You can make a beautiful and attractive relief using decorative concrete Decorative concrete found wide use in the second half of the twentieth century. The first technology mastered American builders of military airfields, the primary task for which was to achieve a solid, wear-resistant coating in a short time. High operational and decorative coating characteristics made it popular and in the household sphere: Today, decorative concrete is used for the internal and exterior decoration of private houses and cottages, landscape design. What you need to know in order to make concrete decorative coating with your hands - read in the article.
What is a printed concrete
Printed (decorative) concrete is a painted concrete, on which, even before the solvent is frozen, embossed, imitating the texture of natural wood, stone, brick, tiles, etc.
Printed concrete is quite common because it is beautiful outward and practical
Due to its availability, strength and attractive appearance, pressed concrete has a wide range of applications. Today, concrete decorative surfaces are used to finish the floors and walls as residential premises and the territories adjacent to them (decor sites near the pools, garden tracks, trimming of gazebo) and industrial facilities, shopping and entertainment and exhibition complexes, internal and external refueling areas, airports, train stations, etc.
Decorative concrete is indispensable for restoration works of old surfaces, when it is impossible to find identical material: with the help of special forms and colors, you can easily and quickly get a product that imitates the ancient masonry.
Stamped concrete: benefits
In addition to the wide range of applications and beautiful appearance, the decorative concrete coating has a lot of other advantages associated with its operational characteristics.
The advantage of the stamped concrete is that it can easily withstand heavy loads
Article on the topic: At what height correctly hang a floor TV
Thus, the main advantages of the stamped concrete include:
- Material ability to withstand high loads. Printed concrete for domestic use is able to withstand a load of 400-500 kg per meter cubic.
- Resistance to the coating to moisture (corrosion appearance), the effects of UV radiation.
- Concrete stability to sharp changes in temperature regime (up to the indicators from -40 to +40 degrees Celsius).
- Frost resistance. The coating easily withstands more than 300 seasons.
- Coverage ability to transfer without changes in the appearance of the effects of acid-alkaline and oil industry products, fats.
- Durability. The service life of a concrete base is at least 25 years.
At the same time, the decorative concrete has a rich color palette and a wide selection of textures (if necessary, a factory impression in the form of plants, graphic images, complex drawings can be applied to the coating.
What are the stamps for concrete
The embossed pattern on concrete is applied using special stamps. It is thanks to them that you can get a surface, imitating wood, stone masonry, blocking. At the same time, the drawing can be any.
You can familiarize yourself with various options for concrete stamps in specialized stores.
For today, such types of stamps are used to obtain high-quality prints on concrete:
- Silicone (polyurethane) is flexible stamps with which you can get the texture of any complexity. Their benefits include a long service life. In addition, silicone stamps do not need to lubricate the oil: the formalineer is easily removed and without a lubricant.
- Plastic - rigid stamps, which differ in the ability to clearly and accurately transmit geometric shape. Most often, they are used to imitate pavers, brickwork. It is possible to work with rigid stamps both on the floor and on the vertical surface.
Separately, the stencils for concrete - a form that is the contour for the fill of concrete. It is very simple to work with such a stencil: it is placed on the ground, after which they are filled with a solution, wait for frozen and remove, rearrangement further. Thus, you can make a garden path, arrange a porch, a gazebo floor or terrace.
Article on the topic: Bench - gazebo do it yourself
You can purchase ready-made molds in many building stores and Internet (for example, in the Damascus online store). In addition, products can be made of affordable materials.
Decorative concrete with your own hands
Stamped, decorative concrete, due to its high operational indicators and attractive appearance, is an ideal solution for designing a private house, cottage. You can order the tracking of tracks with the help of decorative concrete, it is possible in profile firms, and you can save money, and make an art concrete without professional help, with your own hands. To perform work, you will need a solution, stamp or stencil, tool (building level, fasteners for stencil, graters for decorative concrete).
Make a decorative concrete can be quite independently, the main thing is to prepare all the necessary materials and tools for work.
The technology of creating embossed implications includes such steps:
- Preparation of the foundation. In order to obtain a high-quality concrete coating, from the territory under the fill removed the ground layer with a height of 100 mm. After that, the formwork of the desired shape and the earth will fall asleep with rubble.
- Pouring the mixture. Depending on the type of stamps, the concrete is poured into the stencil, or lay on crushed stone. In order for the surface to be smoothly used by the construction level.
- Decoration. To obtain an attractive surface under a tree or stone, concrete covered with bulk dyes. To secure the result, a color hardener is used (for giving the surface of a saturated color, the effect of plastering or "wet stone" use special varnish for stone and concrete, which can be ordered on the website of Damascus).
- Print. If the stencil was not used to create the relief, then the drawing on a flat concrete surface is applied using stamps.
- Cleaning coating. The embossed surface is washed after 2-3 days with a solution of hydrochloric acid.
- Applying a protective UV and moisture resistant layer (most often use an acrylic fixer for this).
Article on the topic: Installation of electric (cable) warm floor with their own hands
Thus, you can get a high-quality, attractive stamped concrete, which will serve several decades. The option of designing the coating depends on the landscape design of the site, finishing the house, personal taste preferences of the owner of the apartment.
A dry mix for the preparation of a press concrete can be purchased at any building of building materials (from budget options, you can choose the flex concrete brand material), and you can prepare yourself.
How to make printed concrete: technology and recipe
The mixture for the manufacture of decorative concrete includes sand and crushed stone, portland cement, plasticizer. An important ingredient is a polypropylene fiber, which increases the term of operation of the embossed coating, prevents its cracking and formation of chips. The ingredient is taken in the amount of 600 grams per cubic meter of solution.
In the manufacture of decorative concrete, special attention should be paid to the selection of plasticizer
For the manufacture of decorative printed concrete, it is better to choose Portland cement M400 and M500 / D20 grades that possess moisture and frost resistance, capable of withstanding loads of 400 and 500 kg per meter cubic.
The selection of the plasticizer depends on the type of future product. So, experts recommend choosing a superplasticizer for the production of paving slabs. For a garden track, a resistant to extreme temperatures, an explosive and fireproof plasticizer C3 suitable.
It is worth remembering that the plasticizer should be added in the concrete mixture as an aqueous solution.
The composition prepared from such ingredients is placed in the formwork, is distributed with the help of ironing for decorative concrete and compacted. The formulation of finished mixtures is indicated on the labels.
Decorative concrete with your own hands (video)
Decorative concrete is an affordable way to create an attractive and durable finish of both horizontal and vertical surfaces. Modern production of forms and stamps for decorative concrete makes it possible to get a detailed relief of any kind and complexity. At the same time, work can be made without assistance, and stamps and a mixture - to make yourself!Examples of printed concrete (photo of ideas)
