Larsen Landscape | Blog

Textured Colored Concrete

Textured concrete is essentially concrete poured out from a truck that has an impression of a stone-like texture pressed into it before it is dry.

Over the last 20 years or so, the way the textures are put into the concrete

Stamped Concrete Patio, Oak Park

have changed as well as the way the natural colors are achieved.  Early on, steel stamps were used.  These tended to create a rather bumpy surface that was also too smooth on top.  This progressed to what is most common today, which is a series of interlocking rubber mats which have impressively authentic stone texture molding and create a realistic surface.  The mats are laid over the concrete at a certain point in the finishing process – after the edges and expansion joint lines have been cut and a basic smooth finish has been achieved.  They are then literally pounded with large rubber hammers to impress the pattern into the concrete.

The color process has undergone even more changes.  Starting with simply adding a color into the concrete itself (this wasn’t very natural looking and tended to fade a lot), moving onto a combination of this admixed color plus the addition of powdered colors on the top (called release color since some of it could be washed off later before sealing).  The release color process gave a more natural look but had the disadvantages that it was fairly toxic and when washed off made a mess of colored water which had to go somewhere.  While the process is still available, we haven’t used it in many years.

Another variety of powdered colors was used after that which were added to the top of the concrete and worked in with a large wooden tool called a “float”.  These were permanent colors and did not need to be washed off and since several different colors were used, they could achieve a fairly natural stone type look.  This is actually still a very good process.  The only drawback is that it also tends to fade some over time being outdoors and subject to the natural elements.  Resealing the surface can bring a lot of the color back after it has faded over a few years.

Stamped Colored Concrete

This brings us to the latest process, which is actually very similar to the faux painting you see on some of the more elegant walls inside houses and sometimes on walls outdoors.  The concrete is actually poured and texture stamped without any color at all.  The concrete is then pressure washed to remove any chemicals used during the texturing process.  A number of natural colors are then applied when the concrete is dry and adjusted until the effect is just right – similar to doing a painting.  The final step is to add the clear sealer which locks in the color.

One important detail in adding the sealer is to be sure that a gripping powder is mixed in.  If this isn’t done, the patio can get as slippery as ice when it is wet.

I’ll cover other patio types in upcoming blogs.