Take a look at any home-design magazine and you'll see growing evidence of concrete's newly gained respect as a decorating element in floors, counters and other applications. Now landscapers are taking a new look at using this age-old material outdoors, using a stamping process to create patios that look like natural slate or fieldstone at a fraction of the price these high-end materials typically carry.
New techniques for age-old beauty
Stamped concrete has been around for years, but older methods used molds that were more like cookie cutters, says Bob Harris, longtime decorative-concrete practitioner and owner of the Temple, Ga.-based Decorative Concrete Institute training group. He says new methods are drawing on natural sources resulting in a more realistic finished product.
"The tools they're making today are actually cast from natural stone," he says, describing the latex molds that have replaced the aluminum and plastic models of decades past.
Other advances have come in the various coloring methods contractors now have available. The most prevalent, Harris says, is a dry, powdered form, called a dry-shake hardener that also serves to firm up the poured concrete prior to stamping. Following the hardener, contractors apply a release agent to allow the latex molds to be pulled up without sticking to the concrete. These agents come in an antique finish that is pressed down into the stamped joints and crevices to create a more realistic, three-dimensional appearance.
Once the stamped concrete has hardened, contractors follow up with a sealer. In addition to protecting the porous concrete from possible staining, the seal also enhances the color of the finished patio. Though some apply the sealer with a pump sprayer, Bill Guthro, president of Rowley, Mass.-based Distinctive Concrete, prefers to use a paint roller to apply it by hand in two thin coats. In wet areas, such as pool decks, he'll also add an anti-slip ingredient to the sealer for added safety.
Learning the ropes
Guthro says learning this increasingly popular approach shouldn't be a big problem for contractors already experienced in working with concrete. He entered the decorative concrete field in 1999 after years as a union carpenter. He was intrigued by trade magazine articles on the topic and left his previous employer to spend six months attending training programs and experimenting on his own.
