The process of stamping.

-Powdered integral color (reffered to as the base color) is added into the concrete truck when it arrives at your home and is mixed on site for several minutes.

-Concrete is then poured by chute or by wheel barrow into wooden forms,
the concrete is then leveled off even with the tops of the wooden forms.

-The concrete is then floated smooth with a magnesium bull float, this process smooths out the surface and pulls the concrete paste to the surface.

-The concrete is just about ready to stamp, it is left alone to set up (harden) a bit before workers can walk out on it.

-Before stamping the concrete a colored release powder is then spread onto the surface. This will give the concrete a second color, mainly  in the grout lines and the low spots. It also helps the stamping mats so they don't stick and pull up the concrete when removed.(kind of like baking, when you put flour on a rolling pin).

-Now that the release powder is on, the stamping can begin. Large rubber patterned mats are used to get the impressions into the concrete surface.

-The worker starts at the one edge of the patio and places a stamping mat onto the concrete, more mats are then placed down tightly beside the first one like big puzzle pieces.  The worker then walks out on the mats and tamps them downward with a large rubber tamp. The worker then picks up the first mat that was tamped and sets it ahead on the untouched concrete surface. This step is repeated  over and over until the other side of the patio is reached. As each mat is lifted, the patterned surface is revealed.

-The concrete is then left to harden. The surface will look patterned  but will still be covered with the dull colored release powder. The following day the release powder is then power washed off with water.

-Next, control joints are cut in the concrete with a concrete saw.  After this process high gloss sealer or the "sheen" as some call it, is applied to the surface of the concrete with a roller. The true colors are then revealed.