Stamped concrete driveway with edge borders

When you or your clients want to achieve the look and feel of slate, brick, stone, or another rough-textured material, concrete stamping is a great way to do that. Over time, even the most beautiful and best done stamped concrete can lose its color and begin to look faded and unattractive. Recoloring it with concrete colors can quickly revive the look of stamped concrete.

There are few ways to approach recoloring concrete based on your final outcome desired.  Some concrete colors are opaque like paint and will hide and color the entire concrete surface, whereas some concrete colors are stains and add translucent color to concrete, and then there is everything in between.  Generally, stamped concrete has natural colored highlights and is not one uniform color, therefore a stain should be used to recolor the concrete to achieve a natural rich look.

In order to get concrete stain to work and stick properly you will want to remove any old or existing sealer on the concrete.  You will need to use a stripper like Soy Gel natural paint stripper, this will remove your sealer to expose the concrete and allow it to absorb the new stain you will apply.  Using a water based  SS rainbow stain system will not only provide a full range of colors to choose from, but this stain system is easy to use, eco friendly and ideal for stamped and other concrete surfaces.

SS rainbow stain can be applied by brush, roller or ideally a good quality industrial sprayer. A sprayer will make quick work of applying stain while giving a natural pattern and finish.

After the stain has dried, you will then want to apply a sealer to lock in the color.   Sealers are also applied with rollers and brushes but can also be applied with a sprayer.

Regardless of which type of concrete colors are used, it is important to finish with a clear, water-based concrete sealer. This will help to protect the color of the concrete and ensure a long-lasting finish for the design you can then reapply the sealer yearly or every couple of years to maintain the color indefinitely.

Loss of color in stamped concrete is not an uncommon problem, particularly with outdoor concrete. With the use of concrete stain, it is possible to bring back the beauty and vitality to any concrete surface.