Simple Instructions for Concrete StencilsWith freshly poured concrete.
After pouring, bullfloating, and edging the concrete. Unroll the stencil. The stencil should unroll from the top of the roll. Do not stretch the stencil. Lay the stencil shiny side up. You want to just stick the stencil to the surface. Do this with a paint roller and an extension pole. Use a roller cover that is the meshy texture roller intended for drywall, which can be found in the paint section of most home improvement stores. Be careful to not bury the stencil, lifting up on the roller so as to not allow the full weight of the roller on the concrete. After rolling the stencil down, trim the edges with scissors. We suggest trimming the stencil back from the form a 1/4" so that when edging the concrete again, the edger won't snag on the stencil. Then unroll the next course and lay it with the long edge of the stencil overlapping the the other. ( Like applying wallpaper) Do this untill all the concrete is covered. Apply dry shake color and work in with a fresno, again ensuring that you do not bury the paper. If you are not using dry shake color then you will still want to fresno the concrete. (A fresno is like a bullfloat but it is thinner and lighter, more like a large trowel.) If you are going to texture the concrete, do so now. After the concrete has set up enough that you can't fingerprint it, it is time to pull the stencil out. Don't wait too long or the stencil will have to be chiseled out. A good rule of thumb is that when pulling the paper out, it should slightly tug back, However, if the stencil starts to break, you have waited too long, so hurry up. You can use a leaf blower to blow the crumbly's off or simply wait a day or two and use a waterhose.
With Overlayments.
Put you're base coat on and allow to dry. Apply the stencil using artists putty or 3M spray. Then use you're hopper gun to spray you're top coats of overlayment or trowel them on. Follow the rules of pulling the stencil out as detailed above.
With Paints.
Apply the stencil using artists putty or 3M spray. Spray the paint if possible. Be careful of runs or using too much paint as it may find it's way under the stencil. Whether spraying, brushing, or rolling, it is better to layer with very light coats than to gob it on. Allow to dry and then remove the stencil.
With Stains.
Follow the instructions as for with paint, but be even more careful as the liquid stain will want to run under the stencil even worse, so again, spray the stain in very light coats.
Usually when using concrete stains, scoring or taping is opted for as the realization and 3D effect is much greater and easier to do with scoring and/or taping.
Tip: If color, paint, or stain does run under the stencil. After drying, you can scrape the joints using a 1/2" chisel, screwdriver, or a piece of the metal banding that they use to wrap a pallet of brick. If it is minor, you may want to just leave it alone.
You can also use an angle grinder with a masonry blade.
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