Decorative Concrete

How can color be added to concrete? A number of ways. There is integral color, which is mixed into concrete before it is poured. Color hardener is scattered over the top of a wet slab as it dries. Finally, there are all kinds of stains and dyes.

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A number of different kinds of chemicals and materials can be added to concrete to improve its performance. Contractors often add fiber made of glass or another material to improve its strength.

There are also two general types of concrete "admixture." Mineral admixtures such as fly ash, silica fume and slags enhance the workability of fresh concrete, improve resistance to such problems as cracking, alkali-aggregate expansion, and sulfate attack, and allow producers to cut down on cement content. Chemical admixtures are added in very small amounts to change the properties of the mix. There are five specific kinds. They affect air entrainment, water reduction, plasticization, and acceleration or retardation of setting time.

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Decorative concrete is a perfect match for pool decks. A deck can be textured and colored to become the centerpiece of any backyard spread. With careful design, they can match a home's exterior and blend in with the landscape at the same time.

Coping is the material that caps the top of the pool wall. Concrete coping can be made with concrete that is either precast or poured in place.

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If you want to be ahead of the design curve and still have one-of-a-kind, artisan-crafted kitchen counters, it's time you learned about decorative concrete countertops - one of the hottest trends in the decorative concrete industry.

Concrete countertops are prized for their uniqueness. They are always custom-built, so they can reflect personal taste in color, pattern, shape, size and finish. Decorative accents, such as glass or copper, seashells, can be embedded. So can fiber optics, which creates optical effects, shimmers or sparkles of light right within the countertop.

Concrete countertops are designed and constructed in two ways. Precast countertops are molded by the contractor molds in a studio. With cast-in-place countertops, the forms are built over the tops of cabinets and the concrete is poured right there.

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What decorative materials can go onto concrete floors? There are all kinds of options. Many companies develop special floor-coating products just for garages, often with special resistance capabilities. With colored vinyl chips broadcast over them, these coatings can really improve the way a garage floor looks and performs.

In the home proper, coating options range from epoxies, urethanes and other coatings, which offer a layer of color and protection directly over the base concrete slab, to cementitious overlays, which themselves can be colored or coated. Bonding primers and sealers can also be invaluable when coating a concrete floor.

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Using insulated concrete forms and other forms of concrete to construct homes is a building option that is steadily garnering more and more attention from the world's builders. Especially in regions where the material costs favor concrete, it can offer a viable alternative to "stick" homes built with conventional wood frames.

Home built with concrete and ICFs often boast reduced heating and cooling costs compared to homes of similar sizes. They also offer superior durability. Features such as these help the environment and add to the comfort of homeowners.

There are generally three types of insulated forms: Block systems, which have interlocking edges; panel systems, which have the largest individual pieces; and plank systems.

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Years ago, polishing concrete was not considered a decorative option. Polishing was nothing more than a utilitarian way to harden and seal floors in commercial or industrial spaces. But times have changed.

Polished concrete is environmentally friendly and it’s relatively easy to maintain, two attributes that have endeared it to people specifying decorative finishes for floors in restaurants, bars, stores and showrooms. Homeowners are catching on too.

These days, polished concrete comes in a wide array of colors and patterns, and they can even be engineered to duplicate the look of stone. Polished concrete floors are smooth and dense, and they reflect a good amount of shine.

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When it comes to landscaping an industrial park or backyard pool patio, concrete that looks like rock is often better than real rock. For one thing, it weighs less, since concrete rock features can be hollow, so it’s less unwieldy and easier to fit into a landscape installation. For another, a concrete rock feature can be colored and shaped to match almost any texture on earth, a process that is much easier than combing the country looking for that perfect texture or shade. Finally, a concrete rock feature can be built on-site, incurring shipping costs.

Concrete rock features have developed into its own product niche, with different companies offering their own systems and methods for achieving the look of natural rock. Once completed, the feature can serve as a grand compliment to any landscape.

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Decorative concrete work generally falls into two categories: projects that must be sealed and those that could be sealed. Either way, sealers add an extra layer of material that absorbs wear and tear while preserving the decorative work underneath. Cleaning, reapplication and stain removal can all improve the appearance of sealers over the years. What’s more, sealers themselves can be tinted, adding an extra dimension to a decorative floor.

Concrete Sealers

One of the most popular ways to give concrete a decorative accent is, simply, to stain it. Both new and old concrete can be stained, and stains can be combined for unique effects.

There are several different kinds of stain to choose from, each with its own strengths and drawbacks. Acid stains contain metallic salts and hydrochloric acid. The acid roughs up the surface so the salts can work their way deeper into the concrete, where they react chemically with hydrated lime. Acid stains generally come in earth tones.

While acid stains are irreplaceable tools for concrete artists, other stain options offer a broader range of colors and are easier to work with. They include water-based stains and water-based and solvent- based concrete dyes.

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Stamped concrete is one of decorative concrete's most popular effects. Accomplished by applying textured mats onto wet concrete and pressing them into the surface, stamped concrete can take on the look of slate, flagstone, brick, wood, a leaf-covered floor or almost any other flat surface imaginable. Stamped concrete can also look completely original. When combined with well-applied release agents, stains, and other pigmented products, stamped concrete can be indistinguishable from a more conventional surface, or it can be unlike anything you've ever seen.

Most stamps are urethane-based, and many are molded from the materials they are intended to simulate. They will typically last for years.

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Once you've decided to accent concrete with a decorative element, your options aren't just limited to choosing color and texture. Stencils and engraving give you two ways to create sharp-looking, distinct patterns on your concrete.

Stencils in decorative concrete work the same way stencils do with other media. They are placed, then something is spread over the top of them, and finally, they are pulled up. Almost any decorative coating can be laid on top of concrete stencils - including stains, dyes and overlays - but the user must take care to use a stencil that can stand up to the demands of the materials laid on top of it. Designs and patterns can also be engraved into concrete using special engraving tools. This is also called concrete etching, and it is often done after the concrete is stained, so the etched line stands out.

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Surface preparation is an important part of decorative concrete that should not be overlooked by contractors. For one thing, a surface that has been roughed up by chemical or mechanical means sometimes bonds better with stains or overlays. For another, many decorative concrete treatments are transparent or semitransparent. An existing floor must be spotless and level for a customer to get the best bang for the buck from a decorative concrete treatment.

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Like any craftsperson, the decorative concrete contractor needs a full kit of tools to do his or her job. The materials required, such as stamps, stains or specialty bag mixes, are obvious. But the successful contractor needs tools too: grinders, polishing pads, saws, vacuums, cutting blades, groovers, consolidation equipment, power trowels and blades, joint-cutting tools, testing and measuring tools, and more.

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Any decorative concrete effect that can be achieved on floors is a good candidate for something that might also be achieved on walls.

Stamps, stains and overlays all have vertical applications as well as horizontal ones. Plus, there are certain decorative concrete products, such as shotcrete, that are specifically engineered for vertical applications.

Concrete walls serve a variety of uses. They can be put to use in tilt-up construction or as retaining walls. They also, obviously, play a key role in the construction of concrete houses.

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"Green concrete" is not just an empty advertising catchphrase. Concrete is the real deal - an environmentally friendly building product that can help conserve energy and resources before, during and after construction.

The case for concrete starts with its production. Limestone and the other raw materials used in concrete are readily available, and advances in technology are making the processing of those materials more energy-efficient . Also, today's concrete can be made with a number of recycled and waste materials, such as fly ash and ground-up used concrete.

After installation, concrete's environmental benefits are numerous. It's durable, impervious to rot or flame. It's a great insulator, able to retain and radiate heat. What's more, with the right finish, concrete is even reflective, which can cut down on heating and lighting costs. Porous "pervious" concrete allows storm-water runoff to pass through it to the ground underneath.

As interest in sustainability grows, more new environmental benefits of concrete will likely be discovered or engineered.

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Terrazzo, one of the oldest types of decorative flooring systems, is a mosaic-like floor topping that is instantly recognizable. It's created by embedding pieces of marble, granite, other types of stones or even bits of metal in a cementitious mix. After the mix sets, the result is ground and polished.

One well-known alternative to concrete or cement terrazzo is thin-set or epoxy terrazzo. Among other advantages, thin-set terrazzo offers a greater range of colors with, obviously, less thickness.

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