I need to mix up a small quantity of coloured mortar, enough for
perhaps a dozen bricks. Is there any way of doing this with ordinary
cement (which I have) or am I going to have to track down and purchase
a special mix?

Andrew

On 8 May 2007 07:10:02 -0700, Andrew wrote:

I need to mix up a small quantity of coloured mortar, enough for
perhaps a dozen bricks. Is there any way of doing this with ordinary
cement (which I have) or am I going to have to track down and purchase
a special mix?

Andrew

You can get special colours for mortar. It is on sale in sheds and
builders merchants.

On Tue, 08 May 2007 14:23:39 GMT, EricP
wrote:

On 8 May 2007 07:10:02 -0700, Andrew wrote:

I need to mix up a small quantity of coloured mortar, enough for
perhaps a dozen bricks. Is there any way of doing this with ordinary
cement (which I have) or am I going to have to track down and purchase
a special mix?

Andrew

You can get special colours for mortar. It is on sale in sheds and
builders merchants.

Sorry, should have clarified. It's a pigment addative.

On 8 May, 15:23, EricP wrote:
On 8 May 2007 07:10:02 -0700, Andrew wrote:

I need to mix up a small quantity of coloured mortar, enough for
perhaps a dozen bricks. Is there any way of doing this with ordinary
cement (which I have) or am I going to have to track down and purchase
a special mix?

Andrew

You can get special colours for mortar. It is on sale in sheds and
builders merchants.

Thanks, I'll take a look tomorrow.

Andrew

Andrew wrote:
On 8 May, 15:23, EricP wrote:
On 8 May 2007 07:10:02 -0700, Andrew wrote:

I need to mix up a small quantity of coloured mortar, enough for
perhaps a dozen bricks. Is there any way of doing this with ordinary
cement (which I have) or am I going to have to track down and purchase
a special mix?
Andrew
You can get special colours for mortar. It is on sale in sheds and
builders merchants.

Thanks, I'll take a look tomorrow.

And it usually comes in 1kg tins, and you will need a teaspoon of it bu
the sounds of it ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
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| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 8 May, 18:12, John Rumm wrote:
Andrew wrote:
On 8 May, 15:23, EricP wrote:
On 8 May 2007 07:10:02 -0700, Andrew wrote:

I need to mix up a small quantity of coloured mortar, enough for
perhaps a dozen bricks. Is there any way of doing this with ordinary
cement (which I have) or am I going to have to track down and purchase
a special mix?
Andrew
You can get special colours for mortar. It is on sale in sheds and
builders merchants.

Thanks, I'll take a look tomorrow.

And it usually comes in 1kg tins, and you will need a teaspoon of it bu
the sounds of it ;-)

You might not need any. Mortar mixes come in several colours without
dyes or pigments.


NT

On 2007-05-08 15:10:02 +0100, Andrew said:

I need to mix up a small quantity of coloured mortar, enough for
perhaps a dozen bricks. Is there any way of doing this with ordinary
cement (which I have) or am I going to have to track down and purchase
a special mix?

Andrew

You can get cement colouring agent for about £3 for 500g tubs or £6 for
1kg tubs in B&Q. Manufacturer is Febtone. Builders merchants etc.
have it as well. Cementone is another brand.

I have also successfully used coloured paving jointing sand to tint
slightly red or slightly grey - i.e. mix the mortar with that rather
than regular sand.

If you use the colouring agent then be very sparing - it's quite concentrated.

In article ,
Andy Hall writes:
On 2007-05-08 15:10:02 +0100, Andrew said:

I need to mix up a small quantity of coloured mortar, enough for
perhaps a dozen bricks. Is there any way of doing this with ordinary
cement (which I have) or am I going to have to track down and purchase
a special mix?

Andrew

You can get cement colouring agent for about £3 for 500g tubs or £6 for
1kg tubs in B&Q. Manufacturer is Febtone. Builders merchants etc.
have it as well. Cementone is another brand.

I have also successfully used coloured paving jointing sand to tint
slightly red or slightly grey - i.e. mix the mortar with that rather
than regular sand.

If you use the colouring agent then be very sparing - it's quite concentrated.

If you are trying to colour match, mix up a known proportion and
let it completely set and dry before checking the colour match.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 8 May, 18:32, wrote:

You might not need any. Mortar mixes come in several colours without
dyes or pigments.

NT

But probably not Black wjich is what I want to blend with black
engineering bricks on the edge of a step.

On 8 May, 18:45, Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-05-08 15:10:02 +0100, Andrew said:

I need to mix up a small quantity of coloured mortar, enough for
perhaps a dozen bricks. Is there any way of doing this with ordinary
cement (which I have) or am I going to have to track down and purchase
a special mix?

Andrew

You can get cement colouring agent for about £3 for 500g tubs or £6 for
1kg tubs in B&Q. Manufacturer is Febtone. Builders merchants etc.
have it as well. Cementone is another brand.

I have also successfully used coloured paving jointing sand to tint
slightly red or slightly grey - i.e. mix the mortar with that rather
than regular sand.

If you use the colouring agent then be very sparing - it's quite concentrated.

Thanks, that's useful information. Somehow I didn't think it was the
sort of thing that B&Q would stock.

Andrew

On 2007-05-08 19:51:18 +0100, Andrew said:

On 8 May, 18:45, Andy Hall wrote:
On 2007-05-08 15:10:02 +0100, Andrew said:

I need to mix up a small quantity of coloured mortar, enough for
perhaps a dozen bricks. Is there any way of doing this with ordinary
cement (which I have) or am I going to have to track down and purchase
a special mix?

Andrew

You can get cement colouring agent for about £3 for 500g tubs or £6 f
or
1kg tubs in B&Q. Manufacturer is Febtone. Builders merchants etc.
have it as well. Cementone is another brand.

I have also successfully used coloured paving jointing sand to tint
slightly red or slightly grey - i.e. mix the mortar with that rather
than regular sand.

If you use the colouring agent then be very sparing - it's quite concentr
ated.

Thanks, that's useful information. Somehow I didn't think it was the
sort of thing that B&Q would stock.

Andrew

I've seen it in there and yes there is black. Realistically, you will
get as far as a dark charcoal colour but that should work reasonably
well with dark blue/black engineering bricks.

Wickes have it as well

http://www.wickes.co.uk/icat/cmcementadd

Small tub for £3 will be way more than needed even if you are liberal with it.

On 8 May, 19:50, Andrew wrote:
On 8 May, 18:32, wrote:

You might not need any. Mortar mixes come in several colours without
dyes or pigments.

But probably not Black wjich is what I want to blend with black
engineering bricks on the edge of a step.

Black mortar is a classic recipe. Grey cement & coal ash & sand. The
ash replaces some of the sand in standard mortar mix. And unlike black
mortar colourings, the colour doesnt streak out, it stays black.


NT

Andy Hall wrote:

I've seen it in there and yes there is black. Realistically, you will
get as far as a dark charcoal colour but that should work reasonably
well with dark blue/black engineering bricks.

I have used it to match mortar to Marshals charcoal block paving - you
get a very close match used in OPC / and yellowish builders sand.

Mix the mortar very dry (just enough water so that it clumps together
when squeezed) and you will any avoid colour staining of things adjacent
to it.

If you use it on a hot day for grouting joints etc, then any crumbs left
laying about will dry out before curing, which makes cleaning up easier
since you can just sweep up the residue.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article . com,
writes:
On 8 May, 19:50, Andrew wrote:
On 8 May, 18:32, wrote:

You might not need any. Mortar mixes come in several colours without
dyes or pigments.

But probably not Black wjich is what I want to blend with black
engineering bricks on the edge of a step.

Black mortar is a classic recipe. Grey cement & coal ash & sand. The
ash replaces some of the sand in standard mortar mix. And unlike black
mortar colourings, the colour doesnt streak out, it stays black.

I've never had any black mortar colouring steak out, but
it is impossible to get it black in the finished product.
Best you can get is dark grey.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article . com,
writes:
On 8 May, 19:50, Andrew wrote:
On 8 May, 18:32, wrote:
You might not need any. Mortar mixes come in several colours without
dyes or pigments.
But probably not Black wjich is what I want to blend with black
engineering bricks on the edge of a step.
Black mortar is a classic recipe. Grey cement & coal ash & sand. The
ash replaces some of the sand in standard mortar mix. And unlike black
mortar colourings, the colour doesnt streak out, it stays black.

I've never had any black mortar colouring steak out, but
it is impossible to get it black in the finished product.
Best you can get is dark grey.

All pigments have to be properly dispersed, but especially the blacks.
Whether they are carbon black or black oxide, they have less affinity
for water than the yellows and reds, and are more likely to form clumps.

Stuart Noble wrote:

All pigments have to be properly dispersed, but especially the blacks.
Whether they are carbon black or black oxide, they have less affinity
for water than the yellows and reds, and are more likely to form clumps.

Mix the colour with your gauging water first. I never had a problem with
uneven colour doing that.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/