Glossary of Decorative Concrete Terms

Provided by The Concrete Network

www.concretenetwork.com

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The concrete industry covers a broad range of people who design, use, apply, and build with concrete. Whether it is a concrete contractor, a manufacturer, an architect, designer, homeowner, builder, or supplier, it benefits everyone to have a general understanding of terms used within the industry. Provided is a glossary of most commonly used decorative concrete terms and definitions.

A

abrasion resistance - How well a concrete surface or decorative coating resists being worn away by friction or rubbing.

abrasive blasting - Propelling an abrasive medium (such as sand or steel shot) at high velocity against concrete to roughen, clean, or profile the surface in preparation for decorative coatings or overlays. Methods include sandblasting, shotblasting, bead blasting,and sand brushing.

accelerator - An admixture used to shorten the set time of concrete and/or speed strength development. Accelerators are also used to the speed the chemical reaction and shorten the curing time of resin-based coatings.

Acetone - Common solvent. Often used as a carrier for solvent based sealers. Considered an exempt solvent from VOC regulations.

acid etching Application of muriatic or phosphoric acid to clean or profile a concrete surface. Used as an alternative to abrasive blasting for surface preparation. (Also see neutralize.)

acid stain - (or chemical stain) A stain containing inorganic salts dissolved in an acidic, water-based solution that reacts chemically with the minerals in hardened concrete to produce permanent, transparent color that will not peel or flake. Gives concrete an attractive variegated or marbleized appearance. Colors tend to be earth tones, such as tans, browns, reddish browns, and greens. (Also see polymer stain).

adhesive stencils - Adhesive-backed masking patterns made of vinyl or plastic used for creating stenciled concrete effects. The adhesive keeps the patterns firmly in place on the concrete surface while the decorative treatment of choice is applied, such as acid stains, dyes, spray-down systems, etching gels, or sandblasting. (Also see sandblast stenciling.)

admixture - An ingredient in concreteother than water, portland cement, and aggregate used to modify the properties of concrete in its freshly mixed, setting, or hardened states. May be added to concrete at the batch plant or on the job site. Prepackaged admixtures are available for convenient job site addition, giving contractors the ability to modify the concrete they receive when necessary, such as extending the amount of time available for decorative stamping.

aggregate - A granular material such as sand, rock, crushed stone, gravel, or other particles added to concrete to improve its structural performance. (Also see decorative aggregate.)

air content- The amount of entrained or entrapped air in concrete, usually expressed as a percentage of total volume.

air entrainment - Adding an air-entraining admixture to fresh concrete to cause the development of microscopic air bubbles. Helps to improve the freeze-thaw resistance and durability of hardened concrete.

alligatoring- Surface imperfections in a coating resulting in a wrinkled appearance. Usually caused by incompatibility of a newly applied coating with an existing surface coating orsealer. Also know as orange peel or fish eyeing.

antiquing- A color layering technique for giving decorative concrete surfaces an aged or mottled appearance.

B

bleed through - Color change caused by the diffusion of color from an underlying surface.

bleed water (bleeding) - Water that rises to the surface of freshly placed concrete due to segregation. Bleeding may interfere with finishingoperations. If a dry-shake color hardener is being applied to the concrete surface, some bleed water is needed to wet out the hardener sufficiently so it can be floated into the surface.

blistering - The formation of blisters in toppings or coatings and the loss of adhesion with the underlying substrate. On concrete surfaces, this is often caused by moisture or moisture vapor transmission problems.

bond - The degree of adhesion or grip of a material (such as coatings, toppings, repair mortars, or sealers) to an existing surface.

bonding agent - An adhesive agent used to increase the adherence of coatings or toppings to the existing surface. Also used to bond new concrete to old. Also known as a primer.

bond breaker - A material that prevents adhesion of materials to a concrete substrate.

broadcast - To hand toss a dry-shake color hardener,decorative aggregate, or other dry material in a uniform layer over fresh concrete, overlays, or coatings to add color or traction. (Also see seeding.)

broom finish - Surface texture obtained by pushing a broom over freshly placed concrete.

build - The wet or dry thickness of a coating or topping. (Also see high-build coating

bull float - A tool with a 3- to 4-foot rectangular blade made of wood, resin, aluminum, or magnesium. Used to eliminate high and low spots in freshly placed concrete slabs, embed large aggregate at the surface, bring a layer of paste to the surface needed during final finishing, and float in dry-shake color hardener. Long handles either clip on or screw into the float head so it can be pushed out onto the slab while the user stands at the perimeter. (Also see hand float.)

bush hammer - A percussive hammer with rows of pyramid-shaped points used to roughen or profile a concrete surface.

C

calcium chloride vapor-emission test - An ASTM test used to measure the volume of moisture vapor released from a concrete substrate over time (typically 24 hours). Too much moisture emitted from a slab can affect the performance and bonding of overlays, coatings, and sealers. Moisture vapor test kits are available that include small containers of preweighed, unhydrated calcium chloride.

cast in place - Concrete placed and finished in its final location.

cement replacement - (or supplementary cementitious material) A material used in concrete as a partial replacement for portland cement. Includes pozzolans, fly ash, and granulated blast furnace slag. Can have positive effects on decorative concrete by improving finishability, reducing permeability, and reducing efflorescence.

cementitious - A material containing portland cement as one of its components or having cement-like properties.

chalking - Loose, powdery substance caused by deterioration of a concrete surface or degradation of a coating or overlay.

coating system - A complete system requiring a number of coats of material to be applied separately in a predetermined order and at prescribed intervals to allow for sufficient drying and curing. May include a primer, one or more intermediate coats, and a topcoat.

compressive strength - The maximum compressive stress concrete or cementitious overlay materials are capable of sustaining, expressed as pounds per square inch (psi).

color chips - Plastic chips, available in various colors and sizes, for broadcasting onto freshly placed epoxy resin flooring systems, such as epoxy terrazzo, to produce multicolored effects.

color layering - Applying layers of color to achieve variegated or faux finish effects, such as antiquing or marbleizing. For example. a dry-shake color hardener may serve as the base color, accented by a pigmented powdered or liquid release agent, followed by additional accenting with acid stains, dyes, or tints.

concrete countertops - A handcrafted alternative to manufactured countertop surfaces. Can be precast in a shop in molds built to the customers specifications or cast onsite, by setting a mold on top of the base kitchen cabinets and then filling with concrete. The use of stains, pigments, decorative aggregates, and epoxy coatings can give concrete countertops the look, texture, and feel of quarried stone such as marble, granite, and limestone.

concrete surface profile (CSP) - The degree of roughness of a concrete surface achievable with various surface preparation methods. The International Concrete Repair Institute has identified nine distinct roughness profiles considered to be suitable for the application of sealers, coatings, and polymer-modified overlays.

consistency - The ability of fresh concrete to flow. The usual measure of consistency is slump.

control (or contraction) joint - Sawed or tooled groove in a concrete slab used to regulate the location of cracking.

coverage rate - The area that a specified volume of coating will cover to a specified thickness upon drying.

crack chasing -Routing out cracks in concrete with a saw or angle grinder before filling with a repair material.

crack stitching - A method of repairing cracks that involves drilling holes on both sides of the crack and grouting in wire or U-shaped metal strips that span the crack.

cracks, moving - Cracks in concrete that are still moving, or active. Often they are structural in nature and continue through the entire depth of the concrete.

cracks, static - Random, non-moving hairline cracks that only affect the concrete surface (also see craze cracks and plastic shrinkage cracks).

craze cracks - A series of fine, random cracks caused by shrinkage of the surface mortar.

crusting - A condition that occurs when the surface of freshly placed concrete dries too quickly, often due to exposure to direct sun, wind, or high temperatures.

curing - Action taken to maintain favorable moisture and temperature conditions of freshly placed concrete or cementitious materials during a defined period of time following placement. Helps to ensure adequate hydration and proper hardening.

curing compound - A liquid that, when applied to the surface of newly placed concrete, forms a membrane on the concrete or penetrates the concrete to retard the evaporation of water.

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