Coloured Mortar

[Andrew]

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

[EricP]

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

[EricP]

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

[Andrew]

Thanks, I'll take a look tomorrow.

Andrew

[John Rumm]

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

[meow2222]

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

NT

[Andy Hall]

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.

[Andrew Gabriel]

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]

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

[Andrew]

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

Andrew

[Andy Hall]

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

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

[Owain]

Soot? Quink?

Owain

[meow2222]

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

[John Rumm]

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.

[Andrew Gabriel]

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.

[Stuart Noble]

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.

[John Rumm]

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