Colored Concrete in Burns Harbor, Indiana: Plain Gray Looks

That’s what people notice first, once a top coat has worn thin. We hear it on patio calls all over Burns Harbor. So Colored Concrete in Burns Harbor is the pour we recommend for a slab that needs color through it.

A plain slab can look fine the week we pour it. After a winter near the mill and the open lake, sun and wind fade a surface coating. Then people tell us the patio looks wrong next to the house. Because those yards sit in that setting, a dull gray pad stands out in the backyard.

A lot of these yards sit near the working mill and the open lake. Homeowners still want a backyard set apart from that industrial edge. When the patio is plain gray, it sits in the same color family as the industrial lots nearby. We’ve had people point at a sound slab and ask for color anyway. The gray was the whole complaint.

Sun and Wind on Colored Concrete in Burns Harbor, Indiana

We’ve pulled up coatings that chalked and flaked while the concrete under them was still solid. So a paint or a thin color coat is a poor bet on these patios. These patios take hard sun and winter weather. When the color sits only on the surface, foot traffic and a shovel wear a path through it. For example, we’ve seen the line from the back door go pale first. The corners still held some tint.

We mix integral color into the load before we pour. Then the tint runs through the slab. A scuff still shows the same color. We still tool the joints and cure the slab the way we do on any patio. But the color is already in the mix on Colored Concrete in Burns Harbor.

Yards here sit near that mill and the open water. Sun and wind fade a coating. After winter, the coating is thinner. So we mix the color through the slab. The pigment is the one we wrote down at the house.

How We Pour Colored Concrete in Burns Harbor, Indiana

On a colored patio we start with the mix design. So the color goes in before the truck leaves the plant. We pick a tone that still looks right beside the siding when the sun comes off the lake. Because Burns Harbor yards get that light, a very pale mix can look washed on a cloudy day. After we set the forms, we place the colored load and finish it while the surface is still workable.

We hold color cards against the siding in the yard. A shop light is a poor match for light off the lake. So we pick the color outside, before we order. Then we write the color name down for the plant. We have been family owned and operated since 2006.

Colored Concrete in Burns Harbor also covers the flatwork that ties the patio to the house. When a service walk stays plain gray, the colored slab can look patched on. So we talk about the walk and the step landing on the same visit. We can stamp a border, or run an overlay where an older slab is still sound enough to keep. Stamped work and overlays sit with our decorative concrete.

People have asked about acid stains. We do acid stains on garage floors and interior slabs. For a backyard patio, we come back to color mixed through the concrete. Past jobs are in our Photo Gallery. Some slabs are too far gone for a coat. So we’ve torn those out and poured them back in color. Colored Concrete in Burns Harbor can include the removal and the new slab on the same visit. That work is part of our colored concrete work. We strip the forms and backfill the edges before we leave the yard.