hi guys Kirk and Jay here with Kirk Giordano plastering, today I want to answer a question
that I asked about 50 times. The question is how much color pigment do you put in interior
plaster? that is a tough one. I've had folks architects especially say, Kir,k when you're
doing this interior finish for me use this scale, put this amount. I've had people say use teaspoons when I'm doing interior color finishes, I'll just eyeball it guys and I tell folks. Hey it is
what it is. I cannot be responsible if you want me to do it I'll do it. If not get somebody else.
Scales and all that, they're a real drag, let me point out something guys, first of all, say let's
take colors companies. now this is, La Habra for example because they're the biggest, you got BMI
Western, Omega you've got all kinds of manufacturers of color coats, cementitious color finishes. Now when
I say cementitious. I mean finishes like a brick when they get wet they darken, which lasts forever
like a brick it lasts forever, the color doesn't come off doesn't fade, or chip off like paint. It
just stays on forever, yeah it mellows with time or darkens lightens, does a lot of stuff but let
me give you an example guys, Okay, since we're since I happen to have La Habra here, and it is one of my
products that I use often, I want to point out you see this color on the cover now, you see that
color. I think it's photoshopped myself but that's dark and it's super-rich usually you'll have to
use a lime you have to have a plaster say like these right here they have Portland cement for
strength and then they have lime in them. How much? I don't know because they're not, they don't have
to they're not required to put the additives in here or the ratios of exactly how much so we never
know we have it right. Here's Santa Barbara's smooth mission finish, when we do a Santa Barbara
smooth mission finish, we're doing two coats. Oh it has more lime or should have more lime in it, and
lime cost the more coats you go, the richer it becomes in fact, lime plastering has been done for the last
five, seven thousand years. It is, it lasts forever if you do it right. How do they make lime?
to get a rock and they you magic to it okay they get a rock they heat it up to over 2,000 degrees
and they used to make the putties out of it now, they take these limestone's and they heat it up
and bring it to a powder form, same with gypsum, gypsum we're gonna go over in a second any way
you get the powder you add it to it the powder, determines the color. Okay, so what do we have here?
I'm not sure how much that camera, there's about 30 earth tone colors earth tone colors. The majority
of colors that people like, their pleasing to the eye, there's no reds, oranges, greens and blues, but
you could special order those. I've done them all, here we have lifestyle colors, so what does
that mean guys" that's like the typical colors are two-pound there used to boxes but the cardboard
boxes 20 years ago. I mean when I'd have, might fill up a whole shelf and if they get wet they just
deteriorate, these are two-pound color packs these are like five pounds I've had 10-pound color packs.
For specific colors, so when now we know for every let's say for the sake of conversation to simplify
this. These are all most of your cement bags for the last 50-100 years or 94 pounds sacks. why? I don't
know. But there are 94-pounds, not 100 so 94-pounds 94, 94, so if you take a 2-pound pack of color and
you add it to 94 pounds, you will get this specific color almost on the money, almost every time. I've
done it I've done enough color coats over a hundred easy, and they're usually right on the
money. Although when you read this, that protects themselves as they hey too much water too much
moisture in the air and too much this, that, they protect themselves. Anyhow now you take these
colors and you go to say now this is the question I get off ass often can you use it for say a fast
fast set compound? yes. Can you use it for a veneer? Yes. Can you use it for structo-lite? Yes.
Can you use it for Portland's white cement Lehigh who makes a white cement? Yes.
I don't encourage people to do that, I've done a house where we added color to white cement portland's, and we had
a whole bunch of sand it's three three hundred pounds of sand to a 100-pound sack of Portland's
white cement that's high makes it to come up with a color that's integrated throughout the wall do
I recommend people do that? No, you never get the the color you want, you can try it guys I've tried it a
50 times you're never going to get the exact same color that you want if you add it to the imperials,
or the Diamonds, and again veneer plasters, that coming about ten different varieties a whole
bunch of different names, Imperial diamond are the ones my material yard happens to sell. these fast
sets, these are sheetrock compounds, they're gypsum same thing as the lime it's a rock,
they heat it up bring it to a powder form, boom and that's gypsum plasters. I got other things here but
for the sake of trying to tell you guys how to add color to it I'll get into that right now. Okay,
generally what we all do is for example these are 100-pound sack, 100-pound sack you're going
to use a whole bag of this, if you try to match the texture on one of these now some of these
other bags are 50, 50, 50, 25, so it's kind of easy you got 25, 50, and 100. so if you're using 100
pound sack you put a whole bag. If you're using a 50-pound sack use half the bag, if you're using 25
you use a quarter. How do you figure that out well again the scales, that's not my style. I don't do it
and if somebody is real adamant these days and says, Kirk, I want you to use a scale. I just say, hey you know what why don't you get somebody else.
Because it's it's not, you're never going to get the exact formula for interior because
a lot of things make a big difference. With the cementitious, you can do that with any of these
if you try to get the same color, with any of these you got to think this. This will contaminate a mix
if you don't have a clean bucket, a clean drill paddle, these mixes all of these will set faster
this says 25 minutes set and you add color now just guess what? you need a 45-minutes set if you
could only handle 25-minute bags, because it will accelerate this and it'll do the same to all the
rest of these it will accelerate them so there's a lot of stuff, when trying to determine how much
color that's why I don't usually get into it because it takes a lot of time in for example.
Okay, here's a bag two pounds, what I'll generally do is if I'm gonna do that, I'm gonna say okay
half their quarters okay so now we got quarters is this an exact science? No. Can I be more
specific and measure it? Yes, but it's so rare to get the exact color on interiors, sometimes it'll
have that bird's eye effect where you're putting it on, it and then you take a piece of color that
didn't mix in the bucket and then you're smearing it with it or you're spreading it with a hawk and
trowel and you hit one of those clumps, and it'll make a long streak I love that, the bird's eye look
in wood. Where here, it's a big no-no. Folks hate it these colors come varied when say you add this to
any of these, this but by the way is, uh just a gold color, but you add these to any of these guys
right here you will accelerate that, and when it dries, usually whatever if it's a veneer you mix
it and it's wet and when you apply it stays that same color. All the cementitious finishes
like what Jason's standing on right now if you mix those they'll be wet and they'll darken
like a brick, however when those dry it'll come out a lot lighter so there's a whole lot
of stuff to try to understand like say base coat 100 that's white, when the base coat is 200 that's
grey. So you take a white base coat and you get certain colors. Certain colors require different
base coats, so you take all of this stuff into consideration when you're adding colors
to say the veneer plasters, or even the sheetrock compounds, even the gypsum plaster is just a whole
bunch of gypsum plasters guys, so when people say hey, Kirk, can you add it to the base coat? I
say yeah, we can do that but unless we're going to skip it miss some, you're not gonna see the base
coat because I'm gonna cover it with a topcoat. you add it to the topcoat but I've done it the
base coat - I've done almost every which way you could imagine. So I'm trying to answer,. best I can
for you homeowners, who say, gee, I'm gonna give that a shot. It's a wee bit more complicated than
just these putting it in half and then putting it in quarters, anyway guys you can. yeah I'm working
with my son, Dan, check this magazine out if you can zero in on that you can find all these
answers to guys in this magazine, and look at the cover of that magazine isn't that way cool that's
past cool. that's us guys. Anyway, my name is Kirk, I'm with Kirk Giordano plastering, Jason on the
the camera I got everybody waiting. like for a job So we thank you for watching and as usual, we'll
see you guys on the next one.
once again folks we thank you for watching and I really enjoy all your comments if you guys like this video please click the like button down below and also if you enjoy
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