# Changing mortar color?



## kcrossley2

I have an interesting situation that I need some help with. I'm purchasing a brand new home from a track home builder. The finished home is going to be vinyl sided with a brick foundation. The brick I selected is Silas Towne from Nash Brick, which is sort of a random brown brick.

Okay, here's where it gets a little silly. When I signed the contract several months ago I asked the builder to use straw mortar, since I felt it matched the Silas Towne color better. At that time I was told that they had to use gray mortar since the house I was buying was vinyl sided. The only way I could get straw mortar was if I purchased a full brick faced home, which I was perfectly willing to do. Unfortunately, this builder doesn't allow two houses next to one another to have the same brick or siding color and my future next door neighbor already selected Silas Towne.

Anyway, I didn't think much of this until I visted the homesite today and saw the finished brick. As it turns out the masonry contractor mistakenly used straw mortar for the front porch and gray for the rest of the foundation. Personally, I like the straw color but it's against their color policy. BTW, the first picture shows gray mortar to the left of the corner and straw to the right. Second picture is all straw. Third picture is all gray.

So here's my question. Is there anyway I can tint or color the gray mortar to match the straw color I like? If so, how is this done and how permanent is the coloring?

Thanks,
Kelly


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## clasact

I am pretty sure you could use concret stain to tint it although to just do the motor at this point it going to take awhile and alot of patience or you could stain the whole thing to match the other brick


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## kcrossley2

clasact said:


> I am pretty sure you could use concret stain to tint it although to just do the motor at this point it going to take awhile and alot of patience or you could stain the whole thing to match the other brick


How permanent is concrete stain and what brands do you recommend? I'm trying to avoid a maintenance problem.


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## Tscarborough

There is no DIY way to fix it. There are two ways to change the color of the mortar permanantly with no future maintainance issues:

You can cut out the joints and tuckpoint them.

You can hire a company that does brick/joint staining and they can make the joints (and the brick) look like whatever you want.

Neither solution is cheap or easy.


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## kcrossley2

Why do you think they used straw for the porch and gray for the balance of the foundation? That just doesn't seem to make much sense.


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## kcrossley2

Tscarborough said:


> Neither solution is cheap or easy.


How much do you think tinting the mortar costs?


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## Tscarborough

About half of what it would cost to tear it out and redo it.


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## kcrossley2

Tscarborough said:


> About half of what it would cost to tear it out and redo it.


Is tinting the mortar something most brick masons can do or is it a specialized process?


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## Tscarborough

Your terminology is incorrect. You tint the mortar when it is plastic. After it is laid, you are staining the mortar.

Most masons can tint mortar, very few can stain it, although most can tuckpoint it.


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## kcrossley2

Tscarborough said:


> Your terminology is incorrect. You tint the mortar when it is plastic. After it is laid, you are staining the mortar.
> 
> Most masons can tint mortar, very few can stain it, although most can tuckpoint it.


Oops! Sorry. Okay, what's tuckpoint?


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## Tscarborough

You grind out the joints to a depth of 3/8" to 1/2" and replace the mortar with fresh.


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## kcrossley2

Tscarborough said:


> You grind out the joints to a depth of 3/8" to 1/2" and replace the mortar with fresh.


That sounds like a PITA. Are you sure staining wouldn't be cheaper?


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## Tscarborough

Almost all masons can tuckpoint, only a few nationwide provide the service (to an acceptable extent) of staining. Which do you think is cheaper?


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## kcrossley2

Well since the mason mixed the mortar colors (gray for the porch, and straw for the rest of the foundation), do you think asking them to tuckpoint ONLY the front foundation of the house is a reasonable solution?


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## Tscarborough

Will you be landscaping the home? If so, you are back to that same 99% who will never notice.

If you want to fix it yourself, there is an alternative that you can do that will last long enough for it not to matter (because of normal grime accumulation on a foundation). You can mix a slurry of cement, bonding agent, and pigment to the desired color and and scrub it into the joints. Not a recommended practice, but it does work.


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## kcrossley2

Tscarborough said:


> Will you be landscaping the home? If so, you are back to that same 99% who will never notice.


You know, that's a good point. Clearly, I'm way to close to this project to form an objective opinion. Perhaps I'll take your advice and save my battles for the things that DO matter. Thanks for your help.


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## kcrossley2

http://www.brickstain.com/mortar1.html#


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## Tscarborough

Call them for pricing, but be sure to be sitting down.


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## ritchd01

i cannot buy black mortar for a brick job I am doing. How can I tint my mortar?


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## clasact

I have seen it as a dark gray but not black so I dont know about that color check with you local supply house


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## brickmn808

ritchd01 said:


> i cannot buy black mortar for a brick job I am doing. How can I tint my mortar?



Adding lamp black dye to the mortar will darken it to a dark charcoal grey.


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## diy_enthusiast

We had an issue on our house and it seems like you might be able to use this solution in your circumstance too. We had two different mortar colors on our chimney and wanted to make them look the same. I found a product called Instant Mortar Match that is intended for that specifically. The company sent us a postcard with all of the color choices, so we could figure out what would work the best. When we received the product, all we had to do was brush it on the mortar joints. It was very simple. Their website is InstantMortarMatch.com. They told us concrete stains should not be used on mortar joints because the acid in concrete stain can damage the mortar by eating at the lime in the mortar.


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## Vanjr1

If it was the builders mistake why won't they fix it for you?


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## concretemasonry

Make sure you use a recognized supplier/manufacturer if you try to create a match. Very often, the minerals in cement and lime can have long term effects (usually fading, but sometimes color "shifting").

The good materials are generally iron oxides that are very permanent. Synthetic oxides are the best because of the purity and strength. Natural oxides have some other compounds that could contribute to efflorescence. Synthetics are available in reds, yellows, tans/browns and even black. They are so strong that they are not usually suited for field use because of the equipment needed to measure accurately. In the manufacture of concrete products we would have the oxides delivered by the semi load and then hand weigh it into 4 oz, 8 oz, 12 oz or 16 oz baggies to add to a 4000# batch of concrete, depending on the end color of concrete needed. We did not use iron oxides in a liquid form that used suspension agents.

If we needed greens for concrete, we use Chrome oxides (about 4 x the cost of iron oxides) that had to be protected from freezing and had to be mixed prior
Carbon black or "soot" and lamp black are just a fine material that "dirties" up the colors. During time, the bond to the cement and aggregate is destroyed and the surface of the concrete will weather is a year or so and the effects are minimized.

For small amounts stick with recognized pigment suppliers and be aware that different brands of cements are different colors and they will have an effect. This is why the small colors on a pigment brochure are only a guide. Slick joints will also appear lighter then a raked joint that has been slicked.

Dick


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## stadry

1 usually get acceptable finished results if willing to pay the cost of quality work,,, how many yrs are you willing to look at cheap results on your own home ?

these guys know their stuff - http://www.nawkaw.com/


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