Seeding concrete slabs blog
There is virtually unlimited options for integrating glass, metals or specialty stone into a concrete floor.. How the glass is applied, the quantities of glass used, and the mixes of colors chosen can provide a unique and signatured decorative concrete product for those up to the challenge.
The most common applications of integrating these specialty materials in decorative concrete are (1) seeding and (2) mixing integrally. First, the seeding concept:
Seeding glass means sprinkling, broadcasting, or spreading glass onto the surface of a concrete floor, slab, or other surface. The advantage of seeding glass is that the quantity of glass used is reduced relative to other methods. Also, you can continue to use a traditional 6-bag or other traditional concrete mix that you’re used to and simply add the glass as a decorative accent to your project surface. The disadvantage to seeding is that it’s tricky to uniformly spread the glass on your concrete surface.
The second most common application is integral mixing. Integral mixing means replacing all or a portion of the aggregate in a concrete mixture with recycled glass chips. If you have your own proprietary mixture, simply subtract your original aggregate (pea gravel) amounts by weight by the amount of glass added to your mixture. The advantage of mixing integrally is that the glass aggregate mixes uniformly in the batch of concrete and is obviously uniformly segregated in the finished concrete product. The disadvantage is that much more glass is needed in a batch of concrete relative to seeding/broadcasting.