answer for our own work. That commitment is the reason we would rather run fewer jobs and run them properly.
The service area is Montgomery, Greene, Warren, Butler, Preble and Miami counties, a seventy-mile working radius that we can genuinely cover.
Practically that covers Dayton, Kettering, Centerville, Beavercreek, Springboro, Lebanon, Mason, Hamilton, Fairfield, West Chester, Troy, Piqua, Eaton and the towns between them. Near the edge of that, call and ask.
Decorative Concrete questions
How do you handle changes once we have started?
Changes get written down, priced and approved before they happen. Nothing gets built off a hallway conversation.
Can you remodel an older home, or only build new?
Both. A good share of our work is remodeling houses that were built well and are worth keeping.
Do you give a written scope before work starts?
Always. It states what is included, what is excluded, what we expect to find once things are opened up, and how a change gets priced and approved. A one-page quote is how disputes start.
Who pulls the permits?
We do, and we deal with inspection scheduling as part of the job. You are not calling a building department.
What happens if you find something unexpected?
We stop, document it, price the options and talk to you before proceeding. On older houses that is a normal part of the process, not an emergency.
Do you use your own crew or subcontractors?
Our own crew handles the core work. Where a licensed specialty trade is required we bring in people we have worked with for years, and we manage them directly.
How do payments work?
Draw schedule tied to completed stages, agreed in writing before work starts. You are never paying substantially ahead of the work that has been done.
Ready to talk about your project?
We build across Montgomery, Greene, Warren, Butler, Preble and Miami counties.