Finish · Charlotte NC

Colored Concrete

Pigment through the mix, or hardened into the surface

In detail

What to know about colored concrete

Integral colour

Integral colour is pigment batched into the concrete at the plant so it is distributed through the full depth of the slab. Its great advantage is forgiveness: a chip, a scratch or a saw cut exposes the same colour rather than grey, so damage stays inconspicuous for the life of the slab. The trade-off is intensity. Because pigment is diluted through the whole mass, deep or saturated colours require a lot of it and become expensive quickly, so the natural range is soft earth tones — buffs, tans, warm greys and terracottas.

Colour hardener

A colour hardener is a dry pigmented material broadcast onto the fresh surface and floated in. It puts a high pigment concentration exactly where you can see it, so colours are far richer than integral can economically reach, and it brings a second benefit: the material contains hard aggregate and cement that meaningfully densifies the wearing surface, making a colour-hardened slab tougher than a plain one. The trade-off is depth — it is a few millimetres thick, so a deep chip will show grey beneath.

Consistency, and being straight about it

Concrete colour is never perfectly uniform, and anyone promising otherwise is setting up a disappointment. Variation comes from the water content of individual loads, ambient temperature, how quickly the surface dried, and the timing of finishing passes. Colour can differ visibly between two trucks on the same pour. We manage this by ordering the full quantity from one plant on one day, sequencing pours so any joint between loads falls on a control joint, and telling you plainly that some mottling is inherent to the material.

How colour changes over time

Coloured concrete does not stay on day one forever. It lightens over the first year as the surface carbonates and efflorescence works its way out, and it will be at its most saturated when freshly sealed and wet-looking. Choosing a colour from a sample chip viewed indoors is the standard mistake — we look at samples outdoors, in daylight, alongside the brick or siding they will sit against, and we look at them both sealed and unsealed so you know both ends of the range you are buying.

Choosing against the house

The most reliable guidance we give is to pick colour in relation to the house rather than in isolation. Concrete is a large horizontal plane, and a colour that is interesting on a small sample can be overwhelming across four hundred square feet. Something a step or two quieter than the brick, the stone or the roof almost always sits better than an exact match, which tends to look like a failed attempt at matching. When a client is torn, the softer choice is the one nobody regrets in five years.

Commonly used for

Patios Pool Decks Outdoor Living Areas Walkways & Entries Decorative Driveways Courtyards & Surrounds

Other finishes

Six alternatives

Stamped Concrete

Texture pressed into the slab while it is still green

Stained Concrete

Colour that reacts with the slab rather than sitting on it

Exposed Aggregate

Wash the paste back and let the stone do the work

Polished Concrete

Ground, densified and refined to a mechanical shine

Decorative Overlays

A new surface bonded to a sound slab

Saw-Cut Designs

Lines cut into the slab as pattern, not just as joints