Mississippi 44"

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

You can put the fibers in your countertops too, they help a lot. They do not get all furry like they used to when they were glass. I assume you are using a Buddy Rhodes white pre-mix? Most pigments are formulated for grey cement, so using them in white makes them very bright. You can either reduce the quantity of pigment (which goes pastel) or add a brown, either reddish or green as a toner.

Those samples look great, but I will disagree with David and say that the slurry mix should be lighter and closer in color to one of the field colors.

Thank's TScar,
I am incorporating a couple of styles. But, I am using a "home brew" of white portland and all purpose sand. I just don't want to pay shipping on something that I haven't tried for myself. I intend to play with the colors, seams, and the slurry pore filler on a couple of more trial pours. I already have the ladder wire for my counters. My hearth and mantle pieces probably wont need much more help due to their size. But I will definately keep the fibers in mind for the outdoor and her kitchen counter pours .

[Tscarborough]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Me too, as a rule, but for concrete counter tops, I like a more natural look, like these:

[Tscarborough]

Re: Mississippi 44"

If you are making it yourself, then use grey portland, not white (unless you want bright, pure colors).

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Me too, as a rule, but for concrete counter tops, I like a more natural look, like these:

That is just what my wife wants for her kitchen counters . For the Queen (not my wife) I am trying to tie her into my overall back yard theme "Margaritaville" . A gulf of mexico/carribean look .

[Tscarborough]

Re: Mississippi 44"

If you are mixing your own, try and find some marble dust. It adds a nice luster and waterproofs the concrete. You can sub up to 1/2 the sand aggregate with it. It is used for pool plaster as a rule, but most pre-mix countertop mixes include it (as does Thoroseal).

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

If you are mixing your own, try and find some marble dust. It adds a nice luster and waterproofs the concrete. You can sub up to 1/2 the sand aggregate with it. It is used for pool plaster as a rule, but most pre-mix countertop mixes include it (as does Thoroseal).

Thank's TScarborough,
I'm not sure where localy that I can find it. There are a couple of monument places near by. I've got at least another week before I can do another trial pour. I will see if I can locate some.

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Hi Joe,
Joe, can I ask what is the material that you are using and what are the tints used to get those colors and how does the dark slurry stick?

Doug,
I am very sorry for not catching this question in your post . I was going over the last couple of pages on my thread and evidently just read your post all the way through.

I am using white portland cement and all purpose sand for the pour. 1 part portland and 2 parts sand. The few rocks that are in this sand go up to only about 1/8" in size.

The Yellow color comes from a dry tint that I bought about 10 years ago from a salvage store. It was made by Bonsal Cement Colors.

All of the other tints that I used are liquid tints from Quikrete. The darker reddish brown is called terra cotta, the lighter is called buff, and the dark tint is called charcoal.

As for what makes the dark slurry stick: I am using a concrete bonding adhesive & acrylic fortifier made by Sika. I am using it per it's manufactures directions in place of water in the pour. It is a liquid and comes in 1 gallon containers and of course, I am sure that it is mostly water. It is supposed to help out with bonding and water proofing.

I did a real pour today on some some of the less obvious shelves at the top and back of the oven. In this pour, I added a few prefilled sea shell splilts and also a few pieces of glass. I hope it turns out OK . Either way, it will be a learning experience for the more obvious mantle and landing counters.

Joe

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Gulf,

Can't wait to see how the pours go. Knowing how detailed oriented you are they are going to be great.

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

You are very welcome Doug, again sorry about the late reply.

Thank's Russell, I am also trying a new veining technique on this one. It may be a total flop. But hopefully, it will not be as noticeable as the front .

Joe

[Gulf]

Re: Mississippi 44"

As for as trying another veining technique goes, I am not impressed with it. I took a large syringe and used it like a caulking gun to apply a bead of dark slurry. I also used a little dryer mix to get more air pockets near the surface for a marbling effect. I darkened the colors also. So much so, that I did not think that a dark slurry would work. From what I have seen on the web a light color slurry is what is mostly used to get this effect.

What a mess, looks like a snake.

You can see a couple of pieces of glass and one of my smaller sea shell cross sections. I decided to apply a light colored slurry to try and save these more inconspicuous shelves. Here they are painted with the fortifier/bonding agent.

Here they are after applying the slurry.

I will have to wait until after the first wet sanding to see how they turn out. But, my first impression is to go back to my origional colors and the sand veining with the dark slurry to accent the fossils.

[Laku]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Before slurry looks like some weird giant gingerbread experiment.

[UtahBeehiver]

Re: Mississippi 44"

Hi Gulf,

Before the slurry the counters did have that Magaritiville look, the slurry did seem to tone down the color(s). As I polished my counters, the water makes the counter glisten much more than when dry. See how they look after you polish and maybe do a test section with sealer to see the final look.

[deejayoh]

Re: Mississippi 44"

I think it's kind of cool - if you aren't looking for subtlety. The colors are going to pop back once you grind - but if you want to mute the whole thing you can use a stain once you have it polished.

[brickie in oz]

Re: Mississippi 44"

What a mess, looks like a snake.

Are you part Aboriginal? It looks like their art work....

[david s]

Re: Mississippi 44"

I notice you ended up with the attractive dark slurry.