Outdoors At Home A blog about home living, especially outdoors.

Stone, slate, and cobble patios or footpaths are beautiful additions to any property and yet can be expensive and difficult to maintain. Worse still is wooden decking and other surfaces that may rot or rust. A recent innovation in modern construction methods is to use  concrete stamps for your paving surfaces.  Stamped concrete is a cheap and very durable alternative to the traditional methods, and can be finished in such a way that it is virtually indistinguishable from brick or patio pavers.

You may not have noticed before how common the use of stamped concrete is, but once you know of the technique you will start to see  its use throughout your neighborhood. Its popularity is growing thanks to its beauty, flexibility and ease of use.  Not to mention the fact that it is both cheaper at the outset, and through the life of the product than using other materials.

Concrete that has been coated with concrete sealer at the side of a pool may not be the safest of surfaces, and as a replacement for decking it suffers the same problem when wet-it may become slippy. Stamps being applied to the surface gives a texture that increases the traction and so reduces that risk. This can give you the same aesthetically pleasing results as a wooden deck, without the hazards or the high maintenance that is needed to stop the wood rotting.

You may not want a natural appearance at all, but another look. You may choose to stamp leaves into your concrete, or animal and bird feet, or even a large, ornamental coin. What about hand prints? You can do virtually anything that you want to with concrete art stamps, allowing you to build your own custom look.

Maintenance is a breeze when compared to other materials, as there are no completely hidden cracks that are difficult to reach. Built up dirt, or spilled food can be hosed off, or brushed if necessary. And depending upon the stain that you applied, you can even change the color at will.

What’s more it is not hard to stamp concrete yourself, and save money over hiring a professional in the process. Tools are available commercially that are applied to still wet concrete that has been powdered, and once the concrete has dried you can apply a stain of your choice. This may be to simply color your concrete, or to deliberately imitate the look of slate or some other material.

If you want more information or want to learn to do this yourself, search for information online as well as taking a look in your local store. There are many websites with instructions, and often information in home improvement stores themselves.

Related posts:

1. Patio Paving Options
2. 6 Ways to Make Your Patio Set a Focal Point
3. Patio Ideas