Is My Colored Concrete Really Colored?

Integral Color Vs. Surface Color

Concrete colored using color hardner
Above, you will notice that this just looks like a chunk of broken concrete. If you look a little closer, you will see the surface of this concrete is colored different from the underlying concrete. In this case, a color hardner was applied to the concrete. 

Well, if your concrete looks colored, it more than likely is. So, why this post? We wanted to discuss the difference in color when designing your new stamped concrete patio, walkway or driveway. There are many options to consider when thinking about or considering a new colored, stamped concrete install.

We cover many options on our site about stamped and decorative concrete. But... we are still working on it. That's exactly why we decided to cover this particular subject. It seems that many times when our estimators are out in the field, they even have a tough time determining whether they are looking at integral colored concrete or concrete that has been colored with a hardener. Additionally, we have had many customers wonder what the difference is. So, here is our explanation of the difference between integrally colored concrete and concrete that has been colored otherwise. 

Above, the integral color chart from Brickform / Solomon Colors integral line of colors.



Integrally Colored Concrete

Integrally colored concrete is the same color throughout. So, regardless whether the concrete is chipped, cut or scarred some other way, the concrete will always remain the same color. This is accomplished by coloring the concrete in the barrel truck when the concrete is poured. Major manufacturers of integral color both Butterfield Colors as well as Brickform/Solomon.

Above, a bucket of Color Hardener as provided by BrickForm.



Colored Concrete Using Color Hardener


In addition to coloring the concrete using integrally colored concrete, there is Color Hardener. With this product, we could use traditional colored concrete or integrally colored concrete. Once the concrete is placed in the forms, the crew would use color hardener in order to color the surface a different color than the underlying concrete. This color hardener can be seen in the image above. 

"Notice how the color of the concrete is red and that the concrete underneath is traditional "gray" in color?"

Many of our customers explain to us that they have not been given the option as to whether to use color hardener or integral color for the concrete installation. Denver Concrete Inc concrete experts are trained to give you as many comprehensive practical solutions as possible for your project. In most instances a color hardener serves well for a border or accent piece. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Stamped Concrete Expensive?

Image
The average price for simple colored and stamped concrete is $8.00 - $12.00 per sqft. This "wood finish" patio is completely made of concrete. So, stamped concrete can be relatively inexpensive. You can get very basic stamped concrete as a new installation for as low as $12.00 per/sqft. This of course does not include any other decorative finishes that the customer might like to have installed (i.e. lighting, saw cuts, borders, etc). So, a very basic colored and stamped patio could go for even lower if the colors chosen were lighter and more neutral, with a very basic stamp could be done as low as $8.00 per/sqft. So, compared to basic concrete (grey concrete), stamped concrete can be almost as reasonably priced. The price of stamped concrete really depends on three different aspects of the project: Is the concrete going to be colored? If you will be adding color to the concrete (most stamped concrete does make use of colored concrete) than this will ...
Read more

Small Extension for Concrete Patio in Lowry (Smaller Projects)

Image
Denver Concrete Inc., was hired to excavate, form and install an extension on this already existing patio. The total extension to be added is 11' x 1.5'. Perhaps one of the most frustrating things about approaching any concrete contractor in Denver is talking with them ( concrete contractor ) about smaller projects. Our team at Denver Concrete Inc handles smaller projects a little differently, we know and understand that sometimes a small extension or small concrete section replacement is all that is needed. Unfortunately when it comes to smaller projects, many concrete contractors have pretty significant "project minimums" making smaller concrete project too high-priced to consider. In the case of Denver Concrete Inc, we also have project minimums. Our project minimum is $1,500.00. So for most projects you would want to have a project around at least 100 sq ft to make sense of the project minimum. Regardless, we do consider projects that are smaller and esp...
Read more

Stamped Concrete Project Highlands Ranch

Image
This project was completed at the end of last season (July 2018). The customer wanted to replace the existing deck with a stamped concrete patio. Not only was the deck to be torn out and replaced with a slate colored and textured patio, but the patio was going to extend around the side of the house where eventually a hot tub would reside. The new proposed concrete patio would have two new landings that would be formed and poured at each of the back entries (one sliding rear door as well as one other regular door) with half-moon landings and steps that would land onto the patio. A couple of challenges with the project is that there is limited access to the back yard with equipment, so this means that the grading of the new patio would need to be completed with out the use of heavy equipment. Additionally there would be some other "regular concrete" that needs to be poured and finished same day, so the colored concrete for the patio would have to be added into the batch aft...
Read more