What Is Glow In The Dark Concrete?

Glow in the dark concrete... What is it really? Over the years, we’ve seen concrete contractors applying different decorative aggregates in their concrete – from recycled glass to crushed mirror and seashells. In the past two years, the world of plain concrete has been given a glowing facelift. Glow in the dark concrete is now possible with the application of Ambient Glow Technology’s AGT™ Glow Stone and Glow Sand products. AGT™ introduced their market-leading, high performance glow rock and glow sand about 3 years ago and remains on the cutting edge of glowing concrete applications and techniques ever since.

How to Apply AGT™ Glow Stones to Create Glowing Concrete

There are a few ways in which AGT™ Glow Rock can be used to make glow in the dark concrete. For the purposes of this article, we’ll be covering the most popular application method – seeding otherwise known as hand-broadcasting. This is one of the easiest techniques because it only requires the applicator to toss the AGT™ Glow Stone all over the setting concrete surface. Once this is completed, the glow rock is lightly worked into the curing concrete so it’s just under the surface, covered with a thin film of cement known as the ‘cream’ of the concrete.

Check out our Installation Guide: Exposed Aggregate Concrete for a more thorough step-by-step guide.

The Two Most Popular Ways to Expose AGT™ Glow Stones

In order to get the concrete glowing, the AGT™ glow stone has to be exposed to the surface so that it may absorb light energy and store it for later use. This can be accomplished either chemically or mechanically.

1. Chemical Exposure: This method of exposure of the glow stone is achieved by lightly spraying a concrete retarding agent over the curing concrete. The retarder slows down the chemical curing process on the concrete’s surface, allowing it to remain soft enough to wash off the following day with a hose and broom. The AGT™ glow stone is then exposed at the surface creating a course, glowing concrete surface.
2. Mechanical Exposure: The second, more labor-intensive approach is to expose the AGT™ glow rock mechanically using diamond-laden polishing pads mounted on either hand-held polishers or heavy-duty concrete floor polishing machines. This form of glow in the dark concrete finishing creates a beautifully smooth surface, energized by glowing stone which resemble the sky at night... Both the above methods arrive at similar glowing results, it’s up to the property owner to choose which is more suitable.

Chemically Exposed AGT™ Glow Stones

Mechanically Exposed AGT™ Glow Stones

To see more glow in the dark concrete projects, visit our Projects page.