Decorative concrete in Monrovia CA - color that fits how the slab gets used

Most people who call about this have a bare slab they're tired of looking at, or an older patio or driveway they'd rather refinish than tear out. The price moves with the size of the area, how detailed the pattern is if you go with stamped concrete, local labor rates and whether an old slab has to come out first. The schedule turns on those things plus curing, the wait while new concrete gains strength before you use it, and any permit. We're based in Monrovia and work across the San Gabriel Valley and the cities around it, and at the estimate I measure and write down what's included, like removal and hauling, so you know what your price covers.

We start with how the slab gets used, because foot traffic and cars call for different color methods. On an old slab, I check that it's solid before we talk about a new surface on top, since color won't fix a slab that's moving. For a new pour, we dig out and pack the subgrade, the base the slab sits on, then set forms and rebar, the steel that helps hold the slab together. After that we pour, work in the color, press the stamp mats while the concrete is still soft, and cut control joints, shallow cuts that give cracks a planned place to go instead of wherever they like. Then it cures and we seal it. If the budget gets tight, I'd keep the money in the base and go with a simpler pattern, because nobody sees the base on day one, but a fancy surface over a weak base cracks and settles just like a plain one.

Decorative work often sits beside other jobs. If a new patio runs up against a raised bed or planter, we can build concrete retaining walls as part of the same plan, and if you want color on a garage or shop floor, that starts with concrete floor installation.

In Monrovia, whether you need a permit mostly comes down to where the slab goes. The city doesn't require one for a driveway or sidewalk that's no more than 30 inches above the ground around it, has no basement or story under it and isn't part of an accessible route, like a wheelchair path. That rule names driveways and sidewalks, so for a patio or other work on private property, the city points owners to Building Services. Work that reaches the street is different. Building or rebuilding a driveway, sidewalk, curb or gutter in a Monrovia street needs a construction permit from the city first, and work under the city's encroachment permit calls for a contractor with a California Class A General Engineering license, though other license classes may be accepted depending on the job. We check with the office that covers your address before we set a date, and if a permit's needed, we sort out who pulls it and have it in hand before work starts.

Summer afternoons here get hot, and a slab poured in midday heat can end up with a weak, dusty top, so on hot stretches we pour early. Plenty of houses here have a driveway out front and a patio out back, so we're often choosing a car-traffic finish and a foot-traffic finish for the same property, the same mix we see on jobs in Arcadia and Pasadena.