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Concrete engraving is an innovative new process that transforms your existing concrete into a work of art. By staining and engraving a design into the hard concrete, we can create a long-lasting easy-to-maintain alternative to popular flooring products such as brick, marble, cobblestone or tile. We also offer a custom design service that provides endless possibilities for a truly unique design.

1-800-new-concrete Specializes in chemical staining that creates a one of a kind floor that can not be duplicated. Each concrete surface will accept the stains differently based on chemical makeup, age, porosity, mix design, texture, ambient conditions and initial color of the substrate. The stains react chemically at the surface, penetrating and leaving unique permanent color effects. This is a stain, not a film build coating, it will never peel, crack or chip.

Acid Stain is not a paint or coating agent, rather, it's a coloring process involving a chemical reaction on a cementitious material. A solution made with water, acid and inorganic salts reacts with minerals already present in the concrete the result of this reaction is color. It works very well on new or old concrete, and we' ve seen impressive results over decorative polymer overlays as well as self-leveling products. Acid Stain is a very durable product if properly protected with sealer or wax, and it can be applied to both interiors and exteriors.

Acid Stain gives concrete a mottled, variegated, marble like look. It creates beautiful colors on concrete, mostly earth tone browns, reddish browns and greens. You can also create your own shades by mixing and matching your available colors, or applying them at different rates. Never expect Acid Stain to be uniform or have an even tone, you'll get different reactions from slab to slab, and even on the same job you may see different coloration patterns.

Acid Stain can be applied to walks, entrances, driveways, living rooms, bathrooms, patios, high traffic areas and even vertically to any cementitious surface. Not every concrete floor is eligible for Acid Stain, though age is not an issue, the shape it's in is. A smooth concrete surface will yield more attractive results than an old worn one. If the concrete is spalled, the aggregate is exposed or has previously been acid etched, the stain may not "take in'' and will not look as desired because the aggregate does not react with the stain, only materials in the concrete paste do.

Preparations for Acid Staining will depend on the condition of the slab, on new concrete the only thing needed is to allow time for curing, (at least three weeks after poured) and some rinsing and scrubbing to remove laitance. For old concrete, a thorough cleaning is necessary; any dirt, grease, paint, sealer or curing agent will prevent the stain from penetrating and reacting.

Applying stain to concrete slabs is nothing more than spraying the concrete stains on the floor and letting them react for 4-6 hours. Then you wash the floor to remove the residue which also stops the reaction process the stains have with the concrete.

The way stains work is that the acid in acid stain (about 9% acid) opens the pores in concrete allowing stain to react with lime in concrete. I particularly like staining concrete overlays but lets look at a few issues with concrete slab first.

1.Concrete Density - If the concrete surface is really tight the stain will not be able to get to the lime. What I mean by tight is that the concrete may have been power troweled or hand troweled to the extent that the surface has limited porosity. When this happens the stain sits on surface and doesn't have anything to color. You can tell by putting some water on the slab. If it juts sits there and beads up you'll have to open the pores. The best solution is application of a mild gelled acid rolled on the surface and removed within 5-15 minutes.

2. Blemishes - Stained concrete can be beautiful and very affordable. Under $1.00 per square foot with all the tools and product. However if there are blemishes they will show. Frequently you don't see the blemishes until the stain has been applied. A thorough cleaning will determine whether the slab is blemish free or not.

3. Layering color - Concrete stains come in earth tones of brown and green. The browns range from amber which is light to dark browns and ebony which is dark brown and frequently black. The dark browns are richer with more depth. The greens also include bluish green. Be careful with the greens, moisture can turn them black. You can apply layers starting with the lighter browns, followed by dark browns for addition variation. Applying stain to concrete is achieved with a hand held pump sprayer and sprayed on the surface. You can use a medium bristle broom to even out avoiding pooling followed by another spray. The process is spray, broom, spray. Leave on for 4-6 hours.

4. Cleaning Residue - Acid stains will leave residue which needs to be cleaned off surface. The residue will prevent sealers from properly adhering to floor. The amount of residue can vary depending on the manufacturer. Some leave a lot of residue requiring a lot of work to remove, others very little. Cleaning is best achieved with lukewarm or cool water with a little ammonia and for heavy residues add some baking soda. Use a mop, foam squeegee and wet vac to remove. When floor is clean use wipe a white rag on surface. If it shows color of stain keep cleaning.

5. Sealers - Wait a day before applying sealers. You want the slab to be completely dry. There are numerous types of sealers. For interior applications acrylic water based sealers with wax coats work great. For additional toughness apply water based clear epoxy with a wax coat. Most water based epoxy sealers have an amber tint so only apply over brown stained floors. There are also solvent based sealers and Urethanes. These are tough but have a heavy solvent smell. I like to stay away from any solvents.

6. Concrete Overlays - Concrete overlays provide a new clean surface. Overlays are great solution because concrete is rarely blemish free. Overlays are much more predictable and provide superior color options and control than gray concrete slab. Overlays are available in white or gray concrete. White produces more vibrant results than gray. You can mix in colors to overlays then topically stain and/or dye them. Because you get right to the lime, when applying stain to concrete the stain should be diluted with water. As a result concrete stains are very inexpensive when applied to an overlay. Concrete stains are only left on an overlay for 1-2 hours as opposed to 4-6 hours on concrete slab. Frequently acid stains produce too much variation on an overlay. The solution is application of Concrete water based dyes. They are sprayed then mopped on evening out the variation caused by the acid stains. Because they are translucent the acid stain comes bleeds through. Waterbased dyes provide additional depth of color

If you have a driveway or sidewalk with cracked, crumbling and broken concrete you'll want to address that problem sooner rather than later. Not only are they ugly to see, they can be dangerous for walkers and bikers. In most areas even though the city owns the land the sidewalk sits on, you are responsible for your own repairs and could be sued if anyone was hurt.

The biggest causes of damage are when the ground beneath the concrete moves, either heaving or settling, which is usually brought on due to extreme weather situations like excess ground frost, water freezing and melting underneath, or even a tree root growing beneath that finally gets big enough to move the concrete. Once you have an opening in the cement it invites more water seepage to occur which just accelerates the problem. You can do a quick patch job with patching compounds, but these are not designed to be permanent. You'll only temporarily fix the problem, but it still needs a more long term solution. Usually this means ripping out the existing concrete and pouring new.

If the problem was causes by something growing underneath the area, be sure to take care of that problem before you pour the new sidewalk. Otherwise you'll have the same problem again in a few years. If the foundation beneath is problematic, consult with a soil engineer to see if there's something you can put beneath it to provide a better bed for the concrete to prevent these cracks and broken areas from happening again. You could even install steel rebar or some other metal grid in the concrete to help strengthen it.

If the crack isn't serious and truly does just need a patch job you can use a latex concrete patching mixture. They come premixed or as a powder that needs water. To do this you want to take out any loose pieces, pour in the patch compound, smooth finish with a concrete trowel and let dry.

First we need pick our colors. This can be one of the trickiest parts of the stamping process. There are of course color swatches, the best way to pick your color from a color swatch is to pick a color from the swatch and then go back one or two colors to get the actual color that you want. This is very similar to picking out a color that you want to paint a room. There are many variables such a lighting and the other colors in the room (sofa's, rugs drapes etc.) that you wish to paint. How many times have you picked out a color at the paint store and started to paint your room and suddenly it just will not seem to match the color you picked from a swatch. This is what I call perceived vision. If you can relate to what I have just mentioned it also applies to picking out a color for your stamped concrete project, there are many variables of perceived vision, such as sunlight and surrounding colors, such as the color of your house, grass, and landscaping.

Onto pouring and finishing your stamped concrete project, I suggest that you start with no more than 100 square feet. First off let the concrete truck driver put the color into the concrete truck for you, and let it mix for at least 10 minutes. You may notice some streaking of the color as it comes out of the concrete truck, not to worry. You will want some color differences as this will resemble the natural colors of what ever impressions or stamp that you have chosen for your project. For example if you look at a rock you will notice that it has many shades of the same color and often some other colors. Your next step will be to insert the concrete into your forms, you will need what is called a screed board or a 2"x 4", the purpose of a screed board is to level out the concrete inside of your forms and to also knock down the aggregate or rocks inside the cement.

Place the wet concrete inside your form work and leave it about a .5" higher than the top of your forms. A good way to get a rough grade is to use a tool called a concrete rake or a square edged shovel. Once you have gotten the concrete .5" above your form work you can start the "screeding" process. You will need someone to help you with this process. Once you have one person on each side of the screed board each of you will start to pull the concrete towards the end of the form work leveling as you go along. At this point you will need a bull float to close the surface of the concrete.

Generally you will run the bull float from top to bottom across the concrete overlapping each previous pass approximately 50% and then repeat the process from side to side. Do not worry about getting it completely flat, as once you begin to stamp it will not be flat at all. Do not get hung up on small dips or small elevation changes in the concrete. Now you may begin to edge the perimeter of the concrete with an edging tool, again do not get hung up on doing this perfect, especially if this is your first time. Now you will run a fresno across your project in the same manner as the bull float.

Now it is time to stamp your project. Prior to the concrete truck arriving, you will want to place the liquid release agent into a cheap garden sprayer and also get yourself some surface retardant and do the same. Liquid release simply allows you to place the rubber stamp onto the concrete without pulling off the finish of your concrete, the surface retardant will slow the set time of the concrete if you feel you are getting behind. Simply spray the area you will be placing your stamp and the stamp itself before you place the stamp onto the concrete. Do not spay the entire project at once as this will accelerate the setting time of the concrete and it will more than likely dry up before you get to the end of your project. Place each stamp down and set the next stamp snug against the stamp mat that is already on the concrete. Repeat this process until you reach the end.

Let your project cure for about 3-5 days and it is time to add secondary colors or the antique stage. For this you will need to get an antique agent, I suggest you use charcoal or grey for your first time. You will also need to get some xylene, one gallon for every 80_90 square feet. You will then add 5 tbsp. of antique agent to the xylene in a 1 gallon garden sprayer and stir or shake for about 45 seconds. In a circular motion spray the secondary colors onto the stamped concrete project, keeping in mind to spray some areas thicker that others, while being careful not to spray it on to thick, this will give you a more natural looking finish.

Let the xylene dry and apply two coats of; non-yellowing, solvent based acrylic sealant. Your project will be a lot darker when you apply the sealant than you anticipated, not to worry, the sealant also needs to cure. Within a day or two it will lighted up to your perceived vision.

Sub-grade:

As with many home improvement construction projects, what you don't see is more important to the finished project than what you do see. The preparation of the sub-grade when pouring a concrete driveway is critical, without it, the life of the driveway will be decreased dramatically.

The first phase is to clear the area to be concreted of all grass, tree roots, and topsoil. If you are putting a driveway in a new area of your property or if your property has been recently graded the underlying earth must be compacted. Once the earth is compacted, you can add the layer of sub-grade material, crushed rock. A standard sub-grade thickness for a driveway is 4 inches (consult a soil engineer in your area to obtain the optimum thickness) and it is key that the sub-grade maintains an even thickness throughout the width and length. A sub-grade that varies from 3.5 to 4.5 inches will create long-term problems. Do not use the sub-grade material as filler for any low spots.

If you have a 4-inch sub-grade of crushed stone and a 4-inch concrete slab, and you want the driveway to be level with the surrounding ground then you must dig-out 8-inches of soil and earth.

Complete the sub-grade by compacting. Make sure you allow for proper drainage as outlined further on in this article.

Forms:

Wet concrete is enormously heavy! If you are using wood forms, they should be a minimum of 2-inch thick lumber. Drive stakes into the ground at least every 2-feet on the outside perimeter of the form. It is wise to use an easy form release coating on the inside of the form, otherwise you are likely to break away pieces of the concrete when removing the forms.

Steel forms are now available, which maintain their shape. Most construction rental facilities have these forms available.

Concrete Mix:

A standard concrete mix is 2,500-psi. For a driveway, you will want a much stronger mix of 4,000-psi, with a 0.5 water to cement ratio, which provides a denser concrete and hence increases the wear ability. Because concrete is permeable it will draw moisture from the ground that it rests on. By using a 0.5 water to concrete mixture, you will reduce the amount of moisture drawn up which in turn will reduce any efflorescence action on the surface of the concrete.

If you live in a cold climate, order your concrete with air entrainment. Air entrainment provides microscopic air pockets within the concrete which is a place for moisture to freeze without applying undo pressure on the concrete.

Joint Location and Depth:

Joints should be put into the concrete driveway slab after the pouring is complete. In other words, the slab should be one complete pour. If you pour multiple slabs, they will shift and heave independent of one another.

The proper depth of a joint is 0.25 of the thickness of the concrete. If you have a 4-inch thick driveway slab the joint should be a minimum of 1 inch. Place the joints 2 to 3 times, in feet, based on the thickness of the concrete slab. Hence, a 4-inch thick slab would have joints spaced 8 to 12 feet apart. Proper depth and placement of joints will help to prevent cracking.

Drainage:

Providing adequate drainage is fundamental to the overall driveway design. The driveway, when complete, should have a minimum of a 0.25-inch per foot slope. The drainage should be considered when first preparing the sub-grade. If an adequate drainage slope cannot be provided because of surrounding buildings, you may have to consider the installation of a drain to collect water.

Use a laser level to set the slope of the forms.

Reinforcement:

Reinforcement does not prevent cracking. What reinforcement does is to reduce cracking and hold the slab together in the event of cracking.

For reinforcement, you can use wire mesh or steel bars (rebar) placed in a grid pattern. If rebar is used you must tie the joints together where individual bars meet. The reinforcing wire or bars must end up in the middle of the concrete slab and not rest on the surface of the sub-grade. To accomplish this you can rest the mesh or bars on stones or pieces of brick and then after the pour pull the wire mesh up and into the poured concrete.

Finishing:

To finish the slab you must use a bull-float. It is important that you allow the water on top of the concrete to evaporate before you start the finishing operation. Failure to do so can result in a weak surface area because of trapped surface water.