Cob: concrete stain/colors

Mon Jan 28 19:48:52 CST 2002

Hi all.  I'm always interested in coloring concrete and cementious materials.  I've been using oxides, as Frances Grill suggested, for years.  They work great, although I personally don't care for broadcasting it on the surface.  It's a pain to trowel it in well and the coloring is superficial, not 1/2" deep, in my experience.  It also can get too dense in places, weakening the cement, then chipping off. 

I prefer to mix the oxides into the mix or  make a cream of cement, coloring and fine sand and trowel that onto the rough surface of the grey concrete.  This allows finishing to be done at a later date or on top of an old slab.  Clean it well and use admixture if it's old.

As far as STAINS go,  check out Ferrous Sulfate and others.  Here's a quote:
"Ferrous sulfate and ferric nitrate will stain stucco towards reddish or golden-brown. The color will vary with the absorption of the wall, leaving a blotchy, or mottled look. Do not expect this type of staining to look like a paint job."

Ferrous sulfate is sold as a soil conditioner at any garden supply, wallmart or home depot.  Saturate in water and paint or spray on.  Repeat as desired.  

Also, there are the professional acid stains.  Here's a good link:

http://www.concrete-stains.com/

Steve

-------------- next part --------------
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 5.50.4616.200" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Hi all.  I'm always interested in coloring 
concrete and cementious materials.  I've been using oxides, as Frances 
Grill suggested, for years.  They work great, although I personally don't 
care for broadcasting it on the surface.  It's a pain to trowel it in well 
and the coloring is superficial, not 1/2" deep, in my experience.  It also 
can get too dense in places, weakening the cement, then chipping off. 
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">I prefer to mix the oxides into the mix or  
make a cream of cement, coloring and fine sand and trowel that onto the rough 
surface of the grey concrete.  This allows finishing to be done at a later 
date or on top of an old slab.  Clean it well and use admixture if it's 
old.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">As far as STAINS go,  check out Ferrous 
Sulfate and others.  Here's a quote:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><EM>"Ferrous sulfate and ferric nitrate 
will stain stucco towards reddish or golden-brown. The color will vary with the 
absorption of the wall, leaving a blotchy, or mottled look. Do not expect this 
type of staining to look like a paint job."</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><FONT size=3>Ferrous sulfate is sold as a 
soil conditioner at any garden supply, wallmart or home depot.  Saturate in 
water and paint or spray on.</FONT>  <FONT size=3>Repeat as desired.  
</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Also, there are the professional acid 
stains.  Here's a good link:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2><A 
href="http://www.concrete-stains.com/">http://www.concrete-stains.com/</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2>Steve<A 
href="http://www.cupricnitrate.com/"></A></FONT><A 
href="http://www.cupricnitrate.com/"></A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS"><FONT size=2><A 
href="http://www.cupricnitrate.com/"></A></FONT> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>

Rethink Your Life! Finance, health, lifestyle, environment, philosophy	The Work of Art and The Art of Work Kiko Denzer on Art