PDA

View Full Version : How long do concrete stains last outdoors?



Stephen Tashiro
08-11-2013, 2:55 PM
How long do concrete stains (the kind that are supposed to make concrete look attractive) last outdoors before they require some significant maintenance or "re-painting"? Here in the southwest, they would have to resist the sunshine.

Harvey M. Taylor
08-11-2013, 4:30 PM
If it is mixed in while on the truck, it will last as long as the concrete.

Reed Gray
08-11-2013, 5:15 PM
Dies are one thing, and are pigment added to the mix. They are pretty color fast. The surface dies, which are acid based/etched, work best when there is more cement to the concrete mix, and less aggregate because the sand and rock will not absorb the color. Also, the more troweling and floating that is done, the better because this works the coarse stuff down, and brings the fine stuff to the surface. The surface needs to be sealed and resealed as often as once a year. I saw some in Wyoming some years back, and it didn't look good. In part because it was a sloppy pour and finish job, and looked like it had little to no sealer on it. With that and the extreme weather and altitude, it was no surprise to me. On an interior slab, which is out of sun light and weather, it would hold almost forever. Used it on counter tops, and some heat/cooling floors. However for floors, you tell them, you will have this covered with carpet or soft tile in a few years, and they say oh no we won't, then you come back a few years later, and they say, you were right, that stuff is too hard for walking on. I am a smart concrete finisher, I now have a wood shop.

robo hippy

Stephen Tashiro
08-11-2013, 5:59 PM
The surface dies, which are acid based/etched, work best when there is more cement to the concrete mix, and less aggregate because the sand and rock will not absorb the color.


Yes, I'm asking about concrete stains, not the pigments that are mixed-in with the wet concrete.



I am a smart concrete finisher, I now have a wood shop.


A wood shop with a wood floor?

Curt Fuller
08-11-2013, 6:57 PM
I've been in the ready mix concrete business my whole life. As Reed said, colored (dyed) concrete needs to be sealed at least yearly. But even then it's going to fade. Most stamped finishes are done with a colored release that serves to add a contrasting color to the concrete and keep the stamp form pulling up the concrete when you lift it off. Those will also fade with time. Stains are relatively new in our area and are used primarily on indoor concrete. I don't know a lot about the durability of the color but I can't imagine it being any better than dyed concrete. I would avoid any of the colors that are primarily red. Red seems to fade to pink. The other colors just fade to a lighter brown.

Reed Gray
08-11-2013, 7:35 PM
No wood floor, unless you count the couple of inches of shavings on the floor, but I do have pads. I did my first stains maybe 20 years ago. Sun/UV light will get to most pigments eventually. Wind and weather, especially if you go through freeze/thaw/hot summer/high altitude will destroy the top. Exposed aggregate finish is maybe 20 to 30 year old concrete, and sand finish is 10 to 15 year old concrete.

robo hippy

Jerry Thompson
08-11-2013, 7:35 PM
IMHO stains will last forever. I have oil stains in my drive way from 1980. I put down "Remover" ASAP but they are still there although diminished over time.

Stephen Tashiro
08-12-2013, 1:18 AM
I have oil stains in my drive way from 1980. . Perhaps transmission fluid can be used for a a red.

Brian Elfert
08-12-2013, 10:18 AM
I would like a concrete driveway for durability, but here in the snow belt black asphalt works better as the black absorbs sunlight and helps melt the snow and ice. I've looked at black dye added to the concrete when poured, but it adds 1/3 to 1/2 to the cost of the concrete.

Curt Fuller
08-12-2013, 4:42 PM
I would like a concrete driveway for durability, but here in the snow belt black asphalt works better as the black absorbs sunlight and helps melt the snow and ice. I've looked at black dye added to the concrete when poured, but it adds 1/3 to 1/2 to the cost of the concrete.

Cost is probably a regional thing. But around here it's going add about $30 per yard. We pour a lot of black dyed concrete though. It's used a lot in the drive up window lanes of banks and fast food places because it hides the oil drips. And it's pretty common for the reason you stated, melting the snow.

Brian Elfert
08-12-2013, 4:49 PM
Cost is probably a regional thing. But around here it's going add about $30 per yard. We pour a lot of black dyed concrete though. It's used a lot in the drive up window lanes of banks and fast food places because it hides the oil drips. And it's pretty common for the reason you stated, melting the snow.

What is the going cost on concrete these days? $30 a yard still seems like a hefty add-on for a large driveway.

Val Kosmider
08-12-2013, 6:57 PM
What is the going cost on concrete these days? $30 a yard still seems like a hefty add-on for a large driveway. Back when I lived in snow country we figured even more than that. It seemed that a $3,000 asphalt drive...maybe 15 x 60.....could push up toward $5-6,000 when concrete was used. Nobody used it for personal driveways because it could not stand up to the freeze thaw cycles, especially down near the road where the driveway, the road, and the concrete gutter were all moving at a different pace; as well as the impact from road chemicals. It sure was tempting.....

Brian Elfert
08-12-2013, 7:14 PM
Back when I lived in snow country we figured even more than that. It seemed that a $3,000 asphalt drive...maybe 15 x 60.....could push up toward $5-6,000 when concrete was used. Nobody used it for personal driveways because it could not stand up to the freeze thaw cycles, especially down near the road where the driveway, the road, and the concrete gutter were all moving at a different pace; as well as the impact from road chemicals. It sure was tempting.....

The $30 a yard add-on I was mentioning is the cost to add the black dye to the concrete. Nothing to do with the cost of a concrete driveway. Plenty of people here in the Minneapolis area have concrete driveways with no more issues than asphalt driveways. The primary reason people don't do concrete is the additional cost over asphalt, not that concrete doesn't last as long.

My asphalt driveway cost over $7,000 in 2001, but the company did a premium job and it was a whole new driveway, not a re-pave.

Curt Fuller
08-13-2013, 9:56 PM
The $30 I mentioned was only for the addition of color. Concrete runs about $120 per yard here for 4000psi mix, 5 yards and over is delivered free, under 5 yards there's a $150 delivery charge. Tax on top of all that. But that's still just the cost of the concrete. Labor to tear out the old driveway and replace it depends on the contractor and what the job involves. Another thing that is getting expensive here is disposing of the old concrete. It costs almost as much to get rid of it as it does to buy the new stuff. Nothing is cheap anymore.