Decorative concrete in Portsmouth NH - color and texture that suit your house
Plain gray slab, worn patio or a finish flaking after winter? We add color and texture that fit your house and how you use it.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- We respond within 1 business day.
Can plain concrete get a better look without starting over?
The short answer: Decorative concrete in Portsmouth is concrete that's colored, stained, textured, polished or opened up to show the stone in it, so it looks like part of your house instead of a gray slab. It can go into a new pour, or onto the slab you already have as an overlay, which is a thin layer bonded to the old concrete.
Most calls start with a patio, walk or entry slab that's still solid but plain, stained or worn, or with a new project where gray just won't suit the house. Some people want a pressed pattern like stamped concrete, and others want something quieter, like a stain or exposed stone. The price moves with the size of the area, how much work the old surface needs and how involved the finish gets. The schedule mostly turns on the season and the weather, because we don't want a fresh decorative surface facing a freeze or road salt too soon. Your written estimate gives you your own number.
How do you know your concrete is ready for a new look?
Top layer flaking off
If thin flakes are coming off the surface and showing rough stone underneath, water and freezing are usually working on it, and winter salt speeds that up. It tends to spread each season, so an overlay that might save the slab this year can turn into a tear-out a few winters later.
Solid slab, tired look
A patio or walk that's flat and sound but gray, patched or stained is the best candidate there is for decorative work. It often doesn't need to come out at all, and that keeps the job smaller.
Color fading or blotchy
Patchy, washed-out color on a decorative slab usually means the sealer has worn thin and the surface is soaking up water again. Left alone, the color keeps fading and the top gets easier for winter to damage.
What our decorative concrete work includes
If you already have a slab, I check whether an overlay makes sense before we talk about tearing it out, because an overlay bonds to what's there and a slab that's cracked through or settling will pass those problems right up into the new surface. If it's sound, we can save you the tear-out. If it isn't, or you're building new, we plan the pour and look hard at where the water goes, since that's where I see most slab trouble start. Then we work out the color and texture that fit your house, place and finish the concrete, and cut control joints, shallow grooves that give the slab a planned place to crack instead of a random one. After that it cures, a wait while the concrete gains strength before you use it, and then it's sealed. When the budget's tight, I'd put the money into what's under the slab and the drainage before a fancier finish, because you can restain a surface later but you can't fix a sinking slab without starting over.
Decorative work often sits next to other jobs. A colored patio on a sloped yard may need concrete retaining walls to hold the grade around it. For a basement, garage or addition, concrete floor installation can get a stained or polished finish instead of staying gray.
A new decorative slab
This suits you if the old concrete is cracked through or settling, or if there's nothing there yet. Color can run through the whole mix, so you get the widest choice of finishes, textures and exposed stone.
An overlay on your existing slab
This suits a slab that's solid but dull, stained or worn on top, since the overlay bonds to it and can restore, level or recolor the surface. You skip the tear-out, but it's only as good as the concrete underneath.
What happens when you call us about decorative concrete?
It starts with a look at what you have and how you use it, and it ends with a finished, sealed slab and a clean yard. Here's how it usually goes.
- Step 01
Call or send a message
Call (603) 956-1034 or use the form, and tell us a little about the space. We'll get back to you to set up a visit.
- Step 02
I walk the site with you
I come out myself, look at the slab and where the water runs, and ask how you'll use the space. Then I send a written estimate that spells out overlay or new pour, the finish and the price, so you know the cost before you decide anything.
- Step 03
Sort permits and a date
Once you're ready, we sort out any permit questions and pick a pour date with the season in mind. A late fall date changes how we plan, and the FAQ below explains why.
- Step 04
Prep, pour, finish, clean up
Our crew preps the base, pours or places the overlay, puts in the color and texture and cleans up after. Before we leave, we tell you when it's ready to use and when it gets sealed.
Decorative concrete rules and conditions in Portsmouth
The city of Portsmouth requires a building permit for new construction and general renovation, and its permit list includes a driveway permit, so a decorative driveway means talking to the city. Whether a ground-level patio or walk needs a permit is a question for the city's inspection department, so before we set a pour date we check what they need and help pull together any sketches, site plans or drawings they ask for. If your house is near tidal water like the Great Bay Estuary or its tidal rivers and marshes, state shoreland rules cover land within 250 feet of the reference line the state measures from. Inside that zone the state counts patios, driveways and walkways as hard surface that water can't soak into, unless they're built to let water through. That can shape the size and design of the job, so if your property sits in a shoreland, historic or flood area, we plan around that review from the start.
Around Portsmouth we see a lot of older houses that a plain gray slab doesn't match, plus tight side lots, yards that slope toward the house and plenty of salt every winter. We pick colors with the house in mind and plan where the water goes, and we run into the same conditions on jobs in Kittery and Rye.
Get a free written estimate for your decorative concrete
We'll get back to you within one business day to set up a visit. I'll come out, walk the site with you and send a free written estimate, with no pressure to book.
Why Portsmouth homeowners call Portsmouth Concrete Works
I write your estimate myself
I come out to look at the job and write the estimate, and our own crew does the work with me on site for the pours. The person who planned your finish is standing there when it goes down.
Nine years of awkward jobs
We've been in business since 2017, and we're known for taking on the awkward ones, like sloped yards, tight side lots and old slabs that need opening up. I'd rather spend another hour figuring out a tricky spot than leave a problem for you to find later.
Fully licensed and insured
We're fully licensed and insured, and we're glad to show you that before you book. It's the first thing I'd ask for if someone were working on my house.
Shoreland questions asked early
If your yard runs down toward Great Bay or a tidal river, I ask about the state shoreland rules at the first visit. That way the design fits the rules before you get attached to it.
On a decorative job the finish is what you see, but what's under it and where the water runs decide how long it looks good. Get in touch and I'll come take a look.
Decorative concrete questions from Portsmouth homeowners
Can my old patio get a new look without tearing it out?
Often it can, with a decorative overlay, a bonded layer of cement-based material placed over your existing concrete to restore, level or recolor it. Overlays can take color and texture, so a plain gray patio can end up looking like a new decorative one. If the old slab is broken up or moving, a new pour is usually the better use of your money.
What causes decorative concrete to flake in winter?
Flaking, called scaling, comes mostly from pressure that builds up inside the concrete as water in it freezes and thaws over and over. Salt and other deicers make it worse, because they leave the concrete wetter and add to the number of freeze-thaw cycles. So how you handle ice each winter has a lot to do with how long a decorative finish looks good.
What is the best way to handle ice on new concrete the first winter?
Concrete industry guidance from Michigan says to keep deicer use low until new concrete is a year old and use sand for traction instead. It also notes that concrete placed late in the season, such as October or November, may not get enough drying time before deicers go on. That's worth weighing if you're planning a fall project, and we'll talk it through when we pick your date.
When should new decorative concrete be sealed, and how often?
Industry guidance says to wait 28 days after the pour before sealing, unless a sealer was built into the mix itself. Penetrating sealers soak in below the surface and can't be seen once they're on, and the same guidance says they're reapplied as needed, usually every 5 to 7 years.
Can you pour decorative concrete in cold weather in New Hampshire?
It can be done, but cold weather changes how a pour has to be handled. The American Concrete Institute counts it as cold weather when the average daily temperature stays below 40°F for more than 3 days in a row. If your job lands in that stretch, ask me at the estimate how we'd handle it, and I'll tell you straight if waiting for spring makes more sense.
How much does decorative concrete cost in Portsmouth NH?
An overlay on a sound slab usually costs less than tearing out and pouring new, and the finish you pick moves the price from there. A single color or a broom finish, a light brushed texture that gives grip, keeps it lower, while layered colors, patterns, borders and polishing raise it. Your written estimate gives you the number for your own job.
Related concrete work for decorative projects
Concrete retaining walls
If your patio or walk sits on a slope, a concrete wall can hold the ground back and give the decorative slab a level, steady place to sit.
Concrete floor installation
If you're adding a room, finishing a basement or redoing a garage, a new slab inside can be the finished floor, with no carpet or tile on top.
Send photos of your slab for an estimate
Call (603) 956-1034 or use the form with a few photos, rough measurements and whether you're near tidal water, so I come to the visit already thinking about overlay or new pour.