Methods And Types Of Decorative Concrete
By: Tom "The DIY Guy" WesleyLooking for a new style for your walkway? Maybe for your house or just in general? Well concrete has come a long way from its natural intended use. Many have perfected the art of decorative concrete. There are varying forms of decoration for concrete. In order to perfect this art it takes a lot of patience and an eye for the design.
Integral colorants are fairly easy to achieve, as it’s just a color material that is combined with the actual concrete. What it does is it mixes the color, cement and the sand all together and produces a color other than the usual gray. You can pretty much make any color you want but the most popular colors would be black, yellow, red, and even green. With Integral colorants you want to make sure you add the correct amount of the color, if you do your concrete is going to come out a different color altogether be it darker or even a lighter shade than what you’re trying to achieve.
Stamping in concrete is another popular form of decorative concrete. Basically all you need for this type of decoration is a rubber stamp and wet concrete. Make sure you don’t press your stamp too deep into the concrete that you end up with deep grooves. You will want to push with even pressure and to a depth that will leave your concrete looking like it was professionally done. You can create simple stone or brick textures, or if you want you can even create a quaint forest scene onto a stamp and apply that to your concrete. The possibilities are endless.
Installing the above decorative concrete is pretty self-explanatory, however a concrete dye is a different installation process. Concrete dyes can be used on pretty much any surface. To get a simple concrete dye you’ll want to have your color base mixed in with the concrete and if your using your concrete outside you’ll want to use a base of acetone or thinner. This will keep your color from becoming faded over the years. If you’re using your concrete indoors it will be all right to use a solution of alcohol. Don’t use the alcohol base outside, as over time it will diminish your color significantly.
The last decorative concrete may very well be water based staining for your concrete. With water based stain you can pretty much achieve a see through look or an opaque color. With a water based stain it is more of a coating than anything else, but it will bond with your concrete better than say an acid based stain. The best water based stains in the market today are acrylic and epoxy. These will not change your concrete at all it will be able to keep the whole physical make up.
Last you will want to make sure that your concrete is well placed, and that you have everything out and ready to go before you even begin mixing your concrete. Make sure you take your time and you achieve what you want the first time out rather than having to do the project over and over. Getting it done right the first time will save you a lot of money later down the line.
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Tags: decorating concrete, decoration for concrete, decorative concrete, staining concrete, stamping concrete