Concrete coloring:

[JBR]

Hello,
I'm new here. I am in the planning stages of a garage/shop to be built this spring/summer.
Yesterday I read a post about adding pigment to the concrete as it was mixed to color all the way through the floor. Once the floor was poured it was power troweled to the point of overheating the concrete to cause marble like swirls in the concrete.
I have been searching for the post this morning and have been unable to find it. My eyes about to fall out.
Can anyone point me to this post? Does any one know how to do this (causing marble streaks in the floor)?
Thanks,
Jon

 

[ConCretin]

I don't know which post you are referring to but it's a relatively simple process. You can color concrete with an integral color or you can use white cement (warning; this is pricey)

It not really about overheating but more passes with a power trowel will result in a denser and shinier surface that will enhance the natural color variation in the concrete. I probably wouldn't describe it as marbling but others might.

You could take it a step further and 'polish' the floor by grinding the floor multiple times with increasingly finer diamond discs. Polishing can be beautiful but it is also quite expensive.

 

[dcs Inc]

The process you are talking about isn't a reliable way to create marbling. It is basically burnishing the concrete with a power trowel. This causes a glazed surface and actually embeds metal from power trowel blades into the surface causing it to blacken. It is a hit-n-miss process.

One way to do this would be by applying different colors during the floating process. Color hardeners or even raw pigments can be floated in during the second pass with float blades. The poor mans way of doing this is to add light and dark grays to the concrete with no intregal color added. This will give you a varigated finish in the light and dark grays. Burnish it and you will have a lot of different colors going on on the cheap. (this is easier to explain than do). gene

www.indycrete.com
www.elitecreteindiana.com
[email protected]

 

[Dakota00]

JBR,

Here's the thread it's post #13
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137257

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Hello,
I'm new here. I am in the planning stages of a garage/shop to be built this spring/summer.
Yesterday I read a post about adding pigment to the concrete as it was mixed to color all the way through the floor. Once the floor was poured it was power troweled to the point of overheating the concrete to cause marble like swirls in the concrete.
I have been searching for the post this morning and have been unable to find it. My eyes about to fall out.
Can anyone point me to this post? Does any one know how to do this (causing marble streaks in the floor)?
Thanks,
Jon

Jon:

You will need some color to do this.
We have color hardeners and integral color, if you need them or just have questions.
Link: http://legacyindustrial.net/cart/color-hardener-60-pound-p-290.html

Link: http://legacyindustrial.net/cart/integral-color-per-pound-p-180.html

 

[JBR]

Thanks guys,
The post I was looking at actually showed a blue floor with dark swirls in it. This floor looks good too.
I was under the impression that since the color was mixed in with the concrete as it was mixed, that the color would go all the way through the slab and you wouldn't have to worry about chips being a different color.
Anyway, this will give me something to show my contractor when I ask him about it.
Thanks again,
Jon

 

[JBR]

Another Question:
What would happen is you mixed some of the colored broadcast chips in as the concrete was being mixed. Would they come to the top like aggregate when the concrete was being floated or troweled?
Thanks,
Jon

 

[Fastback]

Check out some of the local Big box stores like Walmart or a super target, they have been using integral color in the floors for a while now and they use ride on trowels to get the look, but it can also be done with a walk behind. Just be sure to stop troweling before rocks start showing through the cream.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Another Question:
What would happen is you mixed some of the colored broadcast chips in as the concrete was being mixed. Would they come to the top like aggregate when the concrete was being floated or troweled?
Thanks,
Jon

Jon:

It would be an absolute mess. Those chips are ment to be tossed over thick resinous coatings and ideally sealed/glazed over with a clear.

If you want a chip floor, install a chip floor.