What can I use to dye concrete?

If you are bored with the old grey concrete, and you want your walkways, driveway or patio to shine, you can colour your concrete or add different finishes to it. Three ways to colour concrete are:

• Adding the pigment to the concrete mixture
• Adding the pigment over the wet, already-poured concrete
• Painting over the dry concrete

If you want to make your concrete more visually appealing, colouring is not the only way to do it. You can also polish it to a certain level once it is poured, stamp it while it is still in the pouring phase, or even add an acid stain to it. The possibilities are endless.

Concrete colouring can be an exciting DIY project if you have the time, enough space to play around with your projects and the money to spend on hobbies. However, if you want your concrete well poured and evenly coloured, it is best to leave that to the professionals.

Make a note of everything you want done, and then ask for quotes for your project from experienced concreters. That will be your best option to get the work done well and to save some money on the go.

Can You Add Paint to Cement?

Yes. There are pigments that come in liquid or powder form that you add to the water, which is to be poured into the cement and concrete mixture. The more pigment you add, the darker the colour of your concrete will be. Before doing your concreting, find the colour you want.

Read the label and see how much cement it is mixed. Usually, it is somewhere around 300g of pigment to 120 kg to 160 kg of cement. However, for more details, check the packaging labels. Different products can vary greatly.

Since the colouring is added to the water, some manufacturers suggest adding the colour into the water so that it makes up 8% of the entire amount of water you plan on adding to the concrete mixture. Again, the more colour you add, the darker the concrete colour. Make sure that your cement consistency is just right!

What Is Coloured Cement?

Coloured cement is your ordinary Portland cement but with added pigment to it. The organic pigment is ground into the cement, and it gives it a certain hue, which is mostly decorative. The pigments are added only up to 10% of the entire amount of cement to ensure that the properties remain intact. Mostly, pigments are present as 5% in ordinary grey or white cement.

How to Add Paint Coating to Concrete?

First of all, your concrete already has to be poured, but it still needs to be wet for this to work. You need enough powdered pigment for this to work. Calculate how much colour you need to apply per square metre and read the labels carefully.

You can sieve your colour, or you can apply it by hand. If you want to apply it by hand, make sure you wear protective gloves. Dust your colour all over the concrete surface you plan on colouring.

When you apply the powder, use a broom to make sure it is spread out evenly. Add more here and there to have a uniform layer of colouring powder. Let it set for at least 24 hours. After it has been set, hose down the concrete to remove the excess powder.

Your next step is to apply a sealant to protect the colouring. This should be done very carefully. If you are not gentle, you may cause the sealant to break through to the gray-coloured concrete.

Repeat the process with another coat of your powdered pigment. In that way, you will ensure a more durable colour.

What Kind of Paint Can You Use on Concrete?

You can choose from different types of acrylic, latex, and masonry paints. There is also the epoxy coating that can be used to add colour to your concrete. You will get more precise information in the shop and on the paint labels. However, don’t attempt to paint with oil paints because that just won’t work.

First, clean the concrete. You need to make sure that all the dirt and dust are removed before you start to do anything. When your concrete is clean, you can move on. Also, your floor needs to be dry, so it may take several days until all the water is gone.

Sand the floor and remove the dust that happens due to sanding. You sand your concrete so that it is even and that there are no cracks and imperfections that can cause paint buildup and similar irregularities. It is time for a primer.

What Kind of Primer to Use on Concrete?

Avoid the oil-based primers. This leaves you with:

• Acrylic primer
• Silane sealer
• Epoxy primer
• Polyurethane primer

All these primers do their best to create a chemical reaction with the concrete and fuse with it. In that way, they create a surface that is much easier to paint and many imperfections are ironed out.

How Long Does it Take for Primer to Dry on Concrete?

Your first coating of primer should dry within an hour. The second layer should dry for at least three hours. Both of these layers should be applied with a nice, clean paint roller that doesn’t lint or leave any sort of residue behind it.

Once your primer is all set and ready, it is time for your paint. The best way to apply the colour is by a thoroughly clean roller or, even better, a spray. That will help for the colour to be dispersed more thoroughly and evenly. Put at least two coatings and let it dry in the meantime.

Can Your Seal Painted Concrete?

You can and you should. In that way, you will ensure that your colour lasts longer, and you can even add some gloss. Your sealer protects the colour for foot traffic, atmospheric conditions and all sorts of wear.

These are the three ways to have painted concrete in your home or outside it. When listed like this, it sounds easy. It is not impossible to do it on your own, of course, but there is a lot that can go wrong.

Experienced concreting experts know these processes by heart. They know when the sealer is dry or when the concrete is clean enough and ready for the primer. They don’t think twice about the amount of colour or the type of paint. The only downside to having your concrete painted by a professional is the price.

But that doesn’t have to be the case.

Get as many quotes as you want from different Australian concreters. You will see that it is much cheaper to hire a professional at a fair price than to paint your concrete over and over again because something ‘didn’t work out.’. With Service Seeking, you will not overpay.