Stamped Concrete Overlay 2012 Options Creating visual appeal in your home or business can be fun and exciting—but if you are dealing with drab concrete, or imperfections that ruin your vision for what you want the space to look like, it can seem as though the project is doomed from the beginning. Stamped concrete overlays, however, can be a beautiful way to cover up flaws or spruce up plain existing concrete. With the tremendous variety of stamped concrete overlays available, you will have fun exploring your new world of ideas and finding the perfect overlay option to make your project exactly what you want it to be.

Why Choose Stamped Concrete Overlays

Concrete is a cost-effective and relatively easy to install flooring option for residences and businesses, but it is not always the most attractive finished product. Concrete flooring can have imperfections such as dark areas, surface cracks, or staining, or just be too plain for an appealing appearance. Removing such a floor and replacing it with either more concrete or another type of flooring option can be prohibitively expensive, not to mention the time and hassle required for such an undertaking. Instead of completely tearing apart your space you can elect a stamped concrete overlay that can totally alter the look of the floor or outdoor living space. Instead of facing the enormous challenge of taking apart and putting back together your concrete space, you can take on the much more enjoyable challenge of browsing the enormous variety of colors, finishes, textures, and designs to select just the right one for your space.

Today’s Overlays Set Themselves Apart

The use of cement-based overlays for aesthetic improvement has been done for many years, but contemporary options have been enhanced with the addition of polymer resins, sand, and other additives. This improves the performance of the overlay in several ways. These overlays can be applied in extremely thin layers, or in layers until they are up to a few inches thick without sacrificing their strength or reliability. These versions also adhere very well to existing concrete and help the surface to resist damage from chemicals and influences such as salt, UV exposure, temperature fluctuations, and surface damage.

Stamped Concrete Overlay Options

Making the decision to use a concrete overlay is the easy choice. Now you have to decide which options you will select. There is a wide array of textures and patterns available, as well as colors ranging from soft sand to dark red, even rich blue and soothing pink. The texture that you choose will depend on the type of space you are creating, as well as the impression that you want to make with your overlay. Some of the most popular pattern options include:

• Cobblestones—a classic, old fashioned look that is familiar yet unexpected as a detail or refresh of another look.

• Pine—this overlay creates the look of pine boards but are stronger, more resistant to wear, and can be stained in a range of colors to meet the rest of a space’s design aesthetic.

• Natural stone—river rocks, slate, and naturally fractured earth of familiar, elegant, and soothing looks, but they can also be very expensive. Overlays that mimic these looks are much more cost-effective and require less maintenance than their natural counterparts.