Decorative Coating

Within the Concrete industry, there is a wide array of people who play different parts; applying, using, building and designing with concrete. It typically benefits everyone to have a good understanding of the terms used within the concrete industry, whether they are a concrete contractor, a manufacturer, an architect, a homeowner, a builder, a designer or a supplier. The following is a concrete coating term glossary pertaining mainly with terms associated with decorative concrete coating.

Acid Stain -- Acid Staining, also known as chemical staining is a stain which contains inorganic salts that are dissolved in a water based acidic solution in order to produce color which is permanent and transparent, and will not flake or peel.

Adhesive Stencils -- These are masking patterns with adhesive backing, that are generally made from plastic or vinyl, and were created in order to make a stenciled concrete effect. The adhesive is used to keep the pattern in place while applying the chosen decorative treatment.

Admixture -- This is the ingredients that are added to concrete in addition to the main three: water, Portland cement and an aggregate material. Admixture is used in order to modify the properties of freshly mixed or hardened concrete.

Antiquing -- Antiquing is a color layering technique which is utilized in order to give a mottled or aged look to decorative concrete coating surfaces.

Bleed Through -- This is a color change from when an underlying surface causes a diffusion of color.

Blistering -- This is the formation of blisters in coatings or toppings, coupled with a loss of adhesion with the underlying substrate.

Broadcast -- Broadcasting, also known as seeding, is the term used for hand tossing dry-shake color hardener or a decorative aggregate over fresh concrete, an overlay or a coating in a uniform layer in order to add traction or color to the surface.

Broom Finish – A broom finish is a surface texture which is obtained by actually pushing a broom over a layer of freshly-placed concrete.

Color Chips – These are plastic chips which are available in a plethora of sizes and colors, typically used for broadcasting onto epoxy resin which is freshly placed in order to produce effects with multiple colors, such as to imitate granite or marble.

Color Layering – Color layering is the art of applying different layers of colors in order to achieve a faux finish or variegated effect, such as with antiquing or marbleizing.

Decorative Aggregate – Decorative Aggregate is typically natural stones that are rich in color, such as quartz, limestone, granite and basalts, which are used in order to enhance decorative toppings and exposed-aggregate concretes.

Decorative Concrete – This is concrete which is been enhanced in some way, whether by pattern, texture, color or a combination of treatments.

Dyes – Dyes are translucent solutions of color which contain extremely fine pigments which penetrate the concrete surface. Dyes do not react chemically with the concrete as an acid stain would, and they are available in a wide range of colors.

Engraving – This is the act of cutting or routing patterns and designs in concrete which has hardened with the use of special equipment and tools. Typically the concrete is stained before routed, so that the routed areas appear like grout lines when the routing is finished.

Exposed Aggregate – This is a decorative surface coating which is formed by scrubbing, abrasive blasting or pressure washing the surface mortar from a concrete slab in order to expose the aggregates beneath.

Finishing – Finishing newly placed concrete or concrete overlays by way of leveling, compacting smoothing or otherwise treating the surface in order to produce a desired appearance.

Float Finish – A float finish is a typically rough surface finish which is obtained with the help of a bull or hand float.