Concrete Pigment For Use in Plaster
Question:
I discovered your site online searching for a place to buy pigment to color traditional plaster. We are building a home and will have a contractor plaster all interior walls. His usual method is not to add color (although he is willing to do so), so I am researching some options on my own.
Is your Integral Color and Concrete pigment intended for this use?
Do you have all colors in stock? Once an order is placed how soon will it ship? It would be shipped to Pennsylvania, are there faster options for shipping? My plaster guy wants to start ahead of schedule so I am a bit pressed for time.
Also, do you know the equivalent in dry plaster to what would be in 15 gallons? My contractor said he mixes 15 gallons at one time and I do not know how many pounds that would be. (In order to estimate how much pigment would be needed)
Thanks in advance!
Dawn
Answer:
Our concrete pigment works very well in plaster. We keep all of our pigments in stock and would ship same day if ordered by 12:00 pm CST or called in by 2:30 pm.
Our pigment cannot be measured by volume the pigment and the plaster must be weighed to get consistent color from batch to batch. You can use a low cost gram or pound scale for the pigment and a bathroom scale for the plaster. As long as they weigh the same each time, they don’t have to be particularly accurate; you just need to get the same ratio each time.
Use the pre-bagged mix calculator on our web page to calculate how much pigment you need if your contractor is using bagged mix. If he is making his own plaster, use the custom batch calculator.
-Frank Turner
Does it matter what kind of plaster you use the concrete pigment with? Will your pigments work with earthen, lime or clay plasters as well as commercial plasters?
Dear Peggy.
Our concrete pigments will work with any plaster product including earthen, lime and clay plasters. However, the final color outcome can differ from our charts depending on what the starting plaster color is. For example, a clay-based plaster might produce a darker color from a standard cement-based plaster. Thanks for your interest! Direct Colors
I teach a sculpture class. We are casting in Hydrocal ordered from Sculpture House. We need colorants like Desert Rouge, stone (grey)and buff color.Do you have small amonts that we can test before ordering?
Barbara.
We have a concrete pigment sample kit with 10 colors that might be helpful to your sculpture class. You can also order a custom concrete pigment sample kit if you have specific colors in mind. Visit our Individual Samples and Kits page, http://www.directcolors.com/sample/ for more information and thanks for your interest in Direct Colors.
I did a mirco-top overlay. It’s pretty smooth for concrete, but there are minor trowel marks I would like to get rid of before I acid stain. Is there anything I can do??? Next, question…Once the stain is down and I put a sealer over the stain. Will this make my stained floor feel smooth like ceramic tile or will it still feel like smooth concrete???
Though I would recommend you speak with the manufacturer of the micro-topping first, you should be able to sand the surface and remove the trowel marks. Begin with a 400-grit pad and work your way up or down depending on how the overlay is responding. Once you’ve acheived the finish you’re looking for, stain and seal the surface. The sealer you select will dictate the finish you can expect. I would recommend a higher gloss sealer or an epoxy for your application.
Good luck.
No, this is not an actual “Prussian Blue” pigment. We have simply used the name. Thank you.