How to Texture and Color Cement

Colored and textured cement or concrete

Flat cement can look dull and uninspired. You can make it come to life with textures and colors. Here are some tips on how to texture and color cement for patios, sidewalks, poolsides, sculptures and any other form of concrete.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Whitewashed effects

   Scrape textures over the surface of wet concrete. Try sweeping a broom over the surface of cement while it is still soft but has set up sufficiently to hold an impression. You can also lightly use the tips of the broom to form little speckles. Or you can use combs and spatulas and putty knives to make designs and textures, and try using the square notched trowel used for applying tile adhesives to create interesting ribbon and line effects.

2. Faux finishes make this structure look as if it's made of stone.

   Press forms into concrete while the surface still impressionable. There are all kinds of preformed texture stamps you can buy or rent to mimic the surface of stone, rock, pebbles and many other designs. Or if you have something with an interesting texture you want to transfer, you can press it into the moist cement, cleaning it each time you use it again.

3. Not all rocks are real.

   Embed materials into soft cement. You can sprinkle sand onto the surface of damp concrete to keep it from becoming slippery. Or use decorative pebbles and press them into the concrete. If you want to take the time to do something really artistic, you can make pictures or designs with pebbles, small tiles, broken crockery or colored stones.

4. Cast your own sculpture or add your own effects to an existing one.

   Sculpt the surface before it sets up. This works better on curved or three-dimensional surfaces rather than flat areas. You can even do small sculptural designs along edgings or vertical surfaces where a relief surface is for decoration and not to be walked upon.

5. Color or texture cement

   Add colors with concrete powders sprinkled or rubbed into the surface of the concrete when wet. Or mix the color directly into the cement. You can also achieve wonderful effects using acid stain and different colored paints on dry or even old cement.

6. Swimming pool with cement rocks

   By coloring and texturing cement, you can make columns into marble, walkways into pieces of art, patios look like flagstone and flat surfaces look like real brick. You can create faux rocks or colorful sculptures. More ideas and information can be found in the additional Resources listed below.

Resources

• Landscaping and Gardening Info and Ideas
• Why colored concrete?
• The mold store
• Concrete stamping
• How to cast concrete shapes
• Gates & Croft Horticultural Design