How Much Dye to Put in Concrete?

Colors Available

• The finished color in the poured cement depends on the color of cement and sand being used. Gray cement will give more earth tones, and white Portland cement is needed for pure tones of brighter colors. Most companies producing concrete dyes have color charts of available products. Shades and tints of gray, tan, brown, red, buff, orange and plum are most common. Green and blue dyes are the most expensive.

Pigments Used

• Black and gray dyes contain black iron oxide, mineral black and carbon black. For brown and red, red iron oxide, brown iron oxide, raw umber and burnt umber are used. Rose and pink come from varying concentrations of red iron oxide. Buff, cream and ivory come from combinations of yellow ochre and yellow iron oxide. Green is colored by chromium oxide or phthalocyanine green. Blue pigments include cobalt blue, ultramarine blue and phthalocyanine blue. Synthetic iron oxides give brighter, cleaner colors with smaller pigment amounts than natural iron oxides.

Calculating Dye Needed for Large Pours

• Each color has a different combination of pigments that vary in how well they color cement. The pigments coat the cement particles, not the sand and gravel. Dye companies provide a pound rating for each color to determine what weight of dye should be used, based on the weight of cement. For instance, one manufacturer specifies a rating of 3 pounds for the color Earthern Red. For truck pours, first multiply the pound rating by 5 to calculate how much of the dye is needed for a yard of concrete; in this case 3 pounds times 5 equals 15 pounds per yard. If the concrete truck holds 10 yards of concrete, multiply 15 pounds by 10 yards to get 150 pounds of dye needed for one truckload.

Calculating Dye Needed for Small Jobs

• Ready-mix bags of cement are usually used for small jobs. Bags come in 60-pound and 80-pound weights. For 60-pound bags, multiply the dye pound rating times 37.5 grams or 1.32 ounces. For 80-pound bags, multiply the dye pound rating times 50 grams or 1.76 ounces. For instance, the color Venetian Red has a pound rating of 5 pounds. For a 60-pound bag, multiply 5 pounds by 37.5 grams or 1.32 ounces to get amounts of 187.5 grams or 6.6 ounces of dye needed. For an 80-pound bag of ready-mix, multiply 5 pounds times 50 grams or 1.76 ounces, for the amounts of 250 grams or 8.8 ounces of dye needed.