Angie Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 We are laying quite a long concrete pathway in the garden and was hoping for a very light grey or creamy colour finish as is currently at the front of the house (done by someone else a while ago). We have already laid the "rough" base but the colour of the cement is very dark grey (almost black). I know the builders merchant had several varieties of cement - can anyone suggest a "brand" that produces this light grey colour? We have tried different ratios and the result is always the same. Don't really want the expense of a concrete colouring pigment. Thanks all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Standard Portland cement is very light grey, possibly the sand used was ''black sand'' as used for concrete block work mortar.A change of sand may solve the colour problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 A change of mix will also change the colour too. A very weak mix may even tend towards yellow (ie the sand) but a strong mix (ie more cement) will be grey. It will cost more because you're using more cement but I guess you're only doing it once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Additions of white cement to lighten it rather than weakening the mix. Colourants also exist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 I agree, the sand will make a big difference.For concrete or mortar which shows I usually use cimet blanc and sable a maconner which, when lightly washed down before it's gone off, produces a quite authentic 'old looking' finish. Problem is cimet blanc is rather pricy but I bought a job lot from my local Brico for about €7/bag.[img]http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p123/biskitboyo/Img_1938.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 Thanks so much for all these suggestions. Hadn't thought that the sand might be the problem. Yes, it is quite a dark colour. Don't mind paying extra for the better quality (lighter) cement as I would prefer it looked more natural and yes, hopefully, we are only going to do it once!! As always, your advice is much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MAC Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Don't forget as the concrete cures it will lighten in colour - French builders sand tends to be quite 'sharp' and good for concrete mix. I use sable et gravier 8mm 1x5 if memory serves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 If you want coloured cement you need to add pigment to the mix. End of. It isn't that expensive if you shop around. Gauge the mixes so you don't end up with dark or light patches. It pays to mix a couple of small mixes in a bucket and lay them somewhere to cure to check you are happy with the strenghth of the colour, bear in mind it will fade rapidly in the first few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lehaut Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 We recently laid a concrete path in our external wood store. To lighten the interior we also wanted a lighter colour so went down the white cement and soft sand route, but just for the top inch or so. We did the path in bays, with the usual trellis steel inside. About 4 inches deep, we did the first 3 in normal sharp sand/gravel then when still wet mixed and laid a softer sand and the white cement mix to give a creamier colour. It certainly kept the cost down. We also made a mock sandstone wall base by mixing the white cement I had left with two different types of sand. The results of both experiments have been very satisfactory. Its over wintered here in Normandy with no separation problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 If you are going to use powdered pigments it is better to use white rather than grey Portland cement, otherwise you will use loads of pigment and perhaps never get the colour that you are looking for unless its grey of course, as an aside of all the pigments I have used its the black I used to make grey that is the only one not to fade, ............. Yet!!I suppose the same advice could be applied to the colour of the sand but normally we dont have a lot of choice, if its for a small area then sable fin pou carrelage is a very pale colour and takes tints very well, its also the only affordable choice in France for jointing block paving (after it has been spread out to dry), the price of sable polymer will make your eyes pop out [:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MAC Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Back in the day I made up a 'open box' out of plywood roughly the size of a cobble and to it I joined a couple of other 'boxes' I then pinned round electrical flex to the edges. When laying concrete I hand cast cement dyes and overlaid the tamped concrete with a sheet of thin plastic membrane and then used my 'boxes' to imprint the finish. I was very pleasantly surprised with the finish I got in a reinforced concrete 'cobble' driveway. Oh I know it's a digression but some may want to try it and of course I am demonstrating a potential cheaper way to use dyes more cheaply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Zoff Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Loads of cement dye colours available on Ebay. I used some to colour tiling grout - very powerful stuff, so I only needed a tiny amount of the dye, but it is of course intended for concreting and for use with much larger quantities of sand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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