[TowerTalk] Concrete dye

[Douglas Bradford]

Bob, I did not know that the Home Center were carrying this now.
I poured my 1st Colored Concrete over 50 years ago. That was B4
the days of RediMix Trucks, we had mixer on site and used Georgia
Buggies (not the Motor Kind) to pour Tennis courts Parking lots and
that type of Paving.

Some plants will put the color in at the Plant and Others will send the
Bags out with the Truck for U to Put in.

I just had A base dug out this week end for tower tilt over and forming
some sidewalk to boot for full truck load. I had not even thought about
the color. Think I will add it.  So thanks for jogging the old gray matter.

73  Brad  KZ5Q
Long  Live   CW
Preferred  Mode

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...--
>
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