I have a customer who has asked me to pour a small slab for a screened in porch. He said that he would like to have the concrete colored if possible. I informed him that there were several ways to do this, including adding color to the readymix, or troweling it into the surface, neither of which I have ever done. I do have dye of several colors for morter that I was considering sprinkling onto the surface before floating with the float machine, and then trowel in. My question is, would this method work, and if not, what would be the easiest way to accomplish this request other than adding color in the readymix?
Thanks for any suggestions. Fred
Replies
acid stain
Easiest and most durable method is to add pigment to the truck. You local batch plant should be able to give you advice and sell you the pigment. Heck, they may even have colour charts for your client to choose from!
I also vote for acid stain.
You'll find two types here:
http://www.miracote.com
The Mirastain I is actually acid staining. The Mirastain II is a pigmented dye.
and then: http://www.concretenetwork.com
I have never done the acid stain but have done pigment powder. I have seen the results of doing the stain and think it is a better looking finished product job than powder gives.
For best results with powder have the batch plant add it or add it to the mix while still in the truck and have the truck spin the barrel for awhile.
Next best is to spread the powder using a shaker can as evenly as possible over the surface and bull float or power trowel it into the mix, results still may be splotchy.
Worst is to wait too long and try to sprinkle it on the drying surface and then try to trowel it in . Results will be very unsatisfactory , no need to ask how I know this. But the second time I poured that slab I had the batch plant add the color and got satisfactory results.
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Edited 7/8/2007 2:53 am by dovetail97128
everything depends on the look your customer wants... b
a colored floor?... stone look? .... type finish....ect...
acid stain is very easy... as is scoring the concrete to give it some type pattern... very easy to use accent colors using the score lines... i keep my scores very shallow... under 1/8".... and try to use 3 colors.... the base color.... a mix of the base & dark.... and a dark accent...
simple pattern... large areas... work best for me
p