My Favorite Concrete Coloring Products
Find Concrete Coloring Supplies
B&J Colorants (www.blueconcrete.com):
Perhaps B&J, owned by Murray Clark, is less well-known than other color companies, but Michael Karmody, Stone Soup Concrete in Florence, MA, won't use anything else. "We like the colors by Murray Clark—he does a great job." B&J uses 16 primary colors to get any color on a Benjamin Moore color chart.
As was also true of Stone Soup's Mike Karmody, Lampe Concrete Studio in San Marcos, CA, uses pigments from B&J Colorants. "I like to use their pigments because I can give Murray a color number from a Benjamin Moore color guide and he can tell me how to mix his primary pigments to get that color. That means I can walks into a customer and show them a big thick color book and they pick one they like. That's been a lifesaver—it saves me so much time in color development."
SkimStone/Rudd Co. |
Skimstone (www.skimstone.com):
Kim Longo's (Faux Villa Decorative Finishes Studio) favorite base medium for concrete faux effects is Skimstone. "Skimstone is easy to use and adjust the thickness as well as pigment. If you are using many colors on one project, be sure to keep your material tightly covered, and make sure you clean up immediately as the material sets up pretty quickly, particularly in warm temperatures. Remember to record your custom "recipes" in order that you can duplicate the colors and effects if necessary! It takes some practice calculating the ratios of liquid solution and pigment and powder depending on the effect you want, but that comes with practice."
Pigment:
Wayne Sellon, Tajmawall, Temecula, CA, recommends an inexpensive and concentrated pigment he buys at Home Depot in pint bottles. (The brand he buys is made by a company called Pro-Line—not related to Proline stamping tools. I was unable, however, to find a link to that company and the guys in the paint department at my local Home Depot didn't know what I was talking about.) "They only carry four colors," Sellon says, "raw umber, burnt umber, yellow oxide, and lamp black. We often add some of those to our overlay stains to get just the right hue or shade."
 |
Lithocrete (www.lithocrete.com):
According to their web site, this proprietary system for surface seeding materials "such as granite, glass, marble, limestone, pebbles, shells, and other aggregates, allows designers to select the appropriate colors that fit with the aesthetic requirements of their projects." Tim Blankenship, CSolutions, Atlanta, GA, says that although they've done similar things in the past, CSolutions just became a certified installer and "we're excited about getting into it."
 |
Lafarge (www.lafargenorthamerica.com): Portland cement in most cases is simply a commodity and few people care which cement they are using. Michael Karmody of Stone Soup Concrete in Florence, MA feels the same way, but he demands consistency. "I'm not sure Lafarge cement is my favorite, necessarily, but it's important when it comes to color because we live and die on our color match. If you change the cement, it changes the nuance of the color. We always do samples to get the right color and they are large, about 4 feet square, we need the size to demonstrate both the color and the patina that the final product will have." Find Integral Color Supplies
Find Concrete Coloring Supplies
Return to My Favorite Concrete Products
|
Concrete Stencils
Concrete Tools
Concrete Equipment
Overlays & Toppings
Molds & Supplies