[miamicuse]

I have a stamped concrete driveway with this pattern and color.

I need to cut a 4" slot across to run two PVC conduits - one for electrical and one for irrigation.

Once I am done, how easy is it to match the color/pattern? Is it a DIY job? If I hire a stamp concrete company can they match it?

 

[joed]

You would need the same stamps to match the pattern. If the company that did the original job is still around that would the place to start.

You could try water jetting a tunnel under it using a length of conduit attached to your hose.

 

[Canarywood1]

I agree with joed, water jet is the way to go.

 

[oh'mike]

Google 'hydro blasting'---that is the fancy word for what the above posts mentioned.

 

[Msradell]

I definitely agree with the suggestion to bore under the driveway instead of cutting a trench and then repairing it. No matter how hard you try you'll never be able to completely blended the trench into the rest of the driveway and you will always be looking at regarding what you did.

 

[gregzoll]

They do make portable horizontal directional boring units. A whole lot easier then running up the water bill. They are about the size of a log splitter.

 

[jomama45]

It would take someone with a ton of stamped concrete experience to get even remotely close to the existing with a repair, and they'd undoubtedly be relying heavily on luch to do so. It's just too faded, and there's just too many variables to expect a close match.

If it were me, and trenching through it is the best option, I'd probably cut the same width as the border and use a more forgiving texture, same as the border, to make it look like a design element. Obviously, you're going to need to lay it out so it looks like it's supposed to be there........

 

[miamicuse]

I have done the hydro tunnel procedure before. I was able to go through a 6' wide landing area without much issue. Problem with that is you need a long "lead in" area for the pipe if you want to maintain a shallow and flat grade. Either that or you guide in a foot or two at a time, then solvent weld another section and continue.

In this particular case, I have a concrete wall, then a 2' long planter area (dirt) that I can excavate, then the concrete driveway and it's 18' long before it becomes asphalt and I will need to cut an opening on the asphalt section to "find" the other end. If I had 10' or so of lead in space I might give the hydro jetting thing I try but 2' is too difficult and I need to minimize the asphalt cut on the other end as well. That is why I end up with the concrete cutting approach.

Looks like I would have to design something to make the cut path look "intentional".