Concrete Coloring Techniques for Man-Made Stone

THESE TECHNIQUES WORK FOR FAUX TILE, BRICKS, AND PAVERS AS WELL! Our concrete colors are synthetic iron oxides made by Davis and Rockwood Colors. We have been using their colorants since 1992 when we first started in our business. The batch formulas that we offer have gray and/or white concrete or cement as a base. They are mixed in a certain ratio to achieve a base color, to which are added the techniques discussed here. The basic colorants will allow you to formulate virtually unlimited colors in addition to the color formulas we have formulated as examples. It is good to experiment with the colors in small batches to get a "feel" for color blending. This will aid you when formulating your custom colors. We stress, that these are synthetic iron oxides. You can also use natural oxides which are available from a ceramic supplier. In some cases they might even be cheaper, but they may not be consistent. The cost, let's say for a deep blue concrete powdered color, could be as much as $50.00 a pound from a supplier. It may be half that cost from a ceramic supply house. Sometimes, you can buy a ceramic stain that's available in several shades of blue from a ceramic supply house. Depending on the color “blue” you want to get… another option is to use a dark, or Navy Blue latex paint in your mix to color it a blue color. Just be sure that it is a water-based paint, and measure it carefully so you can duplicate it, should you need to make more batches. This is not a procedure we normally recommend, but we’ve seen it work for many customers that have tried it. BASE CONCRETE COLOR FORMULAS: Our base concrete color formulas can be accessed at the following page of our www.TheMoldStore.Info website: http://www.themoldstore.info/Color_Formulas.html HOW TO MAKE CUSTOM CONCRETE COLORS: Regarding custom colors… REMEMBER... Color is subjective... As such, what I may refer to as RED… You may consider LIGHT RED, or MEDIUM RED, or TERRA-COTTA, ORANGE, etc. You need to experiment with very small batches of mix until you attain the color that you are looking for, and are happy with. We can only try to get you started on the right track by providing some base color charts, and existing color example formulas. SMALL BATCH COLOR MATCHING: A few of you have asked if there is an easier way to formulate custom colors... other than mixing 1/2 batches and going by your gut feel. While this will eventually get easier... and it will come to you...ALMOST automatically after a while... in the meantime, use these base measurements and formulas so you don't waste a lot of material. Once you have what you feel is the right weight of color added to the dry mix, add an appropriate amount of water, mix and pour into a small mold. Let dry as you normally would, or in this case you can accelerate the drying since curing is not necessary. De-mold and check your color when dry and sealed. Use the type of sealer for your project, so the color will be reflective of that sealer. Remember that without a sealer, the color will normally be lighter when it is dry than it looks as a wet mix. 1% Batch Mix: Weigh out 15 ounces of cement and 30 ounces of sand. Mix them together dry. This will give you a 1% ratio for test color mixes. If the color gram weight gets too small to measure properly, move up to a 5% ratio. 5% Batch Mix: Weigh out 75 oz. of cement and 150 oz. of sand. When you achieve the color you want, just multiply the color weight by 20, (5X20=100%). That will give you the proper color weight for a full batch mix. Let's say you are looking for a "gray" between Light Gray and Dark Gray. In this case, it's simple... add the two weights of black color from our chart together and divide by two. (80+470=550 divided by 2 = 275). Now divide that by 100... = 2.75 grams of black for your test batch. Can't weigh out 2.75 grams of color? Then divide the 275 total by 20. You now have a 5% mix ratio... or 13.75 grams of color. In this case, round it out to 14 grams of Black and you should get a Medium Gray color right between the Light Gray and the Dark Gray on our chart. If this is to your liking… multiply it back up for a full-batch. CONCRETE STAINS: We also now offer water-based concrete stains. With them, you can get the blues and greens that would otherwise be very costly to duplicate with integral concrete colorants. The concrete stain is applied after the product is produced, as apposed to being a part of the mix formula. The water-based formula can be diluted with water to attain different shading. It is also much safer and environmentally friendly than the acid stains being offered elsewhere. It can be shipped without the extra shipping fees associated with a Hazardous Materials labeled product. STAINING AND ANTIQUING TECHNIQUE: There are several staining and antiquing techniques that can be used on stone and tile. One is a "rubbed stain" technique. You apply powdered colorant to the heel of your hand and rub over all of the high areas of the stone or tile, (providing there is a texture). On our Olde Country Tiles, and similar smooth surface stone and tile, you can create somewhat of a pattern by applying color with the heel of your palm and using a twisting motion. Let your imagination run a little wild with this technique. Remember that you will need to use a topical sealer to lock in the effect. Then there is the "resist" technique, where you actually use the sealer as a wax resistant. This is used on some of the raised sculptural tile. Using a rubber sponge, brush or cloth, wipe a topical sealer on all of the top, or high edges of the stone or tile, trying not to get it down into the recesses. When this is dry, you can add a contrasting wash into the background, or lower parts of the tile. MARBLEIZING TECHNIQUE: This is an easy technique that offers some really interesting results. Lightly sprinkle colorant on the surface of your mix while it’s in the wheelbarrow, bucket, mixing vessel, etc. You may use one or more colors. Now scoop up your mixed concrete as you normally would, but skim the top layer a bit more so you are getting some of the sprinkled colorant. Then dump the mixture into your molds. The effect on the face of the tile or stone when removed will be “marbled”. This works especially well when you are making a smoother stone or tile. You can also experiment by using a stick once the concrete is in the mold, and swirl it through the mix down to the bottom (or face) of the mold, as you would when you make a marble cake! This should give you an even more pronounced marble effect. COLOR WASH EFFECT: Color can also be mixed with white water-based paint, which has been diluted with water. This color-wash effect can be applied between sealer coats to give a washed appearance. Designs can be introduced into the face of the tile in this manner as well. Tile must be sealed first with at least one coat of a topical sealer so you can control the coloring easier. This method is often used on brick to give an antique or used brick look. OTHER SURFACE OR TOPICAL CUSTOMIZING EFFECTS AND TECHNIQUES: Other methods that can be used successfully to customize your stone or tile are stenciling, sponging, hand painting on the surface, and decoupage. Make sure you put sufficient coats of top sealer over the tile or stone after using any of these techniques so you don't wear them off during everyday use. I recommend a minimum of 4-5 coats of sealer just to be safe. Advise the customer to keep an eye out for wear patterns. WHITE-WASHING TECHNIQUES: The following are other examples of staining alternatives. When white-washing a tile such as Mexican Saltillo, one of the techniques that are used is to first wash in one direction, and let dry. Then wash in the opposite direction and let dry. Then apply your sealer coats. TO MAKE A WASH... Take a white latex paint and water it down about one part latex paint to twenty parts water. You may also use a water-based sealer instead of water. This will allow you to complete two operations at the same time… white washing and sealing in one application! Additional coats of sealer will be necessary though. Apply this color mixture to the face of your tile with a brush or sponge after your tile is dry. To get a uniform whitewash effect, I suggest using a sponge and applying two coats. Apply your second coat in the opposite direction of the first. The brushed on whitewash effect that is added afterward can wear off eventually. This is a problem throughout the industry, even with commercially sold products that are already available to do this technique. Numerous coats of sealer should be applied over the whitewash. A heavy sealer coat must be maintained once the tile is installed in order to keep the original whitewash look uniform. Keep in mind that brush lines are preferred in some of the white washing looks, as on the Mexican type pavers. SPLASH EFFECT FOR MAN-MADE STONE, BRICKS, TILE, AND PAVERS: There is also a technique called the Splash effect. This method was used to get our Susan’s Splash color of tile on our website: http://www.TheMoldStore.com where you simply take a cup or can, punch a few holes in it, or better yet, use a flour sifter, put the “splash” color (usually black or brown) in it, and after putting mold release in your molds, drop particles of the color directly into your molds. Go lightly until you’ve tried it a few times and gotten the look that you want. Then just fill and vibrate the molds with your concrete. The dry colorant gives a splash effect on the face of the tile. Again, don’t over-do the dry colorant that you put into the molds. And never put it in so heavily as to have a clump of colorant. This could leave a void in the face of the tile, and will not look very good. It will displace the concrete mix leaving a weak spot in the face of your stone or tile. Though it does not matter quite as much if you are producing a highly textured stone design. EDGE SPRAY MISTING: (Especially useful on brick edges) The MISTING technique gives a very unique effect. Basically, after the tile or brick has cured, just before you are going to seal it, you lightly MIST the edges with either black or white spray paint. Hold the can about a foot away, on a forty-five degree angle. Quickly sweep across the edges just letting enough paint to be applied to show a MIST of the color. Start very lightly, then add more layers until you get the effect that you want. I’ve done a number of rust and terra-cotta colored tiles, pavers and bricks in this manner, and they come out really beautiful. Over any of our red bricks, the black misting gives a burnt-edge brick look. THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT CONCRETE STONE, TILE, AND PAVERS… Man-made stone, faux stone, cultured stone, concrete stone, or whatever it may be called... is a hand-made, custom product. It is desirable to have a certain amount of what some might consider defects. These add character to your stone, bricks, pavers, or tile. Just be sure that the character that you are getting, is within your guidelines. Don’t be too anal. Look at other hand-made products… the unique nature of the individual pieces is what makes the product special. ADDITIONAL CRAFT AND D-I-Y TECHNIQUES AND PROJECT INFORMATION: If you'd like additional information about hand-made and man-made concrete stone products, and how to make, and install them, see our other articles, or visit one of our websites like http://www.TheMoldStore.Info or http://www.TheMoldStore.com for more instructions, directions, tips, and techniques. We also offer information if you are interested in starting a commercial venture in this industry. About Author :

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