Get a stone look at concrete prices

Back in the 1990s, the industry debuted tumbled units to create stone-like surfaces. The resulting appearance was a hit. About that time, an old-timer in paver sales enthusiastically said, “Forget selling all the fancy paver shapes. What folks want is the stone look at concrete prices.”

Photos courtesy of ICPI

The trend continues today with an industry producing a much wider range of stone-like products. Additionally, the industry uses a process that creates variegated surfaces and special finishes with shot blasting and hammering. In addition, wet-cast concrete units are available that look just like stone.

Made to impress.

A great path to impressing clients and prospective ones can come from concrete pavers and paving slabs to look like stone and of block-sized units to look like stone walls. Stone-like textures and colors suggest permanence and understated panache. This ‘secure’ look supports the continued expansion of the backyard (and front) into exclusive, private environments for family and friends, as well as in some commercial projects.

A trick to installing stone and concrete products next to each other is varying the bedding sand thickness. This will require different screeded sand depths.

Creating them requires some manual adjustment with a small screed or hand trowel because even though paver thicknesses are consistent, stone thicknesses generally are not.

The required additional labor hours must be included in project price proposals.

Outdoor kitchens, fire pits, fireplaces, planters, seating and walls made with segmental concrete products all come with stone appearances.

All of these require flat horizontal, surfaces. Custom-cut stone is very expensive for these surfaces because it requires grinding to achieve a smooth surface in these applications.

Instead, beefy, thick concrete slabs fill this “capping” role in backyard environments more easily and with a lower price.

Like paving and wall units, caps come in dimensions to create a tight-fitting top surface, and can be accurately saw-cut to miter corners.

When cutting caps, the cut piece(s) should not be placed at the ends but offset from them by a few units to de-emphasize their visual presence. Pavers and slabs with rounded or slightly irregular edges usually require wider joints than regular, tight-fitting pavers and slabs. Wider joints often require stabilized joint sand to hold them in place.

Stabilization can be achieved with a liquid sealer applied to the joints and surface, or with jointing sand mixed with polymeric or organic materials that help keep the sand in its place.

Jointing sand can be stabilized with liquid sealers, or polymeric or organic materials activated by moisture. Smooth concrete wall caps provide seating.

For more information on concrete pavers, visit ICPI.org.