Concrete stamps are made in a shape that interlocks with itself while having different stone
patterns on each mat. The more mats you own of the same variety (ashlar stone, cobble stone, castle stone Etc.) the less of
a pattern you will notice in the finished results. Some patterns besides being switched out numerically, can also be rotated
to create an even larger variation in the patterns.
I like to number my concrete stamp mats with
a large permanent marker and the n go through the numbers for example 1-6 and then rotate them and repeat the process.
The color can either be thrown on and troweled in or integral, integral meaning mixed into the concrete. The concrete
delivery co. will have a selection of integral colors available. This is my preferred method for a couple of reasons.
1st of all, if anything should ever happen to the concrete to chip or scratch it, the color will be the same throughout like
a real rock. 2nd having the color already in the concrete eliminates a step which takes valuable time away from the stamping
process.
A release agent is a necessary
ingredient in the stamping process and while there are liquid ones available I prefer to use the powder pigment sort. This
way you can order a grey tan or light brown integral color and then use a darker powder release agent. The powder not only
keeps your stamps from sticking but it also presses the dark color into every crack and crevice whereby bringing your “stone”
to life with a very realistic two tone variation.
The concrete
is poured in a manageable size of slab taking into account such factors as humidity, weather, available laborers and location
from the concrete plant as well as the difficulty of the pour like accessibility of the truck room to work, and edges to finish
up to.
Then you cast on your base color and trowel it in or if your main color is mixed
in with the concrete, you trowel it smooth and throw the darker release pigment powder across the surface of the freshly poured
concrete.
The first stamp is laid onto the powder coat and tamped in using a stamp tamper.
The second mat is then fitted against the first and the process repeated until all of the stamps are down.
At this point you use the stamps as a small island of sorts to walk on while removing the first stamp, rotating it
and placing it tight to the last stamp. In this leap-frog fashion you continue the process until the whole slab is complete.
A flexible mat is used to “fold” up to the edges of walls, steps and other obstacles.
A seamless skin mat is used to touch up areas adding more texture to light spots and getting into tight spots that
could not otherwise be reached.
When the entire job is complete and all cleaned up, a hardener/
sealer is used to seal the concrete, complete the cure and bring out the colors.
