Stamped concrete services in Novato CA - a look you can afford to keep up

A cost guide puts stamped concrete in nearby San Francisco, the closest area it prices, at about $15 to $30 per square foot of finished surface. Simpler designs usually sit toward the low end and busy ones toward the high end. Your estimate gives your own figure, and the work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.

You need an encroachment permit from the City of Novato Public Works Department if any of the work reaches into the public right-of-way, like the sidewalk or street edge, or into a watercourse. For the rest of the job, ask Public Works what applies. We find out which office handles it, do the paperwork and put in writing who's pulling the permit.

A contractor licensed by the Contractors State License Board can do it, and the board's concrete classification covers forming, pouring, placing and finishing flat concrete work. State law counts driveways and patios at a home as home improvement, and the board lets a landscaping contractor take a concrete contract when it's part of landscape work around the house.

It can be, since one color maker's guide says hardener makes a denser top that stands up better to wear. The same guide says it takes more time and skill, and badly applied hardener can come apart in layers later. It also says integral color, mixed into the whole batch, is harder to keep even across a large job.

A concrete trade group's rule of thumb is every two to three years in busy, sunny spots and every four to five years where traffic is light. Faded areas, patchiness and mixed shades, most of all when it's wet, mean it's due, and the group says each reseal should add grit to the sealer to help cut down on slips.