Concrete Color Hardeners

When contractor Richard Smith needs a tough, easy-to-repair coating on a hotel or apartment walkway, he starts scattering the color hardener. "It becomes very, very hard," says Smith, based in West Hills, Calif. "It becomes a very, very wearable surface. It almost becomes like an eggshell finish."

Like other concrete craftspeople, Smith still values hardener for its original function: making a concrete surface more durable and resistant to heavy traffic and other abuse.

But for a growing number of contractors, color hardeners aren't just for hardening anymore.

"I'd say the balance of interest has gone from hardening to the dry-shake color aspect," says Steve Johnson, marketer with Solomon Colors.

In the age of decorative concrete, the allure of "dust-on" has as much to do with its coloring properties as its ability to harden. Color hardener can, in fact, be purchased in just about any color a contractor can imagine, including uncolored. "We stock 40," says Debbie Bliss of RAFCO Products, maker of Brickform color hardeners, "but we can make any color in the rainbow."

Hardeners have other practical applications in decorative work, too. When stamped, their dense surface holds clear, sharp impressions. They are also used as lighteners, covering gray concrete with a more workable shell of a lighter color.