Relevant Products

Concrete Stamps & Rollers

Stamping concrete is a popular form of decorative paving and an alternative to using more expensive materials to achieve a unique look. The process includes using stamps to imprint and texturize wet concrete to look like real brick, slate, stone, or other patterns for a fraction of the cost. Concrete stamps enhance and add value to outdoor spaces such as courtyards, decks, driveways, stairways, etc. Another method uses rollers to stamp the concrete. Rollers can be used sooner on softer concrete, compared to traditional stamps you need to walk on. They are especially great for imprinting borders, bands, and edges where detail is not as critical.

In the past, concrete stamps resembled large “cookie cutters” that were capable of imprinting basic patterns but didn’t offer much in the way of texture. Newer stamps are molded with rubber from the materials they mimic for a more authentic textural effect. The ability of these stamps and rollers to resemble other building materials makes this process more cost-effective. It also takes less time and labor to complete a stamping project compared to laying down real brick, stone, or rock.

The material used to make concrete stamps and rollers should be lightweight yet strong enough to support a person’s weight on wet concrete. VFI’s preferred material is polyurethane rubber, as it is flexible yet durable and strong. Concrete stamps and rollers molded with this material make it possible to recreate the details of natural materials. Urethane is highly reusable, meaning you can use the same stamps over and over to make consistent imprints and textures in concrete.

An important physical property of urethane that determines how it will work is hardness. Most stamps and rollers use Shore A-rated urethanes with a hardness range between 65A-90A. Rigid rubbers have almost zero flex, while semi-rigid rubbers have some flex to conform to contours in the concrete. Higher hardness rubbers have the rigidity to be poured thinner than 3/8 to make flexible yet hard stamps. Most projects use a mix of rigid mats with thinner, flexible mats to texture confined or hard-to-reach areas.