 Floating Color-Hardened Concrete
John Stefanowicz, owner of Applied Color Concrete in Wimberley, Texas, agrees. “The difference between working with color-hardened concrete and integrally colored concrete is substantial,” he says. “There’s more technique involved.”
by Loretta Hall
Floating dust-on color hardener into concrete is above and beyond floating an integrally colored slab, says Tom Ralston, president of Tom Ralston Concrete in Santa Cruz, Calif.
In this case, floating has to accomplish more than smoothing and flattening the surface, he says. It has to work the color hardener into the surface thoroughly so the moisture in the concrete can activate the hardener.
John Stefanowicz, owner of Applied Color Concrete in Wimberley, Texas, agrees. “The difference between working with color-hardened concrete and integrally colored concrete is substantial,” he says. “There’s more technique involved.”
There’s also more time involved — first, to broadcast the color hardener and, second, to float the hardener into the surface. “When you use the color hardener, you have to float a lot more to work the color in,” says Isaac Jonker, president of Nobel Concrete in Jenison, Mich. “You use a bull float or fresno, back and forth, until it goes into the concrete completely.”
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