Staining & Coloring Concrete

Pool deck solutions are discussed, involving sealers, anti-slip additives and deck drains. All three of these items are important for your clients’ overall satisfaction, as well as the eventual success of your installation.

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.

There’s something about its weight. There’s something about its economy of purpose, its honesty, and sometimes, its beauty. There’s just something about natural gray concrete. And the longer I’ve been in the decorative concrete field, with options for coloring systems ever increasing, the more I’ve come to appreciate it.

A beach house floor Ralston’s company recently refurbished in Monterey Bay, Calif. The floor’s crown jewel from a decorative standpoint is a pattern created when randomly placed seaweed stamps, made from real seaweed, were laid in a 3/8-inch fast-setting overlay.

The idea that you can take three connected “squares,” change the color for all three and make them appear to be two walls and a floor is pretty cool.

Just when you thought you were going to install another exposed aggregate pool deck, your clients inform you they want the concrete to “glow” with stone accents. Don’t hit the panic button if you’ve never worked with a glowing medium before. Glow stones are applied in exposed aggregate finishes.

Acrylic stains are finding new uses among decorative concrete artisans, both on their own and as companions to acids.

As any decorative concrete artisan knows, staining is one of the most nuanced, finicky and unpredictable techniques in the playbook. Yes, stains offer a fantastic variety of design possibilities — just consider the difference between an acid-stained floor and a water-based stain job, for example.

There’s more than one way to stain a slab, and Newlook International Inc. has found a way that is unique. Its products are modified polymer stains that require no sealer and are easy to maintain.

The choice you have is between a liquid release agent and a dry-powder antique release. Both products are similar in function — however, the application technique is completely different for each. This results in a different final look as well.

Troy Lemon, founder and president of Cornerstone Decorative Concrete in Holland, Mich., starts his story with a familiar admission. “I was a concrete guy way before I was a decorative concrete guy,” he says.

With a subtle two-level texture coat and a wild 3-D geometric pattern, this staining technique delivers a unique, captivating concrete floor finish.

This former Intel employee traded semiconductors for stains and stencils — and now he's making his mark at churches, Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville Cafes, and everywhere in between.

At The Stain Store's new location in north Austin, Texas, 600 square feet of flooring in the showroom and tool room was overlaid with Miracote MPC, scored with curved joints, then stained with Mirastain II alcohol-based stain, Butterfield Elements. Stain Store's own metallics were used in the tool room.

Contractors have relied on acrylic sealers for decades to protect concrete flooring systems, and for good reason. In the right conditions, these sealers offer optimal durability, stain resistance and a desirable “wet look” finish. However, they have their limitations too and aren’t always the ideal option for high-traffic areas and environments with extreme hazards.

Even on the thumb tip of northwest Washington state, decorative concrete is making its mark, thanks to this father-son outfit.

As with most things in life, a decorative concrete installer faces many choices when it comes to the products and processes he or she uses on a job. Unfortunately, the choice is often made to take the path of least resistance or buy at low cost versus favoring long-term performance and the quality of the project.

Maintaining consistent color in integrally colored concrete is crucial during a project using multiple truckloads.

After listening to suggestions from contractors and distributors, Brickform, a division of Solomon Colors Inc., has redeveloped its popular Pro-Dye as a liquid formula.

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.

You don’t have to be born into the family business to be good at it, but in Emil Gera’s case, it sure helped. Gera’s father, also named Emil, was a union concrete finisher who would take his son along with him to help on weekend projects. Some of young Emil’s earliest memories involve concrete and a trowel.

Standing alone, a color is amoral — entirely relative to what surrounds it. This extends not only to the colored border around your design, but also to the walls and ceilings in your peripheral vision when you glance at the floor.

Choosing integrally colored concrete offers lasting color and design options with the right materials, tools and techniques.