When installing a floor, patio, or driveway, many people would love to have the unique colors and warm textures of natural stone. Slate, tile, brick, and even marble are some of the hottest materials on the market due to their sophisticated look and irreplaceable charm. However, any kind of natural stone comes at a heavy cost. Since they're rare, difficult to manufacture, and harder to work with, they are never cheap. Therefore many people invest in cement: it's easy, inexpensive, and effective. But recently homeowners have been able to find  the best of both worlds: imitation natural stone. Whether inside or out, decorative concrete offers the look of natural stone without the price tag. 

    Concrete Stamping
This has become the most common form of decorative concrete today. Since wooden decks and porches are actually becoming a thing of the past, natural stone patios is the newest wave in exterior design. But it costs money. Therefore, stamping allows cement to take on the look of any natural product. During production, certain dyes are mixed into the product to create the right look. Then it's laid like regular cement. Before it dries, a  unique pattern is gently tamped into the wet material. So when it dries, it may  look like brick pavers, but without all the work, maintenance, or expense. 
 
    Decorative Concrete Resurfacing
Cement eventually gets beat up by the weather, the cold, or simply by the years gone by. When it ages, you're bound to see fading or cracks, so instead of breaking up the old and completely replacing it with the new, many homeowners choose to resurface. By applying a thin layer of fresh cement over the pre-existing product, many of the flaws can be sealed and covered. However, if you're tired of the pitted, gray look of cement, think about decorative concrete resurfacing. While the holes and cracks are being repaired and covered, color can be added, along with engraved patterns and brushed textures, in order to imitate the breathtaking look of natural stone.

Color Hardener vs Integral Color

Which Coloring Method is
Better?
by Steve VandeWater


 How does a potential customer choose between color hardener or integral color
when deciding how to tint his concrete?  Both options are acceptable, but each
has its pros and cons.

Color Hardener
Color hardener is a dry mixture made up of sand, cement,
pigment, and slab conditioning agents.  It is applied about 1/8 of an inch thick
to the top of plain gray concrete just after it has been poured.  The
powdered color hardener is broadcast onto the surface, given time to absorb
moisture, and is then floated into the concrete.  When correctly applied, it
actually strengthens the surface of the concrete by making it denser.  A denser,
harder surface can help the concrete to hold up better to traffic and
weathering. 


Aside from its hardening properties, another advantage to color hardener is
that there are many hues available that cannot be readily obtained with integral
color.  For instance, if the customer wants a very light integrally colored
concrete slab, one would need to substitute white portland cement for the gray
cement normally used in concrete.  This would not only dramatically increase the
cost of the concrete, but would also decrease it’s set time.  The finishing crew
would have to work much more quickly to get the concrete finished before it
hardened.


Because of the pigments used, some colors such as blues and greens are almost
prohibitively expensive when using integral color. These same colors are more
affordable with color hardener because much less pigment is needed to color only
the surface of the slab.


The downsides to color hardener are that it is extremely dusty and messy, and
that if the slab chips, the plain gray concrete underneath is exposed. 
Fortunately, chips can be easily patched with a slurry of color hardener and
water.


Integral
color is pigment mixed into the wet concrete in order to
color it all the way through.   Integral color is much easier to use
than color hardener because it eliminates the steps of applying color and
working it into the surface.  Integral color allows a contractor to pour larger
areas with less effort.  In addition, since the colors are locked into the wet
concrete, there is no colored airborne dust to deal with.


Customers often opt for integral color because they mistakenly believe that
if their concrete is scarred or chipped, the chip will be unnoticeable.  While
it is true that the cement paste is colored, the rocks mixed with that
paste are not.  When concrete is chipped, there is usually a rock close to the
surface which becomes exposed.  The exposed rock is a drastically different
color than the rest of the concrete, therefore the chip is still visible.


One downside to integral color is that it does not augment the surface
strength of the concrete like color hardener can.  Integrally colored concrete
is simply the same strength as regular gray concrete.


Another downside to integral color is that chips and defects in the slab are
much more difficult to patch.  Patching materials usually need to be
custom-tinted and experimented with to achieve a passable color match.  To
alleviate this problem, Butterfield Color in Aurora, Illinois  makes patch
materials that match each of their integral colors.


In summary, neither method of coloring is necessarily better than the other. 
They both have their good and bad points, and should be chosen based upon their
merits, limitations, and the application for which they will be used.