Stamped concrete

Stamped concrete is concrete that is patterned and/or textured to resemble brick, slate, flagstone, stone, tile, wood, and various other patterns and textures. Stamped concrete is commonly used for patios, sidewalks, driveways, and floors. The ability of stamped concrete to resemble other building materials makes stamped concrete a less expensive alternative to using those other materials.

There are three procedures used in stamped concrete which separate it from other concrete procedures; the addition of a base color, the addition of an accent color, and stamping a pattern into the concrete. These three procedures provide stamped concrete with a color and shape similar to the natural building material.

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Procedures

Adding base color

The base color is the primary color used in stamped concrete. The base color is chosen to reflect the color of the natural building material. The base color is produced by adding a color hardener to the concrete. Color hardener is a powder pigment used to dye the concrete.

The color hardener can be applied using one of two procedures; integral color or cast-on color. Integral color is the procedure where the entire volume of concrete is dyed the base color. The entire volume of concrete is colored by adding the color hardener to the concrete truck, and allowing all the concrete in the truck to be dyed. Cast-on color is the procedure where the surface of the concrete is dyed the base color. The surface of the concrete is colored by spreading the color hardener onto the surface of the wet concrete and floating the powder into the top layer of the wet concrete.

Adding accent color

The accent color is the secondary color used in stamped concrete. The secondary color is used to produce texture and show additional building materials (e.g. grout) in the stamped concrete. The accent color is produced by applying color release to the concrete. Color release has two purposes. Color release is a pigment used to color the concrete and color release is a non-adhesive used to prevent the concrete stamps from sticking to the concrete.

The color release can be applied in one of two procedures; cast-on color release or spray-on color release. Cast-on color release is a procedure where the powder color release is applied by spreading the color release on the surface of the concrete before the concrete is stamped. Spray-on color release is a procedure where liquid color release is sprayed on the bottom of the concrete stamps before the concrete is stamped.

Stamping patterns

The pattern is the shape of the surface of the stamped concrete. The pattern reflects the shape of the natural building material. The pattern is made by imprinting the concrete shortly after it has been poured with a "concrete stamp". Most modern concrete stamps are made of polyurethane, but older "cookie cutter" style stamps were made of various metals. The old style stamps lacked the capabilities of forming natural stone texture.

Concrete stamping is the procedure which uses the concrete stamps to make the pattern in the stamped concrete. Concrete stamps are placed on the concrete after the color release has been applied. The concrete stamps are pushed into the concrete and then removed to leave the pattern in the stamped concrete.

See also

• Concrete
• Decorative concrete