White colour additive for concrete

LK_Dave

I want to shutter a low profile curb, it will form the border between the lawn and a decor stone driveway. The final product will be about one inch above the driveway and level with the lawn and about a foot wide. I’ll be including land drains to relieve rain water from the driveway.
I want the concrete curb to be as white as possible without having to paint. Does anybody know a good additive to enhance the whiteness of the concrete? Would the addition of white lime during the mixing phase accomplish this?
Note the mix will have extra sand as I want to achieve a good finish
Thanks
Dave

dunsandin

How about using white cement? And a very pale aggregate and sand, probably cost you a bit extra though.

LK_Dave

dunsandin wrote: »

How about using white cement? And a very pale aggregate and sand, probably cost you a bit extra though.

I'll be using crushed limestone, 3/4" down, extra sand and Portland cement. The colour of the agg won't make much of a difference - even if I used black/dark chip the concrete would still turn out greyish. But the lime in the down/dust should make the concrete white but over time it will fade. I want something to reduce the fade.

dunsandin

You will probably laugh, but why not add a good bit of white masonry paint through the mix water. That and the use of white cement will provide a very light colour.

Martron

you could try rendering it.

there is a product called unimatch. its a repair compund that you can mix to any colour you want. you could render it with that.

failing that i would go with the white cment.

yop

Can you buy different color cements and render yourself? I thought you needed a machine to render it?

secman

You can just use white sand and white cement and some lime .We got our whole house rendered in this. Its finish is like a chalk white.


Secman

Victor

LK_Dave wrote: »

The final product will be about one inch above the driveway and level with the lawn and about a foot wide. I’ll be including land drains to relieve rain water from the driveway.

How will the water get from the driveway into these drains?

You could try one of the "permanent" paint/render finishes, although if people are walking on it, it might wear locally.

Why not build the kerb in stone?