Concrete Pavement Color: Integral Pigment for Driveways
Integral pigment for concrete pavement, driveways, aprons, sidewalks and exterior flatwork — including how to work to a numbered color specification such as 860 or a graphite callout on a plan sheet.
Direct Colors concrete pigment powder is an integral color. It is batched into the concrete at the truck or the mixer, so the color runs through the full depth of the pour rather than sitting on the surface. That is what makes it suitable for exterior flatwork: there is no coating to wear through, and a chip or a scuff exposes more of the same color.
Powder is measured by weight against the cementitious material in the mix — cement plus any supplementary cementitious materials — not against the total volume of concrete. The standard unit is pounds of pigment per 94 lb sack of cement. A typical exterior mix uses five sacks per cubic yard, so pigment per yard is simply the dose multiplied by five.
Coverage per cubic yard
| Dose step | lb per 94 lb sack | lb per cubic yard | % of cementitious weight | 25 lb bags per cubic yard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | 1 lb | 5 lb | 1.1% | 0.2 |
| Step 3 | 3 lb | 15 lb | 3.2% | 0.6 |
| Step 5 | 5 lb | 25 lb | 5.3% | 1.0 |
| Step 7 | 7 lb | 35 lb | 7.4% | 1.4 |
Figures assume a five-sack cubic yard, which is 470 lb of cementitious material. Confirm the actual sack count with your ready-mix supplier before ordering, since richer and leaner mixes change the pigment required per yard. At Step 5 the arithmetic is convenient: one 25 lb bag colors roughly one cubic yard. Both the sack column and the cubic-yard column assume the cement is the whole of the cementitious content; where fly ash, slag or any other supplementary cementitious material replaces part of the cement, dose on total cementitious weight using the percentage column.
Worked example — a residential driveway
A 20 ft × 40 ft driveway poured 4 in. thick is 800 sq ft, or about 9.9 cubic yards. At Step 5 that is roughly 250 lb of pigment, or ten 25 lb bags. At Step 3 the same driveway takes about 150 lb, or six bags. Order the full quantity in one batch: pigment from a single production run gives the most consistent result across a continuous pour.
Colors used on exterior flatwork
Most pavement work is specified in the grey and black range. Those colors are iron oxide based — the pigment chemistry that has been used in exterior concrete for decades, because it is stable in the alkaline environment of cement and does not wash out.
Earth tones — buffs, tans and browns — are also common on aprons, walkways and decorative bands. Colors carrying an ASTM C979 conformance statement are marked in the full color list; ASTM C979 is the standard specification for pigments used in integrally colored concrete. A signed Statement of Conformance is available to specifiers on request.
Working to a numbered color specification
Pavement and flatwork scopes on commercial, retail and multi-site work usually name a color by number rather than by description. 860 and graphite are among the callouts that come up most often on dark grey flatwork.
A number on a plan sheet tells you what the architect approved. It does not tell you the pigment chemistry, the loading, or the mix the approved sample was made from — and those three things decide what your pour actually looks like.
Direct Colors does not publish conversions between one manufacturer's numbering and another's. A chart cannot see your cement, your sand or your water, and a number carried across from one system into another is a guess wearing the clothes of an answer. We match to the physical sample instead:
- Send us what was approved. The chip, the specification page, a photo of the control pour, or a broken piece of the sample slab.
- Our color lab reads it and identifies the closest starting point in our range, with a loading in pounds per 94 lb sack.
- You pour a cured test panel using your own cement, sand, aggregate and finishing method, and approve the color from that panel before the job pour.
Approximations, not exact matches. Any color identified from a submitted sample is a starting point for your test panel. It is not a representation that a finished pour will match a sample made with different materials, and it is not a statement about any other manufacturer's product. Every reference to a third-party color number is for identification of the specification only.
Iron oxide, not carbon black
Worth knowing before you submit: the blacks in our 1xx series are iron oxide, not carbon black. Some pavement specifications exclude carbon black outright, and some dark grey colors in circulation are carbon black based. If your specification carries that exclusion, say so when you send the sample and we will confirm the chemistry in writing.
Higher loadings on commercial pavement
Commercial pavement specifications frequently call for loadings above our published Step 7 — some sit at or slightly above the customary ceiling of ten percent of cementitious weight, which on a five-sack yard is about 47 lb per cubic yard.
Before a full pour
- Final color depends on your cement, sand and aggregate, water content, curing and finish.
- Grey cement mutes and darkens every color; white cement gives a cleaner, more saturated result.
- Do not add water after batching, and do not use calcium chloride or any chloride-based accelerator.
- Approve the color from a fully cured test panel made with your own mix — not from a screen, a chart or a sample poured with other materials.
- Keep the mix design, the dose and the finishing method identical across every truck on the job.
Working to a spec, or pouring more than 100 lb? Driveways, parking areas and commercial flatwork move quickly past the point where bag pricing makes sense. Send the specification or the approved sample and we will come back with a color, a dose and a price. Freight is quoted separately by delivery location.
Send a sample or request a quote or call 405-275-6657. Contractors and specifiers can reach the pro line direct on 405-617-0717.
Buying in bag quantities instead? Concrete pigment powder is stocked in 1, 5, 10 and 25 lb bags, and the full color range and dose calculator will work the quantity for your yardage.
