Chucktown
Well-known member
This concrete is actually on the walkways in my back and side yard.
When the contractor installed them, he did so without a real plan in place. I had specifically asked him to use white concrete. He said white concrete was prohibitively expensive, so he used Brickform color hardener (ash white) in order to get the color I wanted. For the most part, the color is exactly what I want. They problem was in the finish.
I was going for the rock-salt look, and scoring the concrete to make it almost look like white travertine. The contractor wanted to stamp the concrete, which I had no idea about until they started stamping the damn stuff. Of course, my contractor had another job that morning that he was visiting, so he left the concrete finisher in charge. This was in August...so you can imagine how quickly the concrete set. I immediately phoned him, told him to buy the effing rock salt and get his *** over here before they are ripping out 12 yards of concrete. He did, and they did the best they could to give me what I originally wanted with, given the monumental screwups.
They ended up having to grind down the top of the concrete because they were weren't able to finish trowel the concrete quick enough and it left towel marks.. So, that has left me with spots in the concrete. I can't tell if they are grey from the grinding wheel they used, but the spots that have been ground down definitely show more. In addition, the sandy aggregate was exposed. I realize I'm probably unlikely to whiten the aggregate.
Is there any decent white concrete dye or stain (I don't want anything that won't penetrate and won't be permanent) available that someone can recommend?
Photo 1 is showing the buttered edges that needed grinding.
Photo 2 is showing the exposed aggregate and grey discoloring.
Photo 3 is showing the rough texture that needed grinding.
When the contractor installed them, he did so without a real plan in place. I had specifically asked him to use white concrete. He said white concrete was prohibitively expensive, so he used Brickform color hardener (ash white) in order to get the color I wanted. For the most part, the color is exactly what I want. They problem was in the finish.
I was going for the rock-salt look, and scoring the concrete to make it almost look like white travertine. The contractor wanted to stamp the concrete, which I had no idea about until they started stamping the damn stuff. Of course, my contractor had another job that morning that he was visiting, so he left the concrete finisher in charge. This was in August...so you can imagine how quickly the concrete set. I immediately phoned him, told him to buy the effing rock salt and get his *** over here before they are ripping out 12 yards of concrete. He did, and they did the best they could to give me what I originally wanted with, given the monumental screwups.
They ended up having to grind down the top of the concrete because they were weren't able to finish trowel the concrete quick enough and it left towel marks.. So, that has left me with spots in the concrete. I can't tell if they are grey from the grinding wheel they used, but the spots that have been ground down definitely show more. In addition, the sandy aggregate was exposed. I realize I'm probably unlikely to whiten the aggregate.
Is there any decent white concrete dye or stain (I don't want anything that won't penetrate and won't be permanent) available that someone can recommend?
Photo 1 is showing the buttered edges that needed grinding.
Photo 2 is showing the exposed aggregate and grey discoloring.
Photo 3 is showing the rough texture that needed grinding.
