Matching color on polished concrete and stamped concrete

by Cat Sandstrom

Q. When adding a polished border on a stamped concrete patio is it possible to achieve the same color throughout.

We are wrapping a 1400 SQ FT Patio with a 16 inch border all around the edges, including throughout the patio, creating 5 individual pads all connected. We'd like the polished border to match the color of the selected stamp.

A. You should be able to get the color close with some testing (make samples to test with) but getting it to match exactly will be difficult because of the texture of the two surfaces.

The polished surface will be harder, denser and less porous than the stamped concrete surface. Using the exact same color will give you two different shades of the same color.

You will need to experiment on some samples on how much more, or less, color to add to one of the surfaces to get them to match closely.

If you are just using integral color in the concrete and not staining, the colors will be a little different, but that may look nice!