PATTERN IMPRINTED CONCRETE SUPPLIES LTD
UNIT 2 & 4
RED SHUTE HILL IND ESTATE
HERMITAGE
NR NEWBURY
BERKSHIRE RG18 9QL
Tel: 01635 202224
Fax:
Suppliers of: Paving Systems available for Specification including; Pattern Imprinted Concrete Paving, Imprinted Walling, Concrete Sealers, Asphalt Restorers, Resin Bound & Bonded Surfacing
Pattern Imprinted Concrete Supplies Ltd (PICS) is a leading provider of high-quality materials, products and training for pattern imprinted concrete applications in both paving and walling. Serving clients across the UK and exporting worldwide, PICS offers a versatile and durable alternative to traditional block paving, natural stone, and walling systems.
As part of its continued growth, PICS also owns the HATCRETE brand, further expanding its product portfolio with the well-regarded Colourmix and Adcolour ranges.
Useful Resources:
- PICS Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok | YouTube | Pinterest
- HATCRETE Social Media: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn
PICS offers comprehensive training courses throughout the year, covering a range of decorative concrete techniques. These include the two-day PICSPAVE course for pattern imprinted concrete, as well as specialist training in WALLCRETE decorative wall render, Exposed Aggregate and Resin Bound systems.
Since the early 1990s, PICS has successfully trained over 5,000 individuals, helping professionals across the industry develop the skills and expertise needed to deliver high-quality decorative concrete installations.
- PICSPAVE
Our two-day PICSPAVE training course, held exclusively at our Newbury depot, combines in-depth theory with hands-on practical instruction. Designed to equip participants with a thorough understanding of the pattern imprinted concrete installation process, the course covers essential principles, techniques and common challenges faced on-site.
Attendees will become familiar with all necessary tools, materials and imprinting mats, while also gaining valuable insights into the effective marketing and selling of PICSPAVE systems. This comprehensive training is ideal for those looking to expand their skills and deliver high-quality imprinted concrete installations.
- WALLCRETE
WALLCRETE is a highly advanced, lightweight decorative render designed for both interior and exterior vertical surfaces. It offers exceptional technical performance and creative flexibility, far exceeding the capabilities of traditional renders.
Tradespeople are often impressed by the versatility and visual impact that can be achieved with WALLCRETE. While traditional renders have stood the test of time on historic buildings, PICS has taken the concept further - combining long-lasting durability with stunning decorative potential.
Whether replicating natural stone, brick or other textures, WALLCRETE opens up new possibilities in architectural finishes, offering a high-performance solution with aesthetic appeal.
- Exposed Aggregate
Exposed aggregate is a durable and visually striking decorative concrete finish created by combining a selected Colourmix integral colour with a decorative aggregate. The surface is then treated with a chemical retarder and carefully washed to remove the top 1–4mm of the cementitious layer, revealing the aggregate beneath.
PICS’ exposed aggregate system offers a high-performance surface with a natural, textured appearance and a range of practical benefits:
- Low maintenance
- Excellent wear resistance
- Wide variety of decorative options
- Enhanced slip resistance
- Weed-free finish
- Customisable to suit local aesthetics or project requirements
This finish is ideal for driveways, pathways and public spaces where durability meets design.
- Resin Bound
This one-day course, held exclusively at our Bridgend depot, is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to Resin Bound surfacing, equipping participants with the knowledge and hands-on skills needed for successful installations.
Course highlights include:
- Overview of Resin Bound systems and their applications
- Benefits of Resin Bound surfacing and industry best practices
- Understanding suitable sub-base requirements
- Correct use of trade kits and forced action mixers
- Professional trowelling techniques for a high-quality finish
Ideal for installers looking to expand their service offering or improve their Resin Bound installation techniques, this course delivers practical guidance from experienced professionals in the field.
PICS & HATCRETE Main Product Applications Include:
PICSPAVE is a versatile and durable decorative concrete system that replicates the natural appearance of stone, slate, cobble, tile, brick or wood. With over 100 design and colour combinations, PICSPAVE is ideal for commercial, industrial and domestic applications alike, offering both visual appeal and long-lasting performance.
System Features:
- Colour Options: Choose from over 100 unique patterns and colour combinations to suit any environment or design preference.
- Release Agent: Ensures easy removal of textured imprinting mats from freshly poured concrete for a clean, precise finish.
- Sealants: A full range of acrylic sealers designed to protect and enhance pattern imprinted concrete surfaces.
- Imprinting Mats: PICS offers the UK’s widest selection of high-quality Matcrete and Proline mats, available for purchase or hire.
- Concrete Tools: A complete range of Kraft tools and other professional-grade accessories tailored for the pattern imprinted concrete market.
- Surface Preparation: Solutions including drainage channels & manhole covers to ensure a smooth installation process.
PICSPAVE provides a complete, proven solution for decorative paving, combining aesthetics with robust performance.
WALLCRETE is a versatile and high-performance lightweight render system designed to authentically replicate the look and texture of natural stone, brick, and rock walling. Suitable for both internal and external applications, WALLCRETE offers the charm of traditional masonry with the benefits of modern materials.
System Components:
- WALLCRETE Render: An advanced, fibre-reinforced lightweight render containing a built-in bonding agent for easy mixing and strong adhesion.
- Imprinting Mats: Designed to recreate a wide variety of natural stone and bricktextures, delivering realistic finishes.
- Textured Finish Skin Mats: Help speed up the installation process while maintaining high-quality surface detail.
- Wall Liquid Release Agent: A sprayable solution that ensures clean and consistent impressions from imprinting mats.
- Wall Seal: Protects the finished WALLCRETE surface from weather exposure while enhancing colour and durability.
- Wall Stain: A high-strength colour stain that produces a natural, low-sheenfinish, adding depth and character to the surface.
- Wall Pigment: Available in a range of colours, these integral pigments are mixed directly into the render for consistent colouring.
- Tools: PICS supplies a complete toolkit for WALLCRETE installations, including mixing, carving and finishing tools tailored to the system.
WALLCRETE is the ideal solution for transforming vertical surfaces with the look of handcrafted masonry - offering durability, design flexibility and timeless appeal.
- Sealers & Curing Solutions
PICS manufactures a comprehensive range of solvent and water based sealing and curing products, tailored to suit a wide variety of applications across the decorative concrete and construction industries. Whether you’re sealing a pattern imprinted concrete driveway, curing a power-floated industrial floor or enhancing decorative walling, PICS offers proven, high-performance solutions for both domestic and commercial use.
Featured Sealers:
- PICSEAL – Domestic Paving Sealer Developed by PICS in 1993, PICSEAL is a solvent-based sealer designed to combat staining, weed growth and colour fading. Ideal for domestic applications such as driveways and patios, PICSEAL enhances surface appearance while reducing ongoing maintenance needs.
- PERMASEAL – Commercial Paving Sealant PERMASEAL is a water-based sealer formulated for large-scale commercial environments, including supermarket car parks, pedestrian walkways, and public spaces. Its advanced formulation provides long-lasting protection in high-traffic areas, though it is recommended only for suitable surface and environmental conditions.
Each product in the PICS sealer range is engineered for performance, ensuring extended surface life, improved aesthetics and reduced maintenance - making them trusted choices for professional contractors and property owners alike.
- PICSCOAT Tarmac Restoration:
PICSCOAT is our premium in-house brand designed for heavy-duty, commercial-grade tarmac restoration and asphalt refurbishment. It revitalizes faded, worn and weathered surfaces, restoring them to a "like-new" finish with just one easy application.
HATCRETE has been a trusted name in concrete colouring and finishing systems for over 35 years. Known for products like Colourmix & Adcolour but also including Dry Shakes and Curing Agents in the product range, HATCRETE delivers proven quality backed by expert technical support and dedicated customer service.
- Colourmix: Integral colour for concrete that has superseded traditional concrete dyes and pigments
- Adcolour: Colouring additive for cementitious materials providing streak free colour
- Water based Cure & Seal: A transparent, acrylic polymer resin providing a hard wearing sealing solution
- Solvent based Cure & Seal: A high solids, high performance sealer suitable for heavily trafficked areas
- Industrial Quartz: Colour Hardener designed for heavy duty, decorative flooring applications
Further information along with technical data and useful resources can be found on the Pattern Imprinted Concrete Supplies web site.
PICS Golden Trowel Awards 2024 Domestic Category Winner
Site Features:
The garden is located on a sloping site, where a mix of flower beds, lawn areas, and a vegetable garden have been thoughtfully incorporated. Access to the garden from a patio is via uneven steps, with the patio itself being semi-shaded for much of the day. A recently installed greenhouse is positioned on the site, but accessibility was challenging due to a narrow and slippery path, which made it difficult to manoeuvre wheelbarrows. The owners are passionate gardeners who were eager to further develop the planting in the garden, while also seeking a space to relax and entertain in the sunniest area of the property.
Project Aims:
The primary aim of the project was to enhance both the aesthetics and usability of the customer’s garden, making it a more functional and enjoyable space.
One key goal is to optimise the layout, creating better access to a new, sunlit patio area. Additionally, the project aims to improve safety by ensuring that all steps have an even tread depth, providing easy access throughout the garden. The customers’ preferences are central to the design process, and they had input at every stage of the project. To extend the garden’s usability into the evening, plans included lighting being installed to illuminate key areas, ensuring safety for activities such as bringing in logs after dark.
The project also seeks to balance quality with cost-effectiveness, delivering a high-end look while maintaining budgetary constraints. A low-maintenance design is a priority, especially with the customers’ dogs in mind, ensuring the space remains easy to care for, with a durable and simple-to-clean patio that allows them to focus on enjoying their garden
Area:
The project covered a total area of 67m², including patios, paths, and steps, with a specific focus on improving accessibility and flow throughout the garden. Additionally, an exposed aggregate surface was laid around the greenhouse, covering 10m², which adds both aesthetic appeal and functionality.
A sleeper wall, constructed from 105 ‘sleepers’ of varying lengths and printed on all sides, was incorporated to define spaces and enhance the garden’s structure.
The project required a total of 567 man-hours to complete, ensuring that every element was up to a high standard and installed to meet the design goals.
Technical:
Two Patios and Pathway
Mats: PICS – Bavarian Castle Stone
Colour Surface Hardener: PICS – Steadman Buff
Release Agent: PICS – Charcoal
Concrete: C350 volumetric concrete with fibres
Sealer: 2 coats of PICS high solid sealer with PICS Rhino Grip in 2nd coat.
Steps
Mats: PICS Reclaimed Timber and home-made endgrain mats.
Colour Surface Hardener: PICS – Biscuit
Release Agent: PICS – Charcoal
Concrete: Mixed on-site in Belle mixers with fibres
Sealer: 2 coats of PICS High Solid Sealer with Rhino Grip in 2nd coat.
Exposed Aggregate (around greenhouse)
Aggregate: 10mm Golden Shingle
Colour: HATCRETE – Stone Buff Adcolour
Concrete: Mixed on-site in Belle mixers with fibres
Retardant: HATCRETE Blue Retarder
Sealer: 2 coats of PICS High Solid Sealer.
Sleeper-effect Wall
Wall: Built-in concrete blocks finished with uneven heights to mimic sleepers.
Render: PICS Wallcrete
Mats: Printed on all sides with vertical PICS Reclaimed Timber mats and with endgrain mats on the tops.
Tint (mixed into Render): Biscuit
Highlight colours: Dark Chocolate & Brown Smith’s Acrylic.
Sealer: 1 coat of PICS Wall Seal & 1 coat of PICS High Solid Sealer.
Lights
Deck lights: 20x 40mm high spec decking lights with choice of lighting colour.
Wiring Loom: Bespoke
Controller & Timer: Bluetooth
Technical Difficulties & Considerations:
The construction of the sleeper wall involved careful attention to detail, particularly with the placement of blocks to ensure that the widths aligned perfectly with the final vertical sleeper sizes, which varied between 10” and 8”.
To allow for easy future maintenance, the wiring loom for the garden’s lighting system was discreetly placed in a gravel drainage trench at the bottom of the wall. Additionally, spare wires were concealed in the render, providing flexibility for adding more lights if desired in the future.
The lights themselves were mounted in a 35mm sleeve, allowing the customer to easily replace them and even reverse the polarity from a white light to a warm glow, providing customizable lighting options.
To enhance convenience, a Bluetooth controller and timer were installed, enabling remote operation of the lighting system for effortless control and ease of use.
Participants:
Contractors: EMT Drives and landscaping
Concrete Supplier: Bromfield Sand and Gravel
Product Supplier/ Manufacturer: PICS
Does Pattern Imprinted Concrete Require Maintenance?
Pattern Imprinted Concrete when properly installed, requires very little upkeep. Good quality, well-laid plain grey concrete can be down for years and still maintain an excellent condition, the same is true for properly installed pattern imprinted concrete. The only difference with pattern imprinted concrete when compared to good quality plain grey concrete is that it’s coloured, patterned and looks attractive.
In addition, the material used to colour the surface is stronger than the concrete itself and has a very high abrasion resistance and resistance to freeze-thaw cycles and de-icing salts.
Furthermore, the surface is sealed with a penetrating acrylic sealer which soaks into the concrete and among other things, prevents dusting, one of the biggest wearing factors of any concrete surface.
So, in summary, you’ve got good quality concrete, hardened by the addition of colour surface hardener and sealed with a penetrating acrylic sealer. This all comes together to create a high-quality and highly durable surface.
Resealing Your Pattern Imprinted Concrete
While pattern imprinted concrete requires very little maintenance, we do recommend that pattern imprinted concrete would benefit from a reseal every 3 to 5 years, dependent on use.
Although this is not essential and there are many surfaces out there that have never been resealed, the sealed layer acts as a sacrificial layer and helps to protect the decorative surface and maintain a quality finish.
As mentioned, the top surface is the most important part of your driveway and the sealer will help to take the wear and tear, rather than the decorative finish itself. It’s a bit like a solid oak wood floor, a solid oak wooden floor is a top-quality product. If you choose not to maintain it, it will still last for decades, but the surface is more likely to get scratched, abraded and damaged. However, if you maintain that wooden floor, giving it a coat of polish, varnish or wax with a frequency that is in keeping with the usage of that area, then that floor will remain looking good for far longer. It’s the same imprinted concrete, if you look after something and give it a bit of periodic maintenance, it will maintain its good looks for years to come.
How To Seal a Pattern Imprinted Concrete Surface.
Sealing an imprinted concrete surface is an easy task and can be undertaken by a homeowner. It’s important to ensure the driveway is clean – remove any dirt, debris, oil etc. and ensure the surface is bone dry. Then, apply sealer using a broom, or (suitable Viton equipped) sprayer to apply evenly across the surface.
Dr Concrete
