Coloring Drywall Mud

jproffer

Anyone know anything about tinting drywall compound? Is it possible? What do you use? Does it have to be done with bag mud(not pre-mixed) or does it not matter? Where can you find the dye/tint?

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Jim P.

Tom R

I never did it, but I don't see why it couldn't be done. Might be a question for ProWall or AA Paint or one of them.

I'd say get regular 'tint' from a paint store, - - and I would think it would work just fine with pre-mix.

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ProWallGuy

I've seen it done, but haven't done it myself. I watched a faux finisher several years back add some color to a 5 of pre-mix mud, lightweight I believe.
I can't recall if he put a stain, glaze, or straight paint in, but he poured about a quart into maybe 2.5 - 3 gallons of mud, and mixed with a paddle. Troweled it on in some weird kind of texture finish. Looked pretty cool.

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Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation

DelW

My SW rep and I were talking about this just the other day, about plaster guys buying tint to mix with plaster, neat idea but I'm not sure how you could maintain color consistency throughout different batches.

jmgallagher

you can use food coloring... I use chaulk line.(blue).. works great!!! I use it for when I patch walls I can see the patches.

theworx

My question. Why do you want to add color to your drywall compound. Is it the actual finish?

jproffer

This was asked on behalf of someone else, but I believe it's intended to be the final finish, yes.

I know, I know...I should have had her sign up and ask her own questions....but...whad'ya gonna do...it's mom.

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Jim P.

theworx

So is it a knock down finish on walls, or for the ceiling, what is the effect you (or she) are after??

jproffer

I'm not sure what type texture it will be. I think the main thing she is trying to do is cut out a step (painting).

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Jim P.

theworx

Is it for the ceilings or walls (you haven't said)???

jproffer

OH...I'm guessing it will be for the walls but could be either...or both.

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Jim P.

theworx

Well, I've had to add some color to mud in the past (only a couple of times) for a designer who wanted a certain effect (once in a retail store the other a reception area in an office). We got little bottles of the tint they use to add color to paint from one of our paint wholesalers. Both areas we did were smaller sections of wall and basically feature walls (not a whole wall). We added a few drops of a couple of different colors in a pan full of mud and gently mixed it with a taping knife (but not to the point where it was completely mixed). Had to be more of a light swirl of the colors. We then floated those sections of wall, and I have to tell you, after the first few swipes with my knife it was really cool. With the colors swirled in the mud and then spread on the wall it looked like marble (exactly the effect the designer wanted). The reason I was asking if it was for walls or ceilings is because after applying the mud we had to clear coat with two coats.

So if you are trying to avoid painting this won't work. You'll have to seal it anyway. Even with the color mixed in, the dried mud will be chaulky and if anyone rubs against it they will be wearing dust on their clothes (not to mention it will dent like crazy). Better off using straight compound and painting.

The only other time I tint my compound is for touching up (like JMGALLAGER said). I add some colored chaulk to see my repairs..

ProWallGuy

That sounds very cool. May have to play around with that a bit.

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Digital Murals Installation

jproffer

Yeah it does...I like the marble idea...thanks alot fellas

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Jim P.

theworx

PROWALL, yeah it was cool. I do straight forward boarding, taping, painting, etc... After a few strokes with my knife all at once, I became an artist (but does that allow me to add "Mud Artist" to my business card )??? Well, I guess not. Neat trick anyway. Might use it for my own projects in the future..

firemike

Did it once for a reastaurant that had a stucco/heavy knockdown type finish on the walls. I was originally done with regular mud and painted, but every time someone would chip it you would see the white mud behind the dark paint, and it would have to be touched up to look good. During a remodel, we tried using the powder that you color mortar/concrete with. Put 3 five gallon buckets of all purpose mud in a clean garbage can, mixed them up and added powder until we got the color the manager wanted (had to keep taking samples and drying them with a heat gun), applied it, and even when it got scratched or chipped, the color still looked good. as for being chaulky, no more than plain dried mud.

theworx

That's a neat concept. Tinting your mud close to the color of the finish. Any scratches or dents would not be seen. Never thought of that one..

Al Truistic

Duron has a new product that is designed to be used tinted.

Search: Duron Hard Kote

Mater

Yes, I hope someone gets use out of this thread still. As an apprentice finisher, they almost demoted me to "colored mud" while all I did all day was spot screws on a million screw retirement home. This was so that after all day I could see what screws had been spotted once, twice, or three times. I was supposed to color the 2nd coat so that I would be able to tell the difference. They used chalk line powder to color the mud. Just make sure you mix ALL the mud you'll use at one time, so you don't receive different tints. It works awesome!

1KingOfDrywall

I did this in my daughters room......I added red dye to the mud compound to make a pink ceiling (and I added glittery stuff)......the dye and green label compound when combined produce a very odd odor.
I thought maybe it was odd, but I did it on 3 other occassions and exactly the same result. Mixing dye with green label produces a powerful odor, it literally took almost 3 weeks for the odor to really go away. I'm gonna make a ball park guess and say it has something to do with creating mold-because the compound takes a while to dry and is providing moisture??? On several occasions I have put different color glitter in mud compound......never a problem....looks good. If you are doing a roll stomp knockdown that won't need painted try it. In the end though, the odor went away and the rest is history.no harm done.