We have the exposed concrete driveway and exposed concrete back patio. Very nice - however, it is approximately 25-30% more for the exposed over traditional broom finish. Nonetheless, the appearance is awesome and holds up extremely well during difficult northern states winter conditions.

I think I wish I could afford it. LOL

Standard Aggregate here and I hate it. Luckily, we only have a small amount to contend with on our tiny lot. Our next door neighbors did the stamped and it's gorgeous.

I'm struggling with a similar question now. We are getting ready to pour a patio and I really wanted it dyed and stamped. The concrete guy (a friend of a friend) stopped by on Saturday. He said the dye adds from $7.00 to $90.00 (per load, I think); then there's the cost of of cleaning out the truck - $500.00. Getting it stamped is another charge. He's coming back with a quote based on what we want to do. Bottom line, we might just have him pour plain old concrete and then paint or acid stain it ourselves. I'm just now starting to look into our options. I'd love to hear from others who have either poured the dyed concrete or done the staining.

Some one here has a beautiful driveway. Maybe he/she will post a pic.
It had a gorgeous pattern in the center.

I'd be interested in seeing and reading about the gorgeous driveway with the pattern in the center. We have a crushed rock driveway that my hubby plans on updating to concrete next year when he retires. It's at the top of his honey-do list!

This is our back porch, which carries the stained concrete color from the inside floor on that level. The driveway is small-med river aggregate over a compacted pea gravel base. It's unique, looks great and is green, as it keeps the water flowing into the rest of the landscape instead of out into the storm sewer.

What a cool house, Dalasbill. I'd love to see more photos of it.

Thanks. From the link below, go to: Projects, Residential, 8605 White Rock.
Pics are from Fall 2005, just after move-in.

Here is a link that might be useful: House pics

DH really wanted a driveway with brick or some decorative element in it but as you can see we have a somewhat long driveway so it just wasn't in the cards. This is what he came up with instead. It doesn't show dark in the pictures but the edging is a slightly darker gray than the main part of the driveway. I like the cuts in the cement, gives it personality.....

Beautiful! Dallasbill was the stain added to your concrete as expensive as they quoted janbanks? Kats, love the driveway and especially all the parking! Thanks!

I haven't been on here for a few weeks (burnt out of building, moving and decorating!!) We moved in 2½ months ago.. and I do love our driveway!

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Love the combination of stone and concrete! Your house is beautiful....wow, landscaping and all.

Our neighbor has a concrete walk stained and stamped to look like red brick. It's been in place for about 20 years and still looks great.

sallen2008... I do not know the other person's numbers and can't remember ours.

Just a follow up.... I got our final quote on a stamped and dyed patio of approx. 450 sq ft. $4000.00. That's beyond my budget. We are most likely going with plain old concrete. I like the look of tinker_2006's driveway. We might do something similar to dress it up. I've been looking in to the staining processes but it seems like acid stain is not a DIY job. The process of spraying stain on top might be DIY but I don't think I could make it look very nice.

kats, that design really dresses up plain concrete and it makes it look so expansive. Very nice. I'm with jan, I wanted stained and imprinted concrete, but that's way out of our budget also. Looks like it will be plain concrete for us too.

janbanks.. just adding what I added with the pavers.. was $4000!!! That was ONLY for the driveway.. the patio was included in the price of our home. I think the circle pattern was were the bulk of the money was...

janbanks, I think you could do the acid stain DIY. We're acid staining our interior floors ourselves. Take a look on youtube for some instructional videos to give you an idea of what's involved. If you watch those and think you could do it, you can always order a more indepth video from Kemiko or other websites.

The stain itself costs about $65 a gallon, one gallon covers 400 sq ft. (it is also possible you will need two coats, so factor that in).

We went with colored concrete with exposed aggregate finish for our sidewalk and the patio by the walkout. We first saw this at a local Parade home, and knew we had to have it. We went with a dark brown color, it reminds us of a woodland path instead of hard concrete. I just took this pic, and it's raining out. You can see the color difference of the dry porch and the wet sidewalk.

msu_girl, beautiful walkway. I am guessing that the aggregate makes the sidewalk less slick when wet? How is the cost?

msu_girl, that is beautiful! I think we need to see more pics of your home, too. :)