Below are some common Frequently Asked Questions. If you should have any additional questions, please email us.

Do You Pour The Concrete And Do The Design?

No, Artistic Concrete Ideas is a decorative finish contractor, not a concrete contractor. Therefore, your concrete must already be in place for us to do our creative design work. If you have plain gray concrete now, you don't have to tear it out and start over, you can simply have it enhanced with our scoring and staining system for a whole new look.

My New Concrete Addition Doesn't Look At All Like The Old Concrete Next To It. Can You Make Them Look The Same?

Concrete surfaces of different ages can have different physical characteristics. By mixing our stains on site, we can do whatever color adjustment is necessary to get a very close color match in two different concrete surfaces.

My Concrete Is Very Blotchy. Can This Be Corrected?

Concrete will have a certain amount of patina in it, which is like the grain in wood. Occasionally, concrete cures with severe blotches in it, due to any number of factors. This may be diminished by our surface preparation steps, and if still a problem, we can use some coloring techniques to help blend these problem areas into the overall design.

How Much Thickness Does This Add To My Surface? Will It Be In The Way Of Doors?

Our system adds no appreciable thickness to the surface. We are not a coating of new materials laid over the concrete, but rather a stain that is absorbed into the existing concrete surface. The final surface of our project will be the same as the surface with which we started your concrete.

Do I Need To Have Perfect Concrete For This To Work? I Can't Do This To Concrete That Has Cracks, A Salt Finish, Or Brick Ribbons In It, Can I?

Your concrete does not have to be perfect to get a very nice result. Since the final surface is the original concrete surface, imperfections (such as cracks) will still be present, but can be worked into designs and camouflaged so they are more or less hidden. Salt finishes are OK. Remember, the final surface texture is the same as the original surface texture, so your new patterned and stained concrete will simply have the same salt finish following our work. Bricks are too dense to absorb stain, so we work with the concrete and not the bricks. Any brick trim present will still be a brick trim afterward, but surrounded by a whole new look.

What Pattern And Color Choices Do You Offer?

Our installers do not use pre-set templates for patterns. This gives us full flexibility to create any pattern that you may desire. Much like the flexibility with our patterns, color choices are also unlimited. In most cases, our stains are manufactured on site at the time of installation by our experienced installers to allow us to create any color combination desired.

Can Artistic Concrete Ideas Enhance Surfaces That Have Already Been Coated?

Our concrete stain has been developed for natural surfaces, so any man made material that has been applied to the underlying concrete may prevent us from enhancing those areas. We may also have similar negative effects as well from residual carpet adhesive. We can apply our decorative scoring and staining system on integral colored concrete with very good results.