Concrete Color Recipes 2009

Like any craftspeople, concrete contractors are always looking for new ideas and new inspirations for their next project. While we hope that all the work we showcase in Concrete Decor serves that purpose, once a year we like to provide some striking effects with step-by-step instructions in this, our annual Color Recipes feature.

We reached out to industry manufacturers for their favorite effects and asked them to walk us through the process of creating them. We hope you'll use these as a resource, whether you decided to recreate one of the effects directly or just incorporate some of the techniques into your own projects.


Exposed Aggregate Faux Paver Effect
Butterfield Color
www.butterfieldcolor.com

This simple textured look is very versatile and easily achieved with just a few ingredients.

Ingredients
Stencils
Butterfield Surf Etch Top Surface Retarder
Butterfield Clear Guard Cure and Seal or Butterfield Clear Guard H2O Cure and Seal

Instructions
- After bull-floating and hand-floating your concrete surface and allowing excess bleed water to dissipate, cut and place your chosen stencil over the new concrete.

- Use a stencil roller to lightly embed the stencil. Do not embed the stencil so that it is covered with cement paste. The stencils should be placed before the concrete surface starts to dry. (Make sure the stencils have complete contact with the concrete surface. This will prevent the Surf Etch Top Surface Retarder from bleeding onto the mortar joints.)

- Mix Surf Etch Top Surface Retarder and apply an even coating of it to the concrete's surface. (You can use a pump-up sprayer, brush or roller to apply the product.) Apply material evenly to achieve a masking, consistent blue color over the concrete.

- Within six to 24 hours after the application, remove the stencils, and expose the aggregate by washing the surface using a garden hose and a new, clean broom or a pressure washer. Work one small area at a time before moving on to the next one. (If the depth of reveal is too deep, stop washing and allow the concrete to cure and harden further.)

- Allow the concrete to dry for 12 to 24 hours.
- Apply the liquid curing compound. Use Clear Guard Cure and Seal for exterior applications or interiors when a strong odor is not a concern. For interior applications, the water-based Clear Guard H2O Cure and Seal system is a better choice. Multiple light coats are necessary over the roughened, etched surface.


Vineyard-inspired Color Combination
Flex-C-Ment ­– Picayune, Miss.
www.flex-c-ment.com

Give your next faux-stone wall vertical project the look of a Spanish vineyard with this effect from Flex-C-Ment.

Ingredients
Flex-C-Ment Liquid Colors (Dark Cyprus, Spanish Red, Mauve, Charcoal)
Flex-C-Ment Accent Enhancer
Flex-C-Ment Flex-Seal water-based sealer

Instructions
- Apply Flex-C-Ment Accent Enhancer with a cellulose sponge lightly on the outer surface of the high areas of the stones. Let dry for 15 minutes or longer.

- Brush/sponge on base color (1 part Dark Cypress mixed with 10 parts Flex-Seal sealer). Randomly sponge color on individual stones.

- Brush/sponge on base color (1 part Spanish Red mixed with 10 parts Flex-Seal sealer). Randomly sponge color on individual stones.

-Brush/sponge on antiquing color (1 part Mauve and 1/4 part Charcoal to 5 parts Flex-Seal sealer).

Brush into crevices, and lightly sponge and blend with damp clean sponge. Randomly sponge some stones more than others to achieve a variation of light and dark stones. Let dry for at least 60 minutes.

-Rub lightly with a medium-grit sanding pad to soften the stones and give them a weathered look.


Tile Finish for Resurfaced Floors
SuperStone - Opa-Locka, Fla.
www.superstone.com

For your next resurfacing project, try this crisp, clean tile design.

Ingredients
SuperStone Super-Tex Wet-n-Ready (White) SuperStone Color Hardener (Terra Cotta) SuperStone Color Hardener (Cobalt Blue) SuperStone Concrete Sealer (solvent-based, clear)

Instructions
- Mix a 50-pound bag of Super-Tex Wet-n-Ready with water, following SuperStone's specification of 6 quarts of water per bag. After mixing with a jiffy mixer, let stand for about 15 minutes, then mix again. Apply this mix with a rubber-tipped squeegee. Wait for this application to dry.

- Apply 1/2-inch reinforced paper tape to the dried surface to mark out the grid for the design.

- Prepare another batch of Super-Tex Wet-n-Ready with enough water to achieve a creamy consistency, and spread this mix with a trowel to get the desired texture. Remove the tape to expose the gridlines. Let the mix dry completely.

- Mix small amounts of the Terra Cotta Color Hardener with water. (The amount of the color hardener you use will depend on the shade of the color you desire.) On the larger squares, a light mix of the Terra Cotta Color Hardener was used, hence the lighter shade. On the lines between the squares, a heavier dose of color hardener was used to get the darker shades. Apply the color hardener to the desired areas with a sponge.

- Mix small amounts of Cobalt Blue Color Hardener with water. (Again, the amount of color hardener will affect the shade.) Apply this Cobalt Blue mix to the small squares in the design.

- Wait for all these staining applications to dry completely.

- Seal the surface with two coats of Clear SuperStone Sealer, a solvent-based acrylic product.


Colored Sealer with a Shine
Elite Crete Systems Inc., Valparaiso, Ind.
www.elitecrete.com
This incredibly simple staining application lends a distinct reflective sparkle to any floor.

Ingredients
Elite Crete Systems CSS Emulsion clear sealer Elite Crete Sysems Reflector Enhancer (Orange Gold, or as desired)

Instructions
- Clean the concrete to ensure that paint, debris, petrochemicals and previous sealers are absent from the surface.

- Allow the surface to completely dry if a wet surface preparation method was used.

- Add 4 tablespoons of the desired color of Reflector Enhancer to a gallon of ready-to-use CSS Emulsion. In this case, Orange Gold Reflector Enhancer was used as the primary initial color coat.

- Using a commercial-grade pump-up sprayer, apply the CSS Emulsion and Reflector Enhancer mixture onto the prepped surface at a rate of 250 square feet per gallon.

- Allow the surface to dry 5 to 7 hours before opening up to light foot traffic and at least 24 hours before heavy traffic.

- Apply precolored Pewter SCP Veneer-Crete Stamp Overlayment at 1/4-inch depth.

- Apply layer of SCP Charcoal Powder Release Agent (may be broadcast or brushed).

- Place Stampmaster Vegas Seamless Stone texture skins on surface and tamp texture into surface of Veneer-Crete.

- Allow materials to cure out overnight. Wash surface. A pressure washer can be used to wash excess SCP Charcoal Powder Release Agent off surface. Then, wash down to desired amount of Charcoal highlight.

- Honor existing control joints in concrete by cutting through overlayment to reopen them. Place new control joints if needed by cutting through depth of overlayment and one-third the depth of the concrete slab.

- Allow recommended cure time on material prior to applying SCP Chrome Etch acid stain. (The time will vary depending on material and material thickness. Roughly 1/4-inch of SCP Veneer-Crete needs five days at moderate temperatures.)

- Score concentric circles to create outside border using a saw cart or an Engrave-a-Crete Mongoose with circle attachment. Score 1/4-inch deep.

- Draw the fish design inside the border using pencils. (This can be freehand drawing, projected down and traced, or you can use a template.)

- Score design into surface (1/4-inch deep) using a small handheld side grinder with a diamond blade.

- Using sponge brushes, work SCP Chrome Etch acid stains into surface using small circular motions. Scored lines work as color separation guides. (For larger areas, you can spray Chrome Etch acid stain onto the surface.)

- For this design, Storm Green was used on the circle border, Cool Blue was used on the background (highlighted with Rust Brown in areas), and Citrus Green was used on the fish.

- Let stains stand overnight. c Neutralize the next day by applying a solution of 1 quart of ammonia in 5 gallons of water to the surface. As an alternative, mix 1 pound of baking soda into 5 gallons of water. Work into surface with soft bristled broom and flush with clean water. Allow to dry.

- Roll (or spray) a coat of Chrome Seal 30%.

- To add some final depth to the color, use sponge brushes to apply Stone Shades to the desired areas, dry-ragging to bleed edges and achieve the desired amount of shade. Allow to cure. For this design, both Neon Blue Stone Shade and Pine Green Stone Shade colors were applied to the fish.

- Apply SCP precolored Stencil Crete Grout into the scored lines and allow to cure. Clean off excess grout residue.

- Roll (or spray) second, final coat of Chrome Seal 30%.

Mottled Metallics