Direct Colors DIY Home Improvement · Episode 6
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Marbling is the single most requested effect on countertops and floors, and the method is almost disarmingly simple: pick a base plus two complementary colors, spray the lightest first, and keep everything wet so the colors blend and take their own shape. Ken Lazenby on the spray-bottle technique, veining with a teaspoon of pigment in a quart of water, and taping off everything before you start.
5 min 55 sec · Download MP3 (8.2 MB)
For this job you need: EverStain™ · DecoGel™ · Concrete Powder Pigment
Not sure which is right for your slab? Send us the details — the free project consultation is a person, not a form letter.
The written guide on this topic, with photographs: Concrete Veining Technique.
Editor’s note. This episode was recorded some years ago. The transcript below has been corrected where the facts have changed; nothing about the technique has been altered.
- ⚠ This is an interview with an independent contractor. Ken Lazenby of Ken’s Custom Designs, Krebs, Oklahoma, speaks for himself. The original episode carried a disclaimer, which we have kept verbatim at the end of the transcript. We have not verified current business details — treat this as an archived conversation rather than a referral.
- Several products he names are discontinued: the 100% Epoxy Countertop Sealer, the concrete overlay, and the concrete countertop form release. The Direct Colors product names have been dropped, but the generic material names — overlay, epoxy, form release — stay in Ken’s speech, because they are what he actually works with and the technique transfers to any supplier’s equivalent. “Sprayable Satin Finish” is now EasySeal™ Satin and “AC 1315 High Gloss” is EasySeal™ Gloss. The organic degreaser is ProClean Degreaser™, and the veining pigment is Concrete Powder Pigment.
- ⚠ Safety, added by us and not said on air. Ken describes using a heat gun to pop bubbles and, separately, spraying acetone to level the epoxy. Never do both together. Acetone is highly flammable and its vapor will ignite from a heat gun, a pilot light or any spark. If you use acetone, ventilate strongly, keep every ignition source away, and put the heat gun down. He also warns that too much acetone dimples the surface.
- The videos referenced are no longer published on our site.
- ⚠ A note on the marbling technique. Ken applies the acid stain colors wet-on-wet and keeps them wet so they blend. That is the technique and it works — but do it on a test piece first, as he recommends. A cheap box of ceramic tile makes good samples.
- Housekeeping, applied to every episode in this archive. The spoken sign-off has been rewritten to point here rather than at the old directcolors.com/listen address. The RSS-feed line, the social-media list and any pointers to retired photo-gallery, blog or video pages have been dropped, along with pointers to pages that have since been retired or superseded by the links under What’s Next — in some episodes that removes a whole sentence or a short exchange. Every speaker says “design consultation”; the service is now called the free project consultation, and we have used the current name throughout rather than send you to a page that no longer exists. Run-on speaker turns, duplicated intro lines and obvious transcription slips have been repaired without changing meaning. Nothing bearing on technique, safety or product choice has been altered; those changes are itemized above.
Still accurate and fully reproducible with current products: base color plus two complements, lightest sprayed first, everything kept wet so it blends; a spray bottle at its tightest mist with the distance varied for pattern, and a stream for veins; about a teaspoon of pigment to a quart of water for veining. And his most emphatic point — tape and mask everything before you begin.
What to use for a marbled countertop today
The good news: the marbling and veining technique in this episode needs nothing that has been discontinued. Only the epoxy topcoat and the overlay are gone.
- Base plus two complementary colors
- EverStain™ — ten colors, sprayable, and the reactive variation is what makes marbling look like stone.
- Veins that stay where you put them
- DecoGel™ — gelled, so it will not run on an edge or a vertical.
- Veining with pigment in water
- Concrete Powder Pigment, about a teaspoon to a quart, exactly as described.
- Solid or opaque color instead
- ColorWave® or AcquaTint™ PRO.
- Seal it (in place of the epoxy)
- HydroCryl™ for chemical resistance, AcquaSeal™ for low odor indoors, or EasySeal™ Satin outdoors.
- Prep and clean first
- ProClean Degreaser™ after sanding, as he does.
Test on tile samples before the real top, and for a food-contact surface confirm the sealer through the free project consultation.
Full transcript
Shawna Turner: You are listening to Podcast Episode 6. I’m Shawna Turner and today we’re talking with Ken Lazenby about marble effects using pigment and acid stain on concrete countertops. If this is your first time listening, then thanks for coming. We sat down with Ken Lazenby of Ken’s Custom Designs, based in Krebs, Oklahoma, to talk about how he creates marble effects on concrete countertops. Our most frequent customer request is how to create marble effects on floors and countertops. Could you tell our listeners what products you use to get a marbled effect on a countertop?
Ken Lazenby: Yes. I use a marbling technique for most countertops with acid stain. I pick a base color and usually two complementing colors. I spray the lightest color first, fill in a spray pattern with the darkest color, and then the medium shade. This works best if all colors stay wet.
ST: How do you create the marbled look itself?
KL: I use two techniques with a spray bottle. I use a spray bottle in the tightest misting position and change the distance to vary the pattern. For a veined look, I use more of a stream in places. Again, keeping the colors wet, they blend together and kind of take a shape of their own. Another veining technique involves using about a teaspoon of concrete pigment to a quart of water and applying it to wet concrete.
ST: Do you have a countertop sealer preference to really accentuate a marbled finish?
KL: I prefer the epoxy countertop sealer. I use it for everything, almost. Some customers don’t want that much shine. Sometimes I will use the solvent based sealers, either EasySeal™ Satin or Gloss, for outdoor countertops.
ST: And how are you applying the epoxy to the countertop?
KL: I pour it out of the mixing cup itself and then put it down with the 10 mil squeegee. I don’t backroll it — I use a chip brush. I cross the squeegee lines very quickly. Then I get out the heat gun and hold it about a foot and a half from the surface to pop any air bubbles. Sometimes I will use a spray bottle with acetone and shoot the surface once, to clear all the bubbles very quickly and help the epoxy to level faster. You have to be very careful doing that, because if you shoot too much acetone on there it can cause dimples.
ST: So how are you applying the acetone, and what are you applying it with?
KL: With just a regular spray bottle, like a water spray bottle.
ST: That’s very interesting. Any tips you would offer our DIY listeners about their own countertop projects?
KL: I would say watch a lot of videos. Some of the products may vary but you get a general idea of what’s going on. Go to your local home improvement stores and look at countertops. Look at tile and stone and look at natural patterns — you can gather ideas from that. That being said, don’t be afraid to be creative and experiment with different colors and trying different techniques. A cheap box of ceramic tile makes great samples before you start with your own countertop, to make sure you’re going to like it.
KL: The last thing I would say is pay plenty of attention to protecting your floors and masking off your counters and walls before you even start. Epoxies can be messy and concrete can get on your walls. I would say this is one of the most important things — taking the time to tape everything off and preparing the surface correctly.
ST: So you’re overlaying an existing surface on most of your countertops?
KL: Always.
ST: And do you have any thoughts on applying an overlay correctly, and tips for a customer who might be trying to do the same at home?
KL: I prepare the surface with an orbital sander with a 40 grit pad and clean the surface after with an organic degreaser and water solution. I mix my overlay fairly thin, about thin pancake batter consistency. I usually do the edges first with a little bit drier mix, using a rubber glove, rubbing it on. Sometimes I’ll use a blue stone texture roller and a form release as a mold release agent. I can roll the edge of the countertops to get more of a chiseled stone look on the finished product, and then I’ll do my sealer top coat. Usually one coat is enough for me, because I’m working with epoxy sealers a lot. If I have any bare spots, I’ll touch just them up.
ST: And how thick is the overlay coat you’re using?
KL: It’s about a 1/16th to an 1/8 inch, because sometimes the sinks are still in place. It’s best to remove the sinks before you overlay, but it’s not always possible.
ST: Thank you very much, Ken. I appreciate it.
KL: Thank you.
Disclaimer: The information, views, and opinions contained within this podcast are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions or recommendations of Direct Colors
What’s Next
- The written technique → Concrete Veining Technique
- More marbled work → Extraordinary Marbled Floors · Marbled Granite Look
- Using more than one color → Using Two or More Acid Stain Colors
- Countertops → DIY Concrete Countertops · the metallic epoxy episode
- Shop → EverStain™ · DecoGel™ · Concrete Powder Pigment
