Concrete Stains
Today's concrete stains offer some definite aesthetic and performance benefits. Concrete stains penetrate the porous surface and add color without hiding the concrete's natural texture. These penetrating coatings shift with the concrete and allow the substrate to breathe.
by Robin Suttell
Concrete is no exception. Blandly gray to the eye but reliable in use, traditionally it has been relegated to basements, garages, driveways and walkways as a functional surface, not a decorative one. Yet, concrete is coming into its own. Today, contractors and developers are specifying and installing intricately textured cast concrete into foyers, lobbies, garden pathways, and even countertops. But what about the cubic yards of already-installed humble gray matter? Are these surfaces doomed to remain forever mundane?
Chances are, you'll have clients who will want to update their existing concrete surfaces from functional to fashionable. With the help of a high-quality concrete stain or refinishing product and some creativity, you can now engineer a complete makeover of the dull kid on the block. This product category offers a wealth of opportunities for contractors.
In the past, people seeking style have often opted to paint concrete surfaces. Particularly in the 1950s and ‘60s, patios, garages and basement recreation rooms sported bright-colored paint to disguise fundamentally functional surfaces. But paint, as you know, can sometimes need lots of attention. Paint sits atop the concrete and covers the natural surface texture. Since the paint does not penetrate the concrete surface, it can eventually fail because of the substrate's inherent moisture. In fact, Sherwin-Williams' experts report that concrete's moisture content rarely dips below 15 percent, even in existing installations. Thus, as moisture attempts to escape the opaque coating, it forces cracks, peeling and blistering in the coating film. The traditional definition of a stain is a "transparent or semi-transparent solution or suspension of color matter in a vehicle designed to color a surface by penetration without hiding it." And for this reason, today's concrete stains offer some definite aesthetic and performance benefits. Concrete stains penetrate the porous surface and add color without hiding the concrete's natural texture. These penetrating coatings shift with the concrete and allow the substrate to breathe.
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