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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