Stamped concrete cost calculator

MC Excavate is the only source in this set that prices stamped work by what is actually being done. Basic, at $18 to $30 per square foot, is one stamp pattern and one integral colour. Mid-range, at $31 to $40, adds a border and a second colour, which means a second set of forms, a second release colour and a crew that has to keep a clean line while the slab is still workable. Premium, at $41 to $48 or more, is multiple patterns hand-coloured, which is finishing work measured in hours per square metre rather than square metres per hour.

Canadian Stamped Concrete, working out of Scarborough and Durham, prices the same three tiers almost flat: $29, $30 or more, and $32 or more. That is not a contradiction, it is a specialist with one crew, one set of forms and a 400 square foot minimum, whose costs barely move between tiers. Both models are on this page because both are what a homeowner will actually be quoted.

Underneath the pattern, a stamped slab is the same slab. Same excavation, same granular base, same reinforcement, same thickness. MCL Concrete prices the difference honestly as an addition of $5 to $9 per square foot over a broom finish, which on a 400 square foot patio is $2,000 to $3,600 for the appearance alone.

The part that rarely appears on a quote is upkeep. The colour and the sheen live in the sealer rather than in the concrete, so a stamped surface that is never resealed goes flat and pale, faster on a driveway that takes road salt than on a sheltered patio. Sealing at install runs $0.50 to $1.50 per square foot per Nice Guy Concrete, and a reseal is a similar cost each time it is done.

ConcreteFinder tracks 29 stamped and decorative concrete companies across the Greater Toronto Area. Ask each of them which tier they are quoting and what the same slab would be in broom finish; a firm that will not answer the second question is not quoting the first one clearly.