Stamped Concrete. Worth it?

[wxguy23]

Thanks all for the help.

Was just offered $6 a square foot for colored stamped concrete, which now puts another small but possible good wrench into my decision making. There would be roughly 850-900 square feet around a 20x35' Grecian salt water pool.

Thoughts on stamped concrete with a pool? Is is ANY cooler? (Both temperature and neighborhood )

Thanks again!

 

[spool]

Stamped concrete is hot and can be slippery with some sealers.

But for $6, wow... Had I gone stamped concrete it was twice that cost.

 

[wxguy23]

Stamped concrete is hot and can be slippery with some sealers.

But for $6, wow... Had I gone stamped concrete it was twice that cost.

I wonder if there is something to make it not slippery. Kids and me with a hurt ankle, you raise a good point.

But good to hear $6 is a good price.

 

[Jimrahbe]

I can only compare stamped concrete with exposed aggregate concrete. Both get hot, but you cannot walk fast enough on the exposed aggregate finish to keep your feet from burning off. My new pool, in the same city, has stamped concrete and as long as you are moving, even slowly, you can't feel the heat at all. It's been over 100 for the past couple of days and I've had no problem walking around my pool at all.

Jim R.

 

[amandahein3]

I was going to get it till I stood on it. HOLY HOT!!!

 

[bmoreswim]

Yes, hot but not a big deal for us. Wet feet or flip flops or brisk walk. Add Sharkbite to sealer for traction.

 

[wxguy23]

I'm confused...so it IS hotter than regular concrete?

 

[bmoreswim]

Maybe slightly hotter because of the coloration making it darker than plain comcrete.

 

[spool]

Yes, it's hotter than regular concrete. I'd recommend standing on it barefoot and decide for yourself. My wife put her bare foot on a pool our PB took us to visit. In that half a second experiment she squashed stamped concrete, didn't care what the cost difference was to get an alternative.

 

[pooldv]

My plain old rock salt color hardener concrete deck is zero maintenance and cool enough to stand on. All things rock get much hotter than my concrete deck. Pics in build thread in sig. Color is sand.

 

[bugmania]

We got stamped concrete a few years back. Our concrete guy brought out several samples in different colors and designs and left them in the 100 degree sun for 20 to 30 minutes while he explained his product to us. We checked them out with our bare feet and the color makes a very noticeable difference. We went with a sand color for the main portion and a brown for the coping. It gets hot, but the cooldeck we had was hotter IMO.

 

[wxguy23]

Talked again with concrete guy...says he would not apply the high gloss finish for 1. Less Slippery and 2. Likes the natural stone look.
He agrees too that a sandstone color would greatly help with heat.
He doesn't want to do kooldeck, saying it doesn't stick after a few years...

 

[amandahein3]

Just be careful what the concrete guys says. He's going to want to sell you on a more $$$ product. I've know people with spray deck or kool deck and it's lasted for years

 

[spool]

I would definately agree with the matte finish. The gloss finish is slippery, I also prefer the natural look.

 

[wxguy23]

Just be careful what the concrete guys says. He's going to want to sell you on a more $$$ product. I've know people with spray deck or kool deck and it's lasted for years

Nah, he's done work for me before. Good guy, just never thought to ask him about doing my pool deck. None of the companies mentioned said they would let someone else do the concrete work.

He DID mention he could do ROCK SALT and a color for $5 a square foot too.

 

[chem geek]

We have both concrete block for our coping and troweled concrete for our hardscape. There is a world of difference in temperature between the two even though they are of similar color. The main difference is in the thickness. The coping is very thick so builds up a lot of heat. The hardscape is much thinner. They are both reasonably light tan which helps. Though we get full sun, our days in the summer get into the 80's but not too many days in the 90's. I can readily walk on the troweled concrete, but cannot stand on the coping for more than a few seconds.

 

[currentking]

I have stamped concrete and its not hot. I believe it depends on what colors you use. I love the look. only downfall is how will I like it once it cracks..... Here one company wanted to charge $16 a square foot for stamped concrete. Once I watched how easy it was to color and do, $16 is way too much. Luckily i got it for around $10.

 

[amandahein3]

I honestly don't think it's the color as much as the temp out. Here in Dallas we have many summer days over 100, no way would I get stamped concrete.

 

[wxguy23]

Thanks all!

Question, looking at pool covers...how mad am I to drill holes all in the stamped concrete to put down a winter pool cover? I do have trees/crepe myrtles here in TN, near the pool, but not a lot of freezing days.

Looking at these, but the cheaper price seems out of place...but a 15 year warranty? 20 Rect. Safety Covers - Rect. Safety Covers - Safety Covers - Pool Deals

 

[Lovehisbook]

OK, so I'm in Dallas and I guess I'm nuts to using aggregate??