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22 steps to a cobbled concrete paving finish for a traditional or heritage home

By January 5, 2021 November 24th, 2022 No Comments
cobble concrete ideas

For the more traditional or heritage home, our cobbled stamped concrete range offers a variety of finishes to enhance your home and garden. Our gallery has plenty of examples of installations in Adelaide homes which you can find here.

Concrete Paving, Stamped Concrete or Decorative Concrete refer to the process of using concrete patterns from moulds, to create a specific style for driveways, patios or pathways. We’ve laid stamped concrete in hundreds of homes around Adelaide which still look as good today as they did when we first installed them many years ago.

Stamped concrete has several advantages over concrete pavers:

  • There is no weeding needed between the concrete pavers
  • There is little subsidence or movement as concrete pavers tend to do over time
  • It is easier to lay in sloping or challenging areas of the garden compared to concrete pavers

The reason our installations look as good today as they did many years ago, is because of the care we take from the moment you become a Panorama Concrete Adelaide customer to the very last step of completing your concrete project.

Here are the 22 steps involved in laying your stamped concrete driveway, patio or pathway at home.

 

  1. A dedicated Concrete Consultant is assigned to your project and will help you choose the colour and stamped concrete moulds to suit the design and era of your home. This may be integral colour concrete or an aggregate. Once you are totally satisfied and have signed your contract, they will schedule your project for the earliest possible completion date.
  2. Your Concrete Consultant will then prepare a plan of the work to be done. Two copies of the plan will be sent to you.

We want you to check that everything on the plan meets your requirements. If they do, please sign and return one copy of the plan to our office. The other copy is for you to keep.

If you would like to make any additions or alterations at this point, please note them on the copy of the plan to be returned to our office or phone your Concrete Consultant to discuss further.

If you have made changes to the plan, we will contact you to confirm that the changes have been noted and will be actioned.

  1. From now on, our Work’s Manager will be handling your project and will contact you to introduce themselves and to give you an idea when your project is placed on their schedule.

If you have any special events coming up, please discuss suitable dates for the paving installation with them.

Preparing your site ready for the cobbled concrete paving installation

  1. If Panorama is not preparing your site, your Concrete Consultant will give you our sheet “Tips for a Quality Site Preparation” to assist your Site Preparer with our requirements.

When your site has been prepared you will need to contact our Work’s Manager to confirm your site is ready for our concreting team.

  1. If Panorama is contracted to prepare your site ready for our concreting team, you will be contacted the day before our Site Preparer is to arrive to discuss arrival times.
  2. On the day scheduled for the project to begin, our Site Preparer will arrive with a truck and bobcat.
  3. Preparing your site could involve some or all of the following tasks depending upon your situation and requirements:
    • Arrangement of white ant treatment
    • Removal of old concrete or pavers
    • Removal of soil
    • Introduction of rubble (fill)
    • Removal of rubbish if required
    • Removal and replacement of invert and water tables
    • Checking that levels fall away correctly
  1. After the site preparation is finished, steel reinforcing will be delivered to your site to be part of the concrete pour.

On the day of the cobbled concrete paving installation

  1. On the day prior to installation, we will telephone you to confirm that we will be on site the next morning early and give you the name of your concreter. We will also re-check your choice of colours and patterns and run through other points you need to know for your own convenience.
  2. On the big day your concreters will arrive early. They will commence by installing all of the formwork for that day’s pour. The formwork ensures that we install a nominal 100mm of concrete in the shape you require.
  3. Once the area has been formed up, we will ask you to have a look to make sure that everything is to your liking. We do this so that you will have a chance to give a final approval and make any minor adjustments.
  4. The best quality steel reinforcing is then cut to shape and placed.
  5. Your concrete which has already been ordered will arrive (we only use the highest quality concrete from Quality Assured Companies).

If you have chosen integral (colour through) concrete, your chosen colour is already in the concrete mix.

  1. The concrete is then placed into the formwork and poured to the right levels.
  2. We will now begin trowelling the concrete to a generally smooth flat surface allowing for any required sloping for water run off into drains or garden beds.
  3. After we have finished trowelling, we will cover the concrete with a release agent. This stops the moulds from sticking and helps to soften and blend the finished look.

Antique effects with release agent powders

Using a coloured Release Agent can give an antique patina look to the existing coloured concrete paving. The secondary colour is visible in the deeper textured areas and grooves.

  1. We now start the printing process by systematically placing the moulds on the concrete to create the pattern and texture.
  2. Once the printing has been completed the paving has now to be allowed to harden before we come back to cut joints, clean and seal.
  3. Before we leave the site our concrete team will clean up and remove any excess materials relating to our work.
  4. When the concrete has cured enough we will be back to high pressure clean the paving and cut in control joints. These assist in control of cracking which can be caused by ground movement and other elements out of our control.

Sealing the cobbled concrete paving

  1. Please keep in mind that on the day scheduled for sealing, if rain threatens or the Weather Bureau is predicting rain fairly soon we may want to delay sealing the paving until drier weather prevails.
  2. After the project has been sealed, the surface will be touch dry in 1-2 hours but should not be walked on for 6-8 hours. If the paving is in a driveway, it is best that transport is kept off it for 4 days.

Your Project is now complete and you will have the satisfaction of professional high quality paving to increase the value of your property and enhance your lifestyle.

Concrete After Care

Now that your paving is complete there is very little maintenance needed to keep it in tip top condition. An occasional wash or clean with a garden blower will usually be sufficient.

Concrete resealing if required

There are no firm rules about concrete resealing, and when or if your concrete paving will need to be resealed. Many people will never want to reseal preferring their paving to weather into a very natural look.

Some people will want to keep their paving looking more like new and this could mean a reseal every few years. Whatever your own individual taste, the option to reseal is there if you need it.

In the future, if you are doing some house or garden alterations which might affect the condition of your concrete paving, we will bring your paving back to mint condition relatively easily with a clean and reseal. We can also sell you the concrete sealer with instructions if you prefer to roll up your sleeves and DIY.

Other services available

Panorama Concrete Adelaide offers a one-stop project management service from start to end. We coordinate all the required trades, keep the project on track, and ensure that the work is done to an excellent standard of quality. Our commitment is to ensure your project is delivered to a specified time frame and budget as agreed. It means peace of mind for you while we take care of all the details.

  • Installation of storm water drains
  • Installation of steps or small retaining walls for planter beds
  • Additional bobcat levelling and landscaping (whilst we are on site)
  • Moss rock placement and moss rock walls
  • Artificial turf
  • Mulching
  • Installing letterboxes

Concrete Cracking 

As our Concrete Consultants will have discussed with you already, hairline cracks do occur in cobbled concrete installations.

If you walk past our older jobs most of them look in good condition. However, probably all of them have a couple of hairline cracks somewhere which you cannot see without looking for them.

Our experience tells us that it is better to leave a crack alone rather than trying to repair it. Cracks will open slightly in summer and close in winter due to soil movement and temperature. If a crack is filled up in summer the fill material can be forced up and make the crack more noticeable in winter.

Stamped Concrete Paving is often a better long term solution than concrete pavers – call Panorama today to find out why

Panorama Concrete has been installing cobbled concrete paving since the early 1980’s. We’re an Adelaide Concrete company that has perfected the art and craft of laying down cobbled concrete to last you a lifetime.

Related article: An Adelaide Concrete Company With A One Stop Shop Project Management Service

Phone us on 08 8272 9611 to chat with a friendly consultant or send an email to enquiry@panoramaconcrete.com.au.