Is it Tile? No, It's Concrete!
ELLEN M. SCARANO, The Capital (Annapolis, MD), September 30, 2005 Friday

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.
- Michelangelo

You might want to take a closer look the next time you're walking on a friend's patio or through a hotel lobby, admiring the fancy tile work on the floor. It may be stamped and stained concrete instead of individual tiles.

Stephen Smith, owner of Artistic Concrete LLC in Crownsville, says that existing or new concrete can be stained and engraved with diamond tools with a logo or address, slate or brick patterns or animals and fish. New pours of concrete can be given more complicated patterns.

"We can take exisitng 20-year-old concrete, stain it light brown with a darker border around it. If you so wish we would engrave mermaids, fish - anything that you can think of - into the concrete so it can never wear out, right through the color stain," says Mr. Smith. "Whatever we engrave is white or we can stain the white to other colors. Then use protective sealer on the surface."

The sealer is equally useful in driveways where greasy spots can be cleaned up or patios where food might be spilled.

For more detailed work, he contracts with Roz Carroll, a decorative artist and designer in Annapolis whose regular business is painting murals.

After the design is stencilled or engraved into the concrete, Ms. Carroll comes along with her solution of colored stains and adds details.

"His stamps are very detailed," she says, "the skeleton of the leaf is actually in there so I'll come back in and do the detail."

For example, she will add purple to grapes and brown and tan to the leaves to make them look more life-like.

Ms. Carroll says the stamped concrete method is ideal for kitchen floors that is if there is no basement underneath. The considerable weight of concrete must be taken into consideration before installing one.

Detailing with stain can be time consuming because one color has to dry completely before another can be added or the colors will just blend together. On a sunny, dry day, it can be as little as a couple of hours.

Consistency of the stain is another consideration since painting round grapes on a rough, concrete surface will set up nicely if the stain is just right.

Mr. Smith says 4 inches of colored concrete is spread and the design can be carved into it. It can look like brick, flagstone or slate. Stencils are used for a uniform design. For existing concrete, a 1/4 inch thick polymer is put on top and impressions can be made and then colored.

If old concrete isn't in good condition it is best removed, then replaced with fresh concrete and stamped.

After an interior surface is stained and sealed, it can be polished with Johnson's paste wax and buffed to a high gloss, low maintenance finish. If it's good enough for car showrooms, hotel lobbies and malls, it's good enough for your patio or walkway.

Mr. Smith says costs range from $4 to $6 per square foot, and he has a minimum for engraving and staining of $1,500 or $4,000 for new concrete that's stamped.

Ms. Carroll's charges are per square foot and vary depending on the detail of the design.

There is a display of samples of Mr. Smith's work, including patterns, stains and colors at Tropic Bay on Route 214 in Davidsonville.

For more information, visit www.artisticconcretellc.com or call Ms. Carroll at 410-573-6881.

Suggestions for a story about your own project or a subject you'd like to see covered in the Home and Garden section are welcome. Call Ellen M. Scarano at 410-280-5969, Ext. 3502, or e-mail mailto:homeandgarden@capitalgazette.com. [ return to top ]