A concrete stamp is something used by contractors and home remodelers to stamp a design into wet concrete. It's simply a stencil that's used to create a pattern or some other marking in wet concrete. Homeowners who enjoyed do-it-yourself projects can purchase concrete stamps and do it themselves. Many people also consider stamping a type of home-remodeling and craft project. Someone can pour concrete in a sidewalk or patio and use the concrete stamps to make them look like they're made from wood, natural stone or a variety of other surfaces.

A concrete stamp usually requires that there is at least 2 to 4 inches of concrete to prevent the stamp from pushing all the way through it. These stamps are very easy to take care of as you simply clean them off after use with a hose and give them a quick wipe to dry them. They are rigid so that you get the same pattern time after time and have a handle on the back for ease of use. But you can also purchase concrete stamps that are more flexible that allow for a partial pattern such as along an edge.

Some of the most common concrete stamp patterns are things like cobblestone, brick, and wood plank. These can give any concrete surface the appearance of those surfaces. That's also typically done by coloring the concrete to match before stamping. In some cases, adding a certain texture to the concrete will also aid in the appearance of a certain surface. Concrete stamping has come a long way over the last 10 or 20 years because now the texturing and stamping is much more detailed. Where a concrete stamp from several years ago might just contain the shape of natural stones, today's concrete stamp will have dimpling and gives the entire surface a textured appearance rather than just making the lines to outline where stones would be.

The advantages of using a concrete stamp to create certain illusions rather than simply use those surfaces is that concrete is so heavy duty and often much less expensive than other types of services. If you really want the look of cobblestone and nothing else will do, you may want to look at some stamped concrete and compare it. You'll probably find that you can tell the difference with careful examination and that it doesn't look quite as good.

A concrete stamp can mimic it very closely but will never look exactly like the original. But in many cases it's a better alternative because if the concrete is poured correctly over a properly done underlayment, it's going to last longer and costs less. If you want to look of brick or cobblestone, using concrete with a concrete stamp is also much less labor-intensive than laying those surfaces. And if it's installed correctly, you won't have to deal with weeds and grasses growing between stones. Any type of surface put down with several small pieces has more of an opportunity to crack and break between those pieces with the changing temperatures than solid concrete marked with a concrete stamp.

Photo Credits: cjnoof

Originally posted 2010-04-04 03:07:22. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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concrete, construction, Design, Handy Man, Project, Tools

Tags:

brick, cobblestone, concrete stamp patterns, concrete stamping, concrete surface, craft project, heavy duty, home remodelers, home remodeling, illusions, natural stones, sidewalk, stamps, stencil, surfaces, texture, textured appearance, wet concrete, wood plank