In college, I lived on a little cobblestone street. I knew a few people who found it annoying to drive or bike down our block, what with all the bumpity-bumpity, but I loved it, and knew it might be the only time in my life when I'd get to live on a real cobblestone street. Well, it's not quite the same, but I was inordinately pleased to see that one of my favorite blocks in San Francisco recently had a faux-cobblestone street put in...
I find the new street charming- not quite as charming, perhaps, as true old-world cobblestone, but not as bumpity or treacherous to bike on in the rain either. I was able to see the crew creating this road over the span of several days, and it was fascinating. They used a big...stamp to create the impressions, pressing it in and then moving on to the next section. (The best analogy I can think of is that at the bakery where I work, we have a honeycomb cookie cutter that's basically 9 hexagons attached to each other. You move the cutter from one section to the next, with no dough wasted between each hex-cookie. I'm sure that example helps.) Anyway, it was very cool to watch, very careful & precise, and I would have loved to join in. Does baking experience help?
I was caught off-guard the day I walked past and the road had been colored this terra cotta. What do you think? I'm withholding judgement until it has a little time to age and get a nice patina. I think it's a good color, and fits into its environment, but it's definitely lighter & brighter than the cobblestone streets I've known.
Has anyone had this done at their place? And how on earth would you get your whole street done? If I remember the name of the company that did this particular block I'll add it, but a search for "stamped concrete [your city here]" should yield some good places to start.
(Images: Tess Wilson)
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Some of the crosswalks in Andersonville (Chicago) have this. They look nice for a bit until the paint starts coming off. Might last a little longer in CA though I suppose.
I suspect you have "stamped asphalt" not concrete. The town where I work (Derry, NH) has sidewalks like this, with "old time" faux gaslight street lamps, too. In this area, cobblestone streets (mainly in Boston, now, and only some old neighborhoods even so) are light gray granite, not terra cotta. But it's still more interesting than ordinary black asphalt, and with some wear it does gain character.
Wow, must be a budget surplus over there. My city can't even pay to fix the blown lightbulbs on a certain bridge.
Huh...I have never thought of this as cobblestone. To me this looks like a bricked street or if it didn't have color then setts (Belgian blocks).
Where I grew up and the only places I have been that had cobbled streets used the small round stones that were truly a pain to walk on. While the bricked streets were only problematic if you had some rise or fall in the stones and you caught a toe or something.
The image shows a faux-brick street, not cobblestone.
However, for a legit brick paved street, you could always go the route of the amazing brick-laying machine: http://inhabitat.com/amazing-brick-machine-rolls-out-roads-like-carpet/
Another vote for faux brick, not cobblestone.
My parents had this done out front of our house in the early 80s with the hexagonal pattern and a dye similar to the one you've shown. It looked decent for the cost and the dye didn't fade or age to a patina type look.
I'd rather have a real brick street, or a real brick sidewalk. That's very obviously faux brick, and it isn't something I'm interested in. The real thing is nice because it takes thermal shock exceptionally well, and is very repairable compared to concrete or asphalt.
I like it. By the color and texture, I do suspect that it is concrete with an acid dye applied to it. Paint would be slippery and would wear off. Dye is far more durable as it gets into the pores of the concrete.With age, the dye should get a little grungier and more realistic.
Yes, this is indeed stamped asphalt. The pattern will wear our in certain areas (where it's driven on the most) and the colour wont stay. It's relatively cheap to do in the world of stamped roads (since it's asphalt) but it doesn't last long or look nice for very long. Stamped concrete on the other hand is very expensive to put down for an entire street but would last significantly longer.
If the stamped concrete is $500 per sqm then the stampede asphalt is $150 per sqm (not actual numbers as I can't remember off the top of my head - our landscape department would know but it's a close enough price comparison to give you an idea of the cost difference)
Was the original road here brick? I live in an area with some original brick roads and sidewalks, and they are very attractive although they can trip you up when you're walking on them. If the original road were brick but it was decided that this was too expensive to replicate, I guess I can understand the decision to put a fake brick in. But otherwise I don't see the point. This isn't attractive enough on its own because it's so obviously fake.
Definitely not a cobblestone design. Even fake cobblestones would have to be rounded on top.
In the alley where I live (I have a carriage house type thing) the city finally replaced the main throughway with non-dyed stamped asphalt a couple of years ago. There were a couple of residents who freaked out because the alley was originally paved with real brick and this was a gross violation of historical precedent or whatever, but luckily they were a minority and the stamped asphalt was put in.
So no one gets the wrong idea, I am generally in favor of historic preservation, but in this situation, the asphalt was absolutely the correct decision. 1) The city had the money and was willing to do the work which was a pretty big deal 2)The city had not done any work on the alley for decades (I know because I've lived here that long) and it was more pothole and hotpatch than brick so the historical value was pretty much shot anyway 3) there was no drainage and the alley was almost impassible in heavy rain or snow 4) Garbage and recycling trucks rumble through twice a week or more and brick will not stand up to that kind of abuse over years and years of use.
The city did a great job with the work -- the alley drains now, there aren't any potholes and it looks a million times better.
As others have commented, it is stamped asphalt with a color coating and it is most likely streetprint. The color and texture should last for a long time if there isn't much traffic. It will always look cheap and fake IMHO. http://www.streetprint.com/pages/project-gallery
I'm originally from Londonderry (one town over, for anyone NOT from Southern NH), and I have to say that the sidewalks in Derry never made sense for that very reason. I wish they'd just done brick, or maybe a faux slate effect instead.
Hi -- which street in SF is this? I live in the Bay Area and would love to see the street firsthand. thanks!