What should you put in front of your house, between the gate and the front door? Pebbles, earth, slate… and why not colored concrete? The design of your driveway may well require the right choice of materials. In particular, you’ll need a hard-wearing, solid path that allows vehicles and people to move unhindered towards your entrance. Colored concrete is a coating that’s perfectly suited to this purpose. What’s more, its design and installation can be made easier if you take advantage of some of the tips we share with you in this article.
What is colored concrete?
Conventional concrete is made by mixing cement, sand, water and gravel. The same is true of colored concrete, except for a few details. Standard concrete adopts a gray hue, while tinted or colored concrete can adopt several shades of color. Shades and intensity vary according to the choice of cement and gravel color.
Colored concrete adds a more attractive aesthetic touch to your installations. It can be used to renovate driveways, garden paths, walls and floors. It is even an alternative to conventional coatings. This is due to its many characteristics. Tinted concrete can be defined as a decorative concrete appreciated for its various aesthetic qualities. It blends in perfectly with outdoor landscaping and offers a wide range of shades to suit every style. For an overview of possible variations, visit Beton-deco.lafarge.fr, a site specializing in concrete solutions.
You can also work with this type of concrete once it has been poured. This allows you to embellish it with relief or texture. Better still, you can treat it to facilitate movement for people with reduced mobility. Concrete can be finished in a number of ways:
- printed concrete
- brushed concrete
- smoothed concrete,
- pervious concrete.
Why choose coloured concrete for your driveway?
Choosing concrete as the surface for a garden path offers both aesthetic and environmental benefits. Concrete is renowned for its strength and durability. It is also appreciated for its decorative qualities and its adaptability to different types of landscaping. More specifically, colored concrete offers additional advantages.
Tinted concrete lends an original, modern look to your outdoor landscaping. In addition to its functional benefits, you can enjoy a personalized look for your driveway. This material can also be used as an alternative to concrete slabs with glued-down tiles. Colored concrete also offers virtually unlimited creative possibilities. For example, you could design a personalized garden path to suit your needs. Add to this its adaptability to all types of outdoor configuration and the possibility of tone-on-tone shades, and all you have to do is imagine the right layout to enjoy a su rmesure decoration.
Another advantage: easy maintenance. Because it can be poured on treated surfaces, colored concrete offers optimized resistance to abrasion, impact and weathering. What’s more, its coloring remains durable over the long term, eliminating the need for frequent renovation work.
How to make colored concrete?
Colored concrete owes its pigmentation to artificial or natural pigments incorporated into the material using a variety of techniques. The choice of technique depends essentially on the type of coloration desired.
For surface coloration, a hardening colorant is required. This can be a mixture of pigments, additives and cement. Usually in powder form, this colorant is sprinkled on the concrete surface after troweling. The surface is then impregnated with concrete bleed water and smoothed. The concrete thus benefits from a thin layer of coloring and a wear layer, or protective film.
For in-situ coloring, the colorant used is incorporated directly into the concrete mixer or batch mixer during production. Once dry, the concrete will benefit from the chosen hue and can be given the finish you prefer for your outdoor landscaping. Deactivated, acid, bush-hammered, smoothed, polished or printed finishes… the possibilities are endless.
When it comes to tinting options, you also have complete freedom of choice. You can create custom shades or use the shades suggested by your concrete supplier. In addition to bright colors, white and black are also available for colored concrete.
How do you create a coloured concrete driveway?
Creating a concrete driveway is a project that requires certain precautions and preparations. You can do it yourself, provided you have good DIY skills. You can also entrust the task to a professional, although the second option is still recommended, especially if the driveway is suitable for vehicles.
Here are the most important stages of your project:
- Obtain administrative authorization for the work;
- Drawing up a plan of the driveway, budget and concrete requirements;
- Choice of formwork materials;
- Site preparation and demarcation of work area;
- Formwork preparation and hedgehog installation;
- Concrete preparation and placement;
- Finishing and surface cleaning;
- Protecting everything with a watertight cover before removing the formwork after 3 to 5 days’ drying.
For the application of colored concrete, it is necessary to :
- Clean the surface to be concreted to remove all traces of impurities;
- Delimit the area to be concreted by creating a formwork;
- Prepare the concrete, paying careful attention to the dosage of water, cement and pigment to ensure a uniform color;
- Allow preparation to dry before applying paint and laying concrete;
- Finish with treatment products such as water-repellent resin or colored hardeners.
