Making Your Concrete Pop With Integral Colors & Dry-Shake Color Hardeners

If you’re adding a cementitious surface to your home or residential property and are looking for a coloring technique that will provide long-lasting style and strength, you may want to consider integral colors and dry-shake color hardeners.

What Are Integral Colors?

Integral colors or pigments are penetrating colors that are added to the fresh concrete, on site at installation or at the manufacturing plant. Unlike stains and dyes, integral colors are mixed into the entire concrete slab, so you won’t ever have to worry about your concrete wearing down and exposing the drab, grey color underneath. The color will run all the way through the countertops or flooring and provide a natural-looking, fade-resistant finish.

This coloring technique is popular for both interior and exterior applications, and can be layered with other coloring agents to create a truly customized end result. Whether you’re customizing your garage floor, an interior floor of your home, your countertops, a walkway, your courtyard, your patio, or another cementitious surface that you’re adding to your property, integral colors are a great choice.

What Are Dry-Shake Color Hardeners?

Dry-shake color hardeners are commonly used on stamped concrete and concrete overlays because of their ability to provide such vibrant and intense color and to result in better, sharper imprints when stamped. Unlike stains, dyes, and integral colors, color hardeners are put solely on the top layer of the concrete surface. But the benefits of using color hardeners is not merely superficial – they also add strength to the cementitious structures they’re applied to.

The key to using dry-shake color hardeners is to use less when you’re working with darker colors and more when you’re working with lighter colors. Additionally, you’ll want to make sure that the color hardeners are applied while the concrete is still a bit wet.

We’re Here To Help With Your Decision

If you need assistance determining which coloring technique will be best for your property, your budget, and the level of maintenance and use your concrete surface will receive, please feel free to call The Concrete Décor Store at 210-617-7565. Our team members have a comprehensive understanding of all of the products we carry and know when to choose one over another. We carry top brands like Alabama Pigment Co. and can answer your questions and help you with your decision. Stop by and see us – we love visitors.

Don’t forget about stains when you’re considering options for adding color to residential concrete overlays.Find out what’s going to work best for your situation when you give us a call.