How to Create Stone Stencils for Concrete Staining

Concrete is a versatile, practical and relatively economic building material. Its major drawback is the appearance. Let's face it--plain, boring gray is not exactly eye catching. Fortunately, there are a variety of acrylic concrete stains on the market that can be used to give your concrete deck a beautiful, attractive look. In addition, by creating a stencil, you can give your plain old concrete slab the look and feel of an expensive, stunning flagstone patio.

Things You'll Need

• Concrete cleaner
• Concrete etching solution
• Concrete stain
• Masking tape
• Spoon
• Pump-up sprayer

Instructions

Preparing, Stenciling, and Staining the Concrete

1. Clean your concrete with a concrete cleaning product and check the profile. The concrete should feel like a 120-grit piece of sandpaper, and it should readily absorb water.

2. Etch smooth concrete. If the concrete is too smooth, and not absorbing water, use a concrete etching product to give it a rough profile and open the pores. Apply the etching solution and let it sit for 45 minutes. Then, wash the concrete with concrete cleaner to neutralize the concrete and remove any powder generated during the etching process. Check you profile, and if it's still too smooth, etch again.

3. Let the concrete dry for 24 hours before making your stencil. Use masking tape to create the outlines of your natural stones. Blue painters' style masking tape works well for this. The unstained concrete underneath the tape will end up looking like the mortar joints between your natural stones.

   Take a look at some natural flagstone patios in order to get an idea of the size and shape of stone you are going for.

4. Burnish the edges of the tape with a spoon. Use a household spoon to press down the edges of the tape. This will keep stain from seeping underneath and marring your mortar joints.

5. Apply the stain with a pump-up sprayer. Adjust the sprayer's nozzle so it creates a wide spray pattern and work quickly. It's better to use multiple light coats than it is to put it on heavy.

   Using multiple colors will give your finished stones natural looking depth and variation. Apply a base color, and then mist one or two accent colors over the top.

   You can also use a variety of faux finishing techniques to give your patio even more detail and variation. Sponging an accent color over your base color will create the look of a porous travertine. Rag rolling an accent can give your finished stones a rippled, leathery look.

6. Take the tape up before the stain has a chance to dry completely, but be careful not to mar your finished product. If you wait until the stain dries completely, sometimes the process of pulling up the tape will peel the stain off some of the concrete.

Tips & Warnings

• You can apply a sealer over the finished concrete to give it added protection and to enhance the finished appearance.

References

• Mason's Select: Faux Finishing Techniques
• Mason's Select: Concrete Surface Preparation