A broom finish is the most common exterior concrete finish in the country, and for good reason: dragging a broom across wet concrete leaves a fine ridged texture that stays grippy when it rains. What it does not do is look like anything. Stain fixes that without touching the texture, which is why almost every driveway, porch and pool deck below started as plain broomed gray.
Aztec Brown and Sunset Tan Antiquing™ on a broom finished driveway and front porch.
An unplanned peach driveway, rescued
Nobody orders a peach driveway. This one came out that way, and the fix was two products in sequence: Molasses ColorWave® as a base coat to kill the peach, then Aztec Brown Antiquing™ over the top to deepen it into brown. There was enough left over to do the patio. More of the color in the Aztec Brown gallery.
A broomed driveway in Buff tinted sealer
EasyTint™ is a sealer with color in it, which makes it a one-step option on a broomed driveway: color and protection in the same pass, and more consistent coverage than a stain on concrete that has been out in the weather for years. Buff is a warm neutral that reads as upgraded rather than colored. See the range in the tinted sealer gallery.
A back porch extension in Cafe Royale
After extending their back porch, this customer put down two coats of Cafe Royale Antiquing™ Stain and two coats of EasySeal™ Satin over the whole broomed surface, old section and new. Satin was the right call on a covered porch — gloss on a broom finish under a roof can read as shiny rather than rich. More in the Cafe Royale gallery.
Charcoal, on a broom finish patio
The close-up pair below is the best look on this page at what stain actually does to a broom finish. The ridges are still there; they are just charcoal now instead of gray. Charcoal Antiquing™ is the most requested color we sell for exactly this reason. More in the Charcoal gallery.
A pole barn patio in Driftwood
Driftwood is a mid-brown with gray in it, which keeps it from going orange on a large exterior slab. On a pole barn patio it does what brown is supposed to do outdoors: settle the slab into the landscape instead of announcing itself. More in the Driftwood gallery, and see also our pole barn floor projects.
A two-tone pool deck: Khaki field, Charcoal coping
This is the two-tone trick worth stealing. The deck went down in Khaki EasyTint™ for a warm surface that does not get punishingly hot, and the coping went in Charcoal to frame the water. The broom texture is doing double duty here — grip where people walk out of the pool, and enough surface break that the color change at the coping does not need a crisp line. More on this kind of job in concrete pool deck color ideas and the Khaki gallery.
A driveway in Light Charcoal
Practical gray to sophisticated charcoal, and nothing else changed. On a broomed driveway Light Charcoal deepens the texture rather than flattening it, because the ridges take slightly more color than the flats — the same effect that makes the antique look work indoors.
Aztec Brown and Sunset Tan, driveway and porch together
Two warm Antiquing™ colors run across a driveway and front porch as one surface, picked to sit with the house and the planting rather than against them. Doing the drive and the entry in the same pass is what makes it read as curb appeal instead of a repair.
The driveway and front porch in Aztec Brown and Sunset Tan Antiquing™ stains.
An outdoor kitchen, broomed and acid stained
400 sq. ft. of broom finished California room turned into an outdoor kitchen with acid stain. Acid stain on a broom finish gives a more variegated result than Antiquing™ does, because the reaction follows the texture and the mineral content of the slab.
A courtyard in Cola
Cola EverStain™ on a broom finished courtyard. Same product family as the kitchen above, warmer color, and the same variegated finish that acid stain gives on texture. More in the Cola gallery.
A veteran’s driveway, with an eagle in it
Made in the USA, and we like our veterans’ projects. This one took a broomed driveway to Malayan Buff and Coffee Brown acid stain, with an eagle and American flag design worked into the concrete. A broom finish is not the obvious canvas for a graphic, but the texture actually helps — it softens the edges of a hand-worked design.
Why a broom finish takes stain well
A broom finish is made by dragging a stiff or soft-bristled broom across concrete while it is still wet, leaving fine parallel ridges. The point is traction: those ridges are what keep a wet driveway or pool deck from becoming a hazard. The side effect is that a broomed slab has considerably more surface area than a troweled one, and more texture for colorant to sit in — which is why stained broom finishes tend to look deeper and more varied than the same color on smooth concrete.
None of the colorants in this article fill the texture. Stains soak in and tinted sealers coat thinly, so the finished slab is still slip resistant. If you want more grip than the broom gives you on its own — around a pool, on a slope — add OxiGrip™ to the sealer coat rather than choosing a different finish.
One caution specific to this finish: broomed concrete drinks. Buy for absorption, not just for area, and do not plan your last coat around the last gallon in the order.
What’s Next
- Brushed driveways specifically → Staining a Brushed Concrete Driveway
- Applying stain outdoors → How to Apply Outdoor Concrete Stain
- Other finishes → scored concrete · swirl finish
- More driveway color → Concrete Driveway Color Ideas
- Shop → Antiquing™ · EasyTint™ · ColorWave® · Trial Kits
