Staining & Coloring Concrete

As the concretist, we’ve worked both internationally and nationwide. But some of the jobs are in the smallest, quaintest towns. They might not be major population centers, but the concrete in those places are that much more sweet, The people are warm even while the weather often isn't.

After 100 years in the decorative concrete industry, L. M. Scofield Co. knows a thing or two about beautiful, standout projects. As it marks its centennial, the company also marks its seventh annual Decorative Concrete Awards, given to contractors, architects or designers doing exceptional work using Scofield systems.

The language barrier was the least of the obstacles a team of two professors and a student from Southern Arkansas University had to overcome during a weeklong trip to Cuba last November for an art project with the University of Artemisa. The saga began with a lack of supplies and ended with the death of Fidel Castro the night before the Americans left.

Only a couple of years old, this upstart is already attracting attention to its colorful work in the Cornhusker State. 

Spice 6, a fast-casual restaurant in Hyattsville, Md., serves up a zesty visual feast that complements its Chipotle-like “modern Indian” bill of fare.

Dan McCormick of Eagle View Custom Creations, Fort Harrison, Mont., submitted these photos of a river he carved through an acid-stained floor using two brands of water-based stain from NewLook International. He put down the river at ExplorationWorks, an interactive science and culture museum in Helena, Mont.

Greg Hryniewicz isn’t a man who sits around and says “better luck next time.”

The general contractor to whom he submitted a proposal for a flooring job at a Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery in White Marsh, Md., was not awarded the contract.

Sisters Cindee Lundin and Chenoa Pickrain were raised on a dairy farm near Perham, Minnesota. Lundin is an expert in faux finishing and horizontal and vertical carved concrete. Pickrain is a graphic designer and photographer.

For artisan Brian Vicari, concrete offers boundless opportunities for color and design.

Dylan Lauger has become a master in modern, industrial, experimental concrete furniture design and other artistic concrete skills while living on a remote peninsula in Wisconsin. Among other achievements, he once designed and cast an 8-foot-long GFRC sturgeon as a submission for a local arts competition.

Massive, huge, humongous— pick your superlative, as any or all can be applied to the Rinconada Margaritas high-rise residential development in Zapopan, Mexico.

The finish on this water feature was achieved using a handful of soy-based products. It’s a great way to get a more earth-friendly surface that boasts deep, rich colors to boot. As an additional plus, the concrete is profiled with garnet abrasives, which not only ensure a low-dust blasting experience, but also give the finished surface a reliably nonslip surface.

In the previous two articles, I discussed my bread-and-butter designs. I probably do one of those designs every other week and sometimes twice a week. They’re quick and easy once you become familiar with them. Practice drawing them on your warehouse floor a couple of times until you get used to the routine.

The techniques featured in this beloved annual feature may give you the look you’re after for finishing that one job. Or, they may provide the spark you need to come up with something new.

Along the Willamette River's eastern shore, where it cuts through the heart of Portland, Ore., there stretches a long walkway, a favorite spot for locals to run or ride along the riverfront.

There is a famous paperback called “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White. Many writers treasure it as a guide to writing clearly and succinctly while avoiding common grammatical errors. The handbook itself is a model of clarity.

In fact, it was recommended that we avoid promoting this product and, if we had to sell it, that the variegated results should be disguised by buffing with a colored wax.

New Iberia, Louisiana, located 130 miles from New Orleans, has an elevation of only 20 feet. Wood floors are fine, but in this area prone to flooding, concrete floors are even better. And Keefe Duhon of Concrete Revolution has developed a specialty of concrete floors that look like wood planks, and he’s become known for it across the country.

A design from the front of a jewelry case in the owner’s family was painstakingly re-created in concrete and enclosed by a circular border.

The Concrete Color Maintenance System, from Newlook Coatings and Stains, is a solid-color, water-based stain that penetrates the surface of porous concrete to stain it to almost any color desired. “It’s like integralcolored concrete, only more perfectly colored,” says Sonny Baird, a partner in Newlook.

Unfortunately, complaints about how color turns out are an all-too-familiar topic of conversation. Complaints can involve but are not limited to integrally colored concrete, color-hardened concrete, stamped and textured concrete and stained concrete.

Artists approach design as a space-filling exercise. As such, the first thing they consider is the format within which they will be working. The shape of the format will radically alter the distribution of elements within it. The elements of design are the simple building blocks artists have to work with.

Melanie Royals started out working on her own techniques and designs as an answer to problems she perceived in the stenciling industry. In 2003, Royals introduced Modello designs to the decorative painting industry, a fresh concept she called “the art of decorative masking.” This line of stencils, called Modellos, differed from Mylar stencils in that they are one-time use adhesive-backed vinyl patterns.