Pattern imprinted concrete - Colour variation

[anniebee]

Hi we have just had our drive laid with PIC and chose a red colour with a bit of black in it. Everything went well but for some reason when they came back a few days later to wash off they only done half of it. Then the snow came and the other half was not washed off untill about 10 days later. There is a very noticeable colour difference and it looks awful. It has not yet been sealed and the contractor initially said it will look okay once it is sealed. He also mentioned adding more colour to it. Is this feasible? From reading this website the dye should not be left on longer than 96 hours.
Any advice would be appreciated. thank you

[lutonlagerlout]

I am surprised that your concrete drive was laid at this time of year, was the temperature ok the day they laid it?
a picture would be handy for diagnosis
cheers LLL

[Ted]

Please post a photo...

Why do you thnk they only washed half the driveway at a time? It doesn't take that long to wash down an average sized drive - why would they want to travel to site twice to do this small chore?

PIC looks much better once sealed but if there is a huge colour variation between one half of the drive and the other, the sealer may make this discrepancy even more obvious.

There are lots of tricks installers have to hide/mend small areas of imperfection; some work, some work temporarily and many don't work very well at all. However, I don't really know what the contractor can be planning if he has to alter the colour on half of the drive...

But we need a photo really to comment...

[anniebee]

Thank you both for your replies and I will get a picture downloaded tomorrow as for the temperature that was also something I was worried about and did actually query but was assured that the concrete was safe to lay unless it dropped below minus six and was assured they monitored the weather carefully. Apparently only half the drive was washed off because the colour had not set properly, however can not be too sure as this was a message that had been passed on to me and by that time the dye had been on for about three days I think.

[Ted]

Well you are not supposed to lay concrete if the temperature is going to drop below 4 or 5 degrees. Water is a major 'ingredient' in concrete and so when you hit zero degree temperatures, water starts to turn to ice and this affects your concrete if the reaction between the cement and water has only just started.

Did they do your drive in two pours (ie, pour, colour and imprint one section one day, then pour, colour and imprint a second section on a later day)?

If it was all done on one day, I can't see how 'the colour had not set properly' on one part but had on the other...

[lutonlagerlout]

i met a load of blokes working on the M1 the other week and they were sent home because it was too cold to pour concrete.
I have concreted years ago in close to zero conditions (under duress from then boss) and within days the top had crumbled
be interested to see the pictures,but sound like the frost (if there was one) has got it
LLL

[anniebee]

Hi thanks again for your replies, yes the drive was done on two separate days but it was washed off differently to how it was laid if that makes sense! Some of the concrete that was laid on the first day was washed off and some of the concrete that was laid on the second day was also washed off so on the second wash off roughly ten days later again it was some from the first day and some from the second! bet that has confused you....

[Ted]

I think I have got my head round that...

Doesn't sound the most professional approach to washing off. If the colour discrepancy is between one pour and the other, one should allow for a small colour deviation as the colour may be from different batches (might also be from different suppliers although that is pretty unprofessional), etc etc...

We need some photos though and ideally a bit of an accompanying explanation detailing what was done to the one section that is different in colour to the other section...

[anniebee]

Hi do you know how i can add a photo?

[Ted]

Hi do you know how i can add a photo?

How to upload photos