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| The burgundy band seen here contains four colors. Contractor Lee Levig says he created this custom color by mixing 30 pounds red, 2.5 pounds black with 15 pounds tan and then adding a pinch or two of brown to make it more of an earth tone. |
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| Shown is a Random Stone stamped concrete colored with a Beige Cream color hardener and a Rose Taupe color release. Sealed with a low-sheen penetrating sealer to provide softer colors and a real stone appearance. Installer: Frank Rusk, Las Vegas, NV. |
Coloring Stamped Concrete
...and its coats of many colors
by Stacey Enesey Klemenc
have occurred since the early 1900s when Henry Ford boldly stated: "People can have the Model T in any color — as long as it's black." From cars to concrete, applications of color have burst into the 21st century limelight and vivid hues are everywhere. In the cementitious world, creative contractors should prepare to leave their one-color concrete notions behind to make way for jobs that feature coats of many colors.
Coloring stamped concrete to achieve a multicolored effect can be accomplished by using many different methods, including liquid and powdered release agents, color hardeners, colored sealers and acid stains.
According to Debbie Bliss, technical information coordinator for Brickform Rafco Products in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., the easiest way to color stamped concrete is to use a color hardener and a color release prior to stamping. "The hardener makes the color denser and more abrasion resistant. If you want to bring out the detail, go with a darker release."
Germania Hernandez, sales manager for SuperStone in Miami, agrees this combination consistently produces realistic-looking surfaces. "Terra cotta, brick red and buff color hardeners are the most popular colors here in the South, with a brown stone, dark brown and charcoal release," she notes. "The silver, French gray, sun gray color hardeners with charcoal, gray and slate releases are very popular in the North."
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| Shown above is an integrally (Buff) colored stamped overlay. Harvest Gold color chemical stain was applied at diluted rations of 3 parts water to 1 part stain. The surface was also antiques by adding 2 oz. Charcoal colored release to a galon of sealer. This coloring technique allows the Charcoal color to float to the low areas giving the surface an antiques and very natural stone look. Installer: Charles Leland, Sure Crete Design Products. |
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| Imprinted with Lithotex Pavecrafters Cedar Parquet, colored with a dry shake Lithochrome Color Hardener Steadman Buff and accented with Lithochrome Antiquing Release Walnut. It is sealed with Scofield Cureseal Semi Gloss. |
Bob Harris, the director of product training at Scof9ield Institute in Douglasville, Ga., who has done plenty of work for Disney, swears by dry shake color hardener when the job calls for a very abrasion-resistant hard-wear surface. "You'll get much better wear in the long run," he says.
If you underapply color hardeners, "You're going to get spotting, areas where dark colors show through," says Frank Rusk of Frank Rusk Consulting in Las Vegas. If you overapply, "you're going to have an extremely hard time working in the color hardener. It'll become a big clump and will keep ripping apart."
He suggests mixing two or more powder releases in varying percentages. "This will leave your competition baffled and enable you to match project features others might not be able to achieve," he says. A color he likes, for example, is created by combining like amounts of Venetian pink with Stedman buff (a golden yellow) to create a warm peach. "Don't be afraid to experiment," he says. "You can mix a lot of colors yourself before you have to special order."
Rusk says to avoid a scummy looking coloring job you must wash away any remaining color release. When the surface is dry, sweep off the heavy powder, scrub the surface with a slight acid mixture and then pressure wash. Next, apply trisodium phosphate and wash that off. When it's completely dry, seal the surface. "This will give you an authentic 3-D look," Rusk maintains.
Most contractors broadcast a color hardener and a color release agent to produce a two-tone color in the grout joints and within the pattern's texture, says Jeff Hartzog, international sales manager of Specialty Concrete Products Inc. in West Columbia, S.C. "After the release agent is washed off, you have a few options on how to make the stones different colors."
One of Specialty Concrete's most popular products is called Stone-Shade, a mixture of sealers, pigments and release agents. Available in 17 colors, "It can be sprayed, rolled or brushed onto individual stones to achieve the coloring effects of powder-release agents," Hartzog says. "It's not opaque; it lets the color beneath show through while still producing darker highlights." It's a quick, easy and economical way to add additional colors to stamped concrete and is commonly used to renovate old worn-out stamped surfaces. (continued below sidebar)
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When stamping, California contractor Lee Levig likes to use more than one color as the base color, usually different shades of the same color.
“Let’s say I want to pour a 1,000-square-foot job that’s tan with a dark brown release. I’ll use 10 buckets of tan color hardener and three buckets of a different tan. I’ll broadcast the first color and then I’ll take the other three tans and mottle those in here, kind of a hit and miss technique. Now, we virtually have four colors down as the base,” he explains.
“Then, I’ll take a dark or opposing color, say terra cotta, and apply it here and there for highlights. Next, I’ll throw something in there, like burgundy, that I won’t use a lot of and I’ll blend it in. This gives me a few areas with ‘imperfections’ that make the floor look like a real stone,” says Levig. “How many times do you break open a stone and only see one color? We’re trying to fool the audience by creating the best replication of stone that we can.”
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Another way to add color is to sift a color hardener through pantyhose to separate the sand from the pigment and cement. Throw away the sand and mix the colored powder with water to make a flour-like paste. After you've power washed off the release agent, paint the paste onto random stones in the direction of the grain of the pattern you want to highlight. "Then mist with water and let the paste settle in the texture lines and grooves for a more natural look," Hartzog says. "When you seal it, the sealer will really bring out the pigments."
Gerry Sadleir, vice president of operations for San Diego-based Concrete Solutions Inc. — the company that introduced its 1/4-inch overlay stamping system in 1997 — recommends using a mixture of stamped concrete sealer and liquid release agent combined with liquid and powdered antiquing colors to create beautiful and natural coloring effects.
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