Is stamped concrete hard to do yourself?

Question

In Victoria , its hard to find someone even available to do stamped concrete for something as small as a patio. Is it hard to do yourself??

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

You mentioned "stamping".. Why don't you apply a "stamped" overlay? If you cant rent a stamp, you can buy a small texture mat for under a $100. Or you could make you own for probably $50..

Home depot now sells a polymer that can be mixed with cement and silica sand to create a blend that is trowelable, and stampable at 1/4 - 3/8"... It is a VAE, or vinyl-acetate ethylene.. basically the same polymer used by many of the overlay material manufacturers.

Mix designs are basic, and installation is fairly simple for small areas.. you just need a drill/mixing paddle, bucket, trowel, silica sand (play sand will work), cement (and color if you want), and the polymer.. it is the concrete adhesive.. not the acrylic (blue, not red)..it comes in gallons and quarts and you can find it in the concrete section at Home Depot.

You can buy powdered release for color, or use oderless mineral spirits (sprayed on) as a liquid release..
Just do some research.. you can find sites out there that detail the application.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

More info that I was looking for . I'm not going to wait a year to get a patio done by a professional . Thankyou so much . I didn't seem the stamps at Home depot , but a few places have them close to Victoria . I guess as long as you put alot of care into the job its all good !!!

Answer 2

yes. pouring a concrete slab patio, smoothing it out and then stamping it is a big job.

Answer 3

concrete needs to be done right,the first time,there are no second chances or easy fixes if its done wrong.as for the stamping,you need to have the actual stamping forms to have it be right when its done.I highly suggest that if you want this done right,hire someone and just wait until they can do your job.

Answer 4

theres quite a bit of work involved and the mats for stamping can be expensive...better to hire this one out...