A concrete patio may conjure images of a solid, grey industrial slab, but there are actually many ways to use concrete in a stylish manner. Using concrete enhancements, you can beautify your backyard, patio, walkways, or other outdoor areas and turn heads.
Here are a few ideas for concrete enhancements to impress your guests and relatives the next time they visit you.
Create a Stamped Concrete Patio With Concrete Enhancements
You don’t have to have concrete look like concrete. Using stamped patterns you can make concrete look like brick, flagstone, or cobblestone. By doing this, you can save money on the cost to actually install any of those other materials as they are typically much more expensive.
These concrete patios also take less effort to maintain than an alternative like a wood patio. Wood patios can splinter, fade, rot, and get eaten away at by pests. Concrete looks great and doesn’t suffer from any of those aforementioned problems.
Create a Faux Stone Look
Done right, concrete can look effectively like stone. One of the most affordable options is to use a mold that looks like brick or stone. You then just fill the mold with concrete, pack it down, and lift off the mold.
Stamping mats are also an excellent DIY option that can be used to create impressions in the concrete for whatever pattern you like. Like regular stamps, they are used by placing them onto wet concrete, applying, pressure, lifting, then repeating the process as needed.
Alternatively, instead of using a mat, you can use a roller. These are much easier to use for making patterns as they don’t require lining up your previous mat to have smooth lines. However, there are much less affordable than stamping mats.
Paint Over the Concrete
No one says you need to leave your concrete as a drab grey. You can paint it over to complement your home exterior or even just paint it to stand out on its own. Paint a faux rug or even use a stencil design to add some colour to your outdoor space.
No matter what colour scheme you decide on, make sure to power-wash down your concrete section in question so that you don’t get dirt or grime messing up your design.
Clearly, concrete can be more than just a grey slab. There are plenty of ways to spruce it up and make enhancements to it so that it wows any of your guests.