Staining & Coloring Concrete

On some decorative concrete projects, the only people looking over your shoulder are other tradespeople.

Details Decorative Concrete created and developed many decorative concrete projects from scratch. But the Griffiths Home was different. It contains many interior decorative concrete surfaces already in place, including floors, tub and shower.

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.

Learn about the four ways to add color to slabs that are intended for polishing: Integral Color, Dry Shake Hardener, Acid Stain and Dyes

Today’s contractors who love the look of acid stains but loathe the labor and time required to get the job done have more ways than ever before to bypass the troublesome application using safer-for-all water routes.

Westcoat Specialty Coating Systems has sent us some photos and information of a striking dye installation in the classrooms, hallways and main entrance of the United States University building in Chula Vista, Calif.

For a greener alternative to acid staining, SoyCrete Architectural Concrete Stain from Eco Safety Products offers the same variegated look in a product that's environmentally friendly in virtually every sense of the word.

"Be an expert." Avoiding trying to be all things to all people, instead of focusing in on what they are good at and becoming an expert in that one area.This thought comes full circle when you think about how it relates to decorative concrete, especially in the application of stains and dyes.

A step by step process of an overlay concrete floor with an acid etch stain process.

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

This “Sidewalk Textbook” was the first phase of a public art project funded by “Project WILD,” a Schoolyard Habitat Grant through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

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.

Based in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, this father-and-son-led company takes on elaborate polished concrete surfaces as a labor of love.

As complements to stains, as colorants on polished concrete jobs or on their own, dyes are earning a more permanent place in the decorative concrete artisan’s tool kit.

As part of its effort to improve the environment through green product offerings, L.M. Scofield Co. has developed Solachrome Integral Coloring Treatment for High-SRI Concrete.

Delivering the best results possible is what good contractors strive for, but that is very hard if you do not know the factors that can affect final stain appearance. When you simply applied a stain to a project without any proper surface preparation or knowledge it's not only a quick way for a contractor to be put out of business, but can also give stained concrete a bad reputation.

Concrete dyes are tailor-made for color adjustment on staining jobs, and on their own, they offer an endless array of colors. So release your inner artist and give 'em a try!

Over all the years I’ve worked in decorative concrete, I’ve done a lot of basic tile patterns. That’s all I did almost every week for three years as I learned to use my tools. I got so bored doing these that I had to find a way to design something a little different but still easy to lay out.

When a city, school or government chooses to spend a little extra money on decorative concrete, it demonstrates civic pride — and makes that lobby, city pool or roadside a little easier on the eyes.

The high-end landscape design and building firm is nationally recognized for creating custom pools, spas, fireplaces, concrete stamping and staining, ceramics and tile, outdoor kitchens, rock waterfalls and much more.

It is widely known that the decorative concrete industry has struggled with tape issues for decades. These range from the tape tearing when overlays are being applied, or stain bleeding under the tape, to adhesive effectiveness when the tape gets wet.

After three years of spilled milkshakes, splattered ketchup and oversquirted mustard, the carpet in the dining area of the Fuddruckers in Modesto, Calif., had to go. Franchise owner Kevin Bidlack considered replacing it but knew the fix would be temporary. Three years later, he’d have to do it again.

Whether more utilitarian or more exotic, these are forms that every general contractor and every concrete guy is familiar with. We all have the tools and the formulae to produce these lines, angles and shapes.