MANY years ago when I worked for a concrete contractor one summer when I
was in high school we would color concrete by sprinkling the dye powder on
the surface and troweling it in. The old boy I worked for was very good at
making the whole surface match. Mixing it with the crete sounds like an
easier way to go!
At 10:36 AM 7/13/98 -0400, Lowell, Mark wrote:
>
>Greetings from Gloucester, VA
>
> This weekend I poured my tower base, which extends several inches above
>grade. I discovered that you can buy dye, in many colors, that you can mix
>right in with the concrete.
> I used a product made by Colorcrete, shade number CC50 I believe, that
>the local concrete company uses when making exposed aggregate concrete, to
>make the base cement mixture match the brown stones. They had a sample
>board to illustrate the shades available depending on the concentration.
>The shade I liked required 2 pounds of dye per cubic yard of concrete. I
>bought a pound for about $7.00.
>
> Quickrete also makes concrete dyes that were available on the same aisle
>as the concrete in the home center. One bottle, for $4.50, was only good
>for two 80 lb bags (1.33 cu ft). Much more expensive than the Colorcrete
>product, but still cheap in the overall scheme of construction materials.
>The dye cost more than the concrete did (Quickrete is going for $1.65 for
>80 lb bag here).
>
> After a little kitchen science involving a postal scale I estimated 2
>heaping tablespoons of Colorcrete dye per 80 pound bag of Quickrete to
>provide a color that fits in better with the landscaping. I used this
>only on the concrete that would be exposed above the grade level. You have
>to mix it in with the water in a container before adding it to the
>concrete or you'll have trouble getting it properly dispersed when mixing
>by hand. No, my base will not have exposed aggregate <*grin*>.
>
>And speaking of water, the directions on the 80 lb Quickrete bag are
>waayyy off, calling for a nominal 3/4 gallon of water. My (more
>experienced) friend, who came over to help, laughed when I came out with a
>marked milk jug to measure the water. You should have seen my face when he
>just grabbed the hose and started spraying the water on the concrete. He
>liked that part, ha ha ha. We alternately sprayed and mixed the first
>batch until the consistency was right, and poured it in the hole.
> We measured subsequent batches, and it seems that 1-1/2 gallons is about
>perfect, TWICE the amount called for on the bag! By the way, pre-measuring
>the water does make the mixing faster <grin>.
> I'm anxious to see the final color. It's still covered with wet towels
>and plastic. The heat coming off this block is surprising!
>
> BTW, we improvised a vibrating/tamping rod by screwing a 3" diameter disc
>of plywood to the end of a 6' piece of 1x2. It was perfect for making the
>concrete flow through the rebar cage, as we shook it by hand.
>
>Kind of a long post....Hope this helps someone,
>
>--...MARK_N1LO...--
>
>--
>FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/towertalkfaq.html
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>
>
>
Jim Rhodes KC0XU
rhodes@willinet.net
--
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