Colored Concrete Issues & Question

I had an inground pool put in and yesterday they poured the decking area around the pool. The contractor and I had discussed the color and that it would be broom finished. The color was like the color of clay/ redish brown (that you would find in the ground). The contractor stated that he would do one bag of color per three yards of concrete. I stated I wanted it to be dark and he said okay I'll do 2 bags of color per 3 yards. Needless to say, you can't even tell that it is colored conrete. It looks like regular concrete. My driveway, which is regualar concrete, is darker than what I have around the pool decking. As far as the color is concerned, isn't there a formula he should have followed for how many bags of color to use? There is one area that has some brown streaks where he broom finsihed it. I noticed that they were sticking the broom in the chlorinated pool water and then brushing it across the conrete to achieve that broom finshed look. Did that bleach out the conrete? Is that the proper procedure?

The contractor want me to pay the fina; installment for the completed job but ai am very dissatisfied with the job. What is my recourse? What is the best solution to achieve the color that I want?

Crews, if he fulfilled his scope of work as you agreed to, then you need to pay him. If he said he would do 2 bags of color, in-fact did do this, then unless you had a specific color chosen from a chart, he had no way of knowing exactly what your level of color expectation was.

Ask him what can be done to bring this closer to your desired color, you probably should offer to pay him for extra work involved on his part.

I understand what you are saying about payment; however, in my opinion, it is NOT what we agreed on. Yes, he poured concrete but it is not right. He/ we were very CLEAR on what I wanted and it literally looks like no color was added, which I payed extra for. I am very dissatisfied. It is very apparent that he made a mistake somewhere along the way. I will have to take a picture and post it.

Did you have any insight into the other questions I posed concerning the proper method for pouring colored concrete. If so, it would be greatly appreciated. For example, he broom finished the concrete with chlorinated pool water. One more question, how long does it take before the concrete resumes it full/ ending color? What I am looking at is not pretty. Thanks for your response!

I can understand your frustration with not getting the finished product you were hoping for. I'd also suggest holding at least 10% of the total amount due until you get this issue resolved. You cannot simply not pay him but the jobs not finished until the scope of work you agreed to has been met. Hopefully you have a scope of work in writing.

There are masonry stains that can be applied to change the color, but posting a pic or 2 will help in seeing exactly what your concerns are. You can up load from your computer real easy. Scroll down from the message box to "Attach Files" / "Manage Attachments" and follow the prompts.

As far as if he preformed his work properly, I'm not a concrete guy, but one should be along shortly.

I actually have a contract with the guy who is building my pool and he subcontracted with the concrete guy. The concrete guy was telling me to pay the pool guy the remainder of his money. I have already paid roughly $25,000.00 and an extra $4000 for extra concrete that was not included in the ppol price and owe him $1,100.00, which is the remaining balance. I have refused to pay the pool guy the balance until this conrete issue is resolved because it is part of the pool. The concrete guy said the issue is between me and him and not me and the pool guy (he just does not want me to make the pool guy suffer for his mistake). I diagree because I have an agreement with the pool guy, not the conrete guy. Anyway, do you have to keep reapplying a stain if that is the route I decide to go? Of course, it has been raining here all day so you can not see wjat I am talking about as far as the conrete is concerned. As soon as it dries out, I will post pictures. Thanks again for all of your help!

Put some gentle pressure on the pool guy to resolve the issue. He was the one who sub-contracted to get the concrete work done. If he wants to pay the concrete guy, then thats his choice. By all means do not pay in full till this is resolved. If you do it will never get done.

What did the concrete guy have to say about the color issue and what does he plan to do about it? Tell him you will gladly pay why the work is complete and not until.

I don't think you have to reapply concrete stain like you do on wood decks.

The homeowner should only know what color he wants, the rest is up to the contractor and his subtrade. I would offer to pay him the total only after the concrete has been removed and replaced, I might settle for a stain if it was done to my liking complete with a warrentee.

If the concrete guy wants to play hardball, get a few quotes from other contractors for having the unacceptable concrete removed and replaced with a color you want. Explain to the color-blind contractor that you will expect him to pay for the properly-installed concrete. Take him to small claims court if he refuses to pay for the replacement work. And don't get lawyers involved, because then everyone loses (except the lawyers).

Also, using chlorinated water to assist in applying a broom finish is not an acceptable practice--it will bleach out any dye used in the original concrete.

I've had some good and bad experiences pouring dyed concrete, more of the latter than former, unfortunately. Best results were achieved when broadcasting powdered dye onto the wet concrete during finishing operations, by someone who knows what he or she is dong.

I googled colored concrete and read in about five minutes and now I know.
#1 all cements are not the same color, gray is not gray, it changes from manufacturer and from batch to batch and real light colors require white cement to be ordered.
#2 there has to be enough pigment to incase the cement particles.

From my own observation around here the placers always use mixed color for light colors and for black, they trowel it in on the surface, unless they are doing a raised surface where the edge will be seen.