For this 5,500-square foot driveway, strategically placed control joints allowed Rose Concrete to stain a natural looking border without having to sawcut lines. Only the lines for the decorative medallion were sawcut.
The driveway’s variegated coloring was achieved by layering acid stains with water-based accent stains.
A close-up view of the decorative star medallion, which was colored with three different shades of acid stain.
Another view of the driveway.
Who would imagine that the seemingly mundane job of sealing driveways would launch a highly successful business in the decorative concrete industry? But that’s exactly the career path that Mike Ash of Rose Concrete Coatings took after he started sealing driveways in high school using his father’s special acrylic glaze.
“By the time I graduated from the University of Utah, my small concrete coating business was doing well and growing rapidly. I expanded our services into concrete staining, garage floor coatings, and waterproof deck coatings. Now, 10 years later, we also specialize in concrete polishing, grinding, and overlays,” he says.
A recent example of Ash’s decorative concrete expertise is this gorgeous acid stained concrete driveway featuring a multicolored star medallion. The 5,500-square-foot-driveway at a residence in Park City, Utah, was placed by general contractor Loomis Construction, who worked with Ash on the design of the project before pouring the concrete. “The contractor strategically placed the control joints, which allowed us to stain a natural looking border without having to sawcut lines. The only decorative sawcutting we did was the lines for the medallion,” says Ash.
For their new driveway, which is also radiant heated, the homeowners wanted some sort of decorative treatment, but didn’t want to pay for the higher cost of pavers. “The homeowner liked some of the medallion designs we have done before and chose that instead,” says Ash.
To keep the stain from bleeding between the different sections, Ash taped off the areas separated by joints or sawcuts. And when the time came to seal his work, he used the same tried-and-true acrylic glaze he started out with in high school.
Materials used
Acid stains: Kemiko Stone Tone stains in black (borders and main medallion), cola (main driveway and secondary medallion color), Malay tan (medallion background color)
Accent stains: Miracote Mirastain in cocoa parfait, adobe, redwood, and ivory cream.
Solvent-based sealer: Acrylic-Glaze 25% Sealer, Rose Concrete Additive Co.
Staining contractor
Mike Ash
Rose Concrete Coatings, Bluffdale, Utah
General contractor
Dennis Loomis
Loomis Construction, Park City, Utah