Top Guidelines for Ensuring Color Consistency in Colored Concrete
Standard concrete brings good business for concrete contractors. However, if you want to widen your clientele base, then you need to think about supplying coloured concrete. Compared to regular concrete, coloured concrete is becoming the go-to material due to its aesthetic value. However, most contractors do not know how to work with coloured concrete; therefore, they end up with inconsistent coloured concrete. How then do you ensure that your clients get the best coloured concrete for their needs? This article provides guidelines on steps you should take to deliver coloured concreting that retains its consistency.
Ensure Trucks are Dry -- One of the most significant factors that lead to colour inconsistencies in coloured concrete is water. Unfortunately, most concrete contractors do not bother to inspect their trucks before filling them with coloured concrete. This is wrong because when coloured concrete is exposed to water -- even a small amount -- it begins to change colour to a lighter tone. Therefore, truck drivers must inspect their trucks for any signs of moisture and dry them completely before pouring in concrete. This is especially the case if the truck was recently cleaned out to prepare it for another trip.
Consistent Materials -- It is common for contractors to source their cement, sand and aggregates from different materials suppliers. While there is nothing wrong if you are working with standard concrete, there is no room for such a mistake with coloured concrete. This is because different manufacturers of coloured ready-mix cement use varying pigments in their materials. Therefore, ready-mix cement that appears red to you might actually have pigments of maroon colour in it. Therefore, mixing the concrete with red coloured cement from a different supplier will result in colour inconsistencies once a project is complete. It is good practice to source all your coloured cement, sand, and aggregates from a single supplier for consistency.
Only Choose Quality Oxides Pigments -- Notably, the pigments used in cement are not of the same quality. Therefore, you should be wary of suppliers that use low-quality oxides in their pigments in the name of cost-cutting. Such oxides often lead to costly tear-outs because the colour pigments are not permanent. A good example is coloured cement that contains calcium chloride, a compound that leads to faster discolouration. Therefore, make sure that you only use quality oxides since they will help you achieve evenly dispersed and non-fading concrete colours.
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