Decorative concrete in Williston ND - color chosen for how you'll live with it
Plain gray slab that looks unfinished or color worn thin? We add color or texture to your patio, walk or floor so it looks finished.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- Expect a reply within 1 business day.
What goes into a decorative concrete job, and what sets the price?
Decorative concrete in Williston means adding color or texture to a concrete patio, walk, steps or floor, so the surface looks finished instead of plain gray and holds up to the way you use it.
Most people who call either have a new pour coming up and don't want plain gray, or they're tired of looking at the slab they've already got. The price moves with the size of the area, the color method you pick, how much hand finishing it takes and whether an old slab needs repair before any color goes on. The schedule turns mostly on the weather, because I'd rather move a pour date than rush one. Your own number comes from the estimate, once I've seen the job.
How do you know your concrete is ready for color or a new finish?
Flat gray that looks unfinished
The house got new siding or landscaping and the patio still looks like a parking stall. Usually nobody added color when it was poured, and if you have a pour coming up, deciding after the truck leaves takes the color that goes in during the pour off the table.
Color worn off where you walk
The path from the back door to the grill is lighter than the rest, or the color has gone blotchy. That usually means a thin surface treatment or the sealer has worn through, and the longer it goes, the more the bare spots soak up stains.
Flakes coming off the top
Thin chips peel off the surface, often by the steps or wherever the ice melt lands. It usually points to a weak top layer or water getting in and freezing, and each winter tends to take a little more until a recolor turns into a tear-out.
How we handle decorative concrete
I start by asking what the surface is for, because a patio with a grill and kids on it is a different call than a side walk nobody uses in January. We walk you through color hardener, integral color and acid stain and what each one is like to live with, and on bigger areas I'll tell you straight that color can shift from one section to the next. Then we check where the water runs so the slab falls away from the house, dig out and pack the subgrade, which is the ground the slab sits on, and set rebar, the steel inside that holds the slab together, where the job calls for it. We pour early instead of in the midday heat, work the color in, cut control joints, shallow cuts that give the concrete a place to crack in a straight line, and let it cure, the wait while it gains strength before you use it. If the budget gets tight, I'll cut the fancy finish before I cut the base, because color on a slab that sinks is just expensive gray that sinks.
Decorative work usually sits next to other concrete. If the patio backs up to a slope, we build concrete retaining walls to keep the yard where it belongs, and if you want a stained floor in a basement or shop, we can do the concrete floor installation too, so the stain goes on a slab we know was poured right.
Color hardener
A colored powder we spread over the fresh slab and trowel in, so the color sits right at the surface. It suits outdoor slabs that take a lot of foot traffic and want a bold, even look, as long as the crew finishing it knows the material.
Integral color
The color is mixed into the concrete itself, so a chip or a scrape shows more color instead of gray. It suits people who want a softer, all-the-way-through color and don't mind a little variation from one load to the next.
Acid stain
A stain that reacts with the concrete instead of sitting on top like paint, and it can go on a sound slab you already have. It suits floors and patios where you like a mottled, one-of-a-kind look more than a perfect match.
Get a free estimate for colored or textured concrete
Send it and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I come out, look at the area and write up a free estimate, with no obligation. A rough size and a color idea help.
(701) 401-8095- Based in
- Williston, ND 58801
- Hours
- Mon–Sun: 6 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call about decorative concrete?
Here's how a decorative job runs from your first call to the day we pack up, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
- +01
Call or send the form
Call (701) 401-8095 or use the form and tell us roughly how big the area is, whether a sidewalk or apron is part of it and what color you have in mind. We set a time for me to come out.
- +02
I walk the job with you
I look at the area, ask what it's for, go over the color methods and write up your estimate. If there's something you won't like hearing, like the old base needing work, you hear it now and not when the truck shows up.
- +03
Permit and pour date set
Once you say go, we sort out the permit side with you. Then we pick a pour date with the weather in mind, since that's what the schedule really hangs on.
- +04
We pour and finish it
I'm on the job with a small crew, and we do the work ourselves from base to color. Before we leave, we tell you how long to stay off it while it cures.
Why Williston homeowners call Williston Concrete for decorative work
Pick the color method you'll still like living with in a few years, not just the prettiest sample. When you're ready, get in touch and I'll come take a look.
The owner writes your estimate
I come out myself, look at the job and write the estimate, and then I'm on site with a small crew doing the work. The person who priced it is the one standing there on pour day, so nothing gets lost in a handoff.
Back on concrete since 2023
I learned the trade on a concrete crew when I was young, spent a lot of years doing other work and came back to it in 2023. That's 3 years running this business, because I missed building something people can stand on.
Licensed and insured before we start
We're licensed and fully insured. North Dakota requires a contractor license on any job over $4,000, so ask anyone you're considering to show you theirs.
Pours planned around the season
We plan each pour around the weather instead of hoping the forecast holds, and it's what we're best known for. A top layer that's rushed into a cold snap or a hot afternoon is the one that starts flaking after a few Williston winters.
Decorative concrete and the work around it in Williston
If your project includes a sidewalk or a driveway apron, the strip where the driveway meets the street, that permit goes through engineering at the city's Public Works Department, not Building Safety, and you can reach them at 701-577-6368. Williams County says a permit is required before any grading or drainage work, which matters if your address falls under the county and we're reshaping the yard to get water off the slab. For a patio or anything else, the city's list doesn't settle it, so before work starts we figure out with you whether the city or the county covers your address, and we take care of the permit paperwork when the job calls for one.
On jobs around Williston and the cities around it, most decorative calls are patios, front walks and steps on newer homes, and those take a shovel and ice melt most of the winter. So we steer toward finishes that shed water instead of holding it, and we time the pour so it isn't going in cold or racing the first hard freeze.
Questions about decorative concrete in Williston
How much does decorative concrete cost in Williston?
There's no set price, because it's figured from the size of the area, the color method and any repair an existing slab needs first. Methods that take more hand finishing cost more, and staining a sound slab you already have skips the pour altogether. I'll write up a number for your job after I've seen it.
Which decorative concrete color method lasts the longest?
Color hardener, according to one color maker, which says it makes a denser, more wear-resistant surface that lasts longer. The same maker says a poor application can delaminate, or peel off, with weather and wear, and it takes more finisher time, effort and skill. So ask any crew how much hardener work they've actually done.
What causes decorative concrete color to vary across a big patio?
Usually it's integral color, which that same maker says is mostly added at the ready-mix plant, so the contractor has less control over the result. The mix and any impurities in it sway the shade, which makes even color harder to keep across a larger job.
Who handles sidewalk and apron permits in Williston?
Engineering in the city's Public Works Department handles them, not Building Safety. If your project includes a walk or an apron, we'll sort that part out with you before we pour.
How do I take care of new concrete in its first winter?
Use clean sand for traction instead of ice melt, which is what guidance from Concrete Alberta, up in Canada, advises for new or recently placed concrete in place of deicing salts like calcium chloride. Air mixed into the concrete, called entrained air, also helps outdoor concrete resist freeze and thaw damage while it's soaked and limits scaling from ice melt, so ask whether the mix on your job includes it.
Is a rock salt finish a good idea for a patio in North Dakota?
Not where water can sit, because one maker's older bulletin, from 2008, says the rock salt texture isn't recommended in cold areas where water could collect and freeze in its pockets. The finish is made by pressing rock salt into the fresh surface and washing it away, which leaves those little pits. If you like the look, we'll check whether water would sit where you want it.
Other concrete work that goes with decorative jobs
If your colored patio sits against a slope, a retaining wall holds the yard back so dirt and runoff stay off the new surface.
If you want a stained basement or shop floor, pouring the slab with the stain in mind gives the color a sound, even surface to work with.
Service areas for decorative concrete work
Williston Concrete is based in Williston, ND, and works in the cities around it. This site has 1 service area page, for Williston, with more about the work we do there.
Get your decorative concrete on the calendar
Call (701) 401-8095 before your pour date is set, because color hardener and integral color go in while the concrete is fresh and can't be added later.
Williston, ND