How to paint gravel at home. Crushed decorative color

Decorative works outdoors in the form of finishing a garden, laying out sidewalk paths, decorating flower beds can be done using such a popular material as colored gravel. It has virtually unlimited colors(like the paint itself), therefore it allows you to carry out any design ideas. But in building stores, such material will cost 2-3 times more than its unpainted counterpart, so the question arises, how to paint the rubble yourself?

Application spectrum

The demand for this material is due to the fact that it can be used to achieve a brighter and stylish design adjoining area, as well as to create whole picture-messages reflecting some idea. Painted gravel is used for the following purposes:

• creation of original flower beds and lawns;
• registration of sites around artificial reservoirs;
• landscape works;
• filling terrariums and aquariums (fine gravel).

Choosing a coloring agent

In conditions where you plan to carry out small Finishing work you don't want to buy a large number building materials, therefore it is better to make crushed stone in color with your own hands, measuring as much stone as you need for the task.

The good news for many will be the fact that the production technology is simple, and the consumption is small - only 1 kg of paint is taken per 100 kg of crushed stone. This rule applies if you are going to paint in a concrete mixer, and with other methods, the consumption increases.

To accomplish this task, you can use any coloring compositions: alkyd paints, water-dispersed, enamels, sometimes they even take PVA glue mixed with a dye. But the most favorable option for this purpose is acrylic paint.

This is due to the fact that you need a substance that is resistant to moisture, as well as not fading in the sun, able to keep the color for a long time. This is how the above paint is characterized, but besides this, it is also harmless, both for humans and for nature.

Required equipment

To make the whole staining procedure go quickly and without hesitation, you will need the following devices:

• concrete mixer;
• machine "roar" - vibrating sieve;
• grate or sieve for washing or drying;
• pallet;
• container for storing finished material.

Stone preparation before painting

When buying crushed stone, you get a heterogeneous composition, the size of each stone can vary from 10 to 30 mm. There are also smaller fractions that are more applicable for interior decoration. That is why sizing is necessary.

This can be done manually on a sieve with the right size cells, or, which is faster and easier, use the "roar" machine. Any of the above technologies provides for the separation of excess litter, too small pebbles, sand.

But in order for the acrylic paint to hold well, the crushed stone must also be washed. This will ensure that the dye adheres better to the surface of the stone and allows you to create exactly the shade that you want, because if not washed, the stone can darken.

Washing can be carried out directly on the screen, pouring from a hose or water from a bucket. Due to the fact that the machine creates shaking, cleaning will take place from all sides. After that, the washed mass is laid out in a uniform layer on the grate and drying is carried out on outdoors.

The process of creating painted gravel

There is only one way to paint rubble, and it is almost automatic, since your participation in the main process will be minimal. The most efficient and time-saving technology involves the use of a concrete mixer. After you have prepared all the components properly, you can proceed to the painting itself, which consists of several stages:

1. Crushed stone should be placed in a concrete mixer for two-thirds of the volume of the machine (if the capacity is 0.7 cubic meters).
2. Pour paint in a ratio of 30 percent to 70 percent of the stone.
3. Start the mechanism and wait 40-60 minutes until the stone is completely covered with a colored layer.
4. At the end of the “kneading”, drying follows - lay everything on the grid, substituting a tray under the bottom, where the remaining paint will run.

Dried painted gravel is not desirable to store in the open air, it is better to use a closed container.

To protect against external influences, it is possible to use. This will give the material an additional decorative effect.

Another coloring method

If you don’t have a concrete mixer at your disposal, then it will be more difficult to create painted crushed stone, but it’s possible that you will have to pour the stone into a container with paint and mix it yourself, and then dry the crushed stone.

Or just spray on the stone spray paint, however, this method does not give a uniform color and uniform staining on all sides.

Make your own painted gravel for finishing park areas or a plot near the house is much cheaper than buying a finished product: for an unpainted product you will give a thousand rubles, while a colored one costs over 20 thousand. Given such savings and an extremely logical production technology, the idea of ​​​​making crushed stone for decoration with your own hands is rationally conditioned.

For the embodiment of design ideas in interior design garden plot products with an unlimited range of colors are always required. Stone decoration makes the landscape expressive, emphasizing its features. The use of painted gravel allows you to create an unusual and original decoration.

Crushed stone is an inorganic bulk material of various grain sizes, obtained from gravel, granite, limestone, as well as waste from the construction and metallurgical industries. Its characteristics depend on the raw material.

1. The index of frost resistance, as well as strength characteristics, may be low. Gravel with medium or low parameters is quite suitable for painting.

2. There are several forms of grains obtained by crushing a stone:

• ordinary;
• cuboid;
• improved.

Gravel is formed naturally, has a smooth rounded surface.

3. The natural range of shades is:

• white-gray;
• beige pink;
• brown red.

Other color options in nature are extremely rare.

4. In landscape design the most popular are blue, green, red and other tones. You can get them only by painting the rubble yourself in a concrete mixer or by hand. For this, dyes are taken, which:

• resistant to atmospheric precipitation;
• do not interact with soils;
• do not affect plants;
• safe for people.

Properties	Usage
Large palette of shades, high aesthetic qualities.	You can give a neat look to the site with any type of soil. The landscape of stones is suitable for any style.
Environmental Safety.	Crushed stone for landscape design has a radioactivity index< 370 Бк/кг, что позволяет применять его при декорировании открытых площадок, садовых дорожек, для благоустройства мест детских игр.
Long period of operation.	High resistance to temperature changes. Up to 7 years retains color intensity under the influence of moisture, UV rays.
Prevents drying of the soil and the formation of weeds.	Sprinkling for decoration contributes to the growth of plantings located on them.
Simplicity and versatility.	Does not require special care; can ensure the aesthetics of the territory at any time of the year; making colored gravel with your own hands is easy; the backfill is easily restored and removed; with a decrease in decorativeness, it can be used in drainage pillows.
Harmonizes both with different plants and with any materials.	It is combined with concrete, metal, glass, wood. Organically looks among trees, flowers, moss.

In most cases, gravel or granite backfill is taken for decoration. Limestone or secondary types are used much less often due to their technical qualities.

Work technology

With the advent of painted rubble, the task of ennobling the surrounding space became easier. The finished material offered by manufacturers has a high cost. Doing the work yourself is much cheaper.

There are 2 ways to paint at home: mechanical and manual. The choice depends on how much processing is required.

• For manufacturing, it is better to take cube-shaped gravel with a fraction of up to 10 mm.
• In order for the coloring to be uniform, the products are divided into fractions. For sorting, a grate or a sieve with a certain mesh size or a “roar” is used.
• Depending on the applied composition, the color coating can be either matte or glossy.
• The main requirement is adhesion. It can be good not only for natural stone, but also for crushed stone obtained from recycled materials.
• Paint consumption is small. The proportional ratio for mechanical application is 1 liter per 100 kg of gravel.

Method	Equipment	Technology	Nuances
Mechanical	Concrete mixer; vibrating sieve for separating crushed stone into fractions (“roar”); shovels for loading and unloading stones; pallet; place for drying the finished product.	The washed gravel is poured into a clean concrete mixer. A special dye of the required saturation is added. Staining, depending on the load, lasts from 20 minutes to 1 hour. Then the gravel is poured out in an even layer to dry.	For high-quality staining, it is necessary to fill 1/2 - 2/3 of the volume of the container. If the device is completely filled, the color will not be uniform. The dye is added in a ratio of 3:7 in relation to the total volume of the load. Mixing in a concrete mixer lasts until the grains are covered with a uniform film. When drying under a sieve it is necessary to establish the pallet for collecting surpluses.
Manual	Storage tank; sieve; pallet; shovel.	1 option. The stone is poured into a container with paint, thoroughly mixed, laid out on a sieve, dried. Option 2. A large sieve with a reservoir is built on the frame; crushed stone is dipped into the composition, laid out to dry. 3 option. The gravel is painted by spraying with an aerosol, then dried.	There is a possibility of uneven or weak staining. The bottom will have a mesh pattern, in order to avoid constant shaking, turning over during drying.

Before starting work, the gravel must be washed, dried, slightly heated with a burner. This will improve adhesion, allow you to create the desired shade, in addition, an unwashed stone will darken.

If you are planning to fill a path in the garden with gravel or make an embankment in the yard, you have a choice - use gray nondescript gravel or decorative gravel, decorated in all the colors of the rainbow. Special costs are not needed - everyone can make colored gravel with their own hands.

Do-it-yourself decorative crushed stone - a practical novelty

Decorative crushed stone appeared on the construction market not so long ago - manufacturers of this building material are just beginning to master the technology of its coloring on an industrial scale. The technology involves the use of paints that are resistant to external factors, non-toxic and harmless to the soil and plants. Obtaining colored gravel contributes to the use of this material in landscape design - these are colored garden paths, and rainbow flower beds and flower beds, the creation of all kinds of inscriptions on the ground, filling around the walls of houses and cottages, framing monuments and creating a bright bottom and bank in artificial streams and ponds, design of playgrounds and much more.

In addition to external beauty, it is also practical, and in this aspect of the issue, the Europeans, who were the first to master the coloring of crushed stone, certainly know a lot - according to their calculations, the use of such an element in the future significantly reduces maintenance costs beautiful view in parks, around monuments and in flowerbeds. Indeed, backfilling with colored gravel is an exceptionally durable way to solve various problems. Crushed stone inhibits the growth of weeds, prevents the soil from weathering, freely passes moisture and helps to retain it in the soil, and if necessary, it can be collected and used elsewhere or even used for construction purposes.

You can either purchase ready-made decorative material and paint it yourself. When buying, be sure to ask what paints were used to give the appropriate color - polymer paints can retain their color for several decades. In addition, do not hesitate to look into the bag - the material must be of the same fraction, evenly colored and without signs of premature peeling of the paint.

We make colored crushed stone with our own hands - production technology

You can make colored gravel yourself - there is nothing secret and super complicated in the technology itself. To do this, you will need a concrete mixer, a metal mesh, a container for painted gravel, a shovel and, of course, gravel and paint. Most often, crushed granite is used - it is better painted and, moreover, quite cheap.

How to make colored gravel with your own hands - a step by step diagram

Step 1: Material preparation

Producers of crushed stone for construction works of course, granite gravel is not specially prepared for painting, so stones of various sizes can fall into the general pile. Manufacturers of colored gravel to separate larger pieces of stone use special device called "gross". With its help, the screening method sorts bulk materials into small and large fractions. It is unlikely that you have a “roar” lying around in the barn, but there will certainly be a metal mesh. Before you paint the rubble with your own hands, pull it at an angle of at least 60 ° and pour the gravel to the very top with a shovel to ensure a larger screening scale. The larger pieces will roll down the net, while the smaller ones will fall to the ground under the net. For painting, it is best to use pebbles about 10 mm long - it is most convenient to fill garden paths with such gravel. Smaller ones are also useful for decorating flower beds and flower beds, and you can always use large pieces for construction purposes.

Step 2: Paint the rubble

The sorted material must be poured into a concrete mixer. By the way, you can make a concrete mixer yourself if you have an unnecessary metal barrel. Paint of the color we need is poured over the rubble - you can use both polymer and acrylic paints. To achieve best color, the volume of paint must be at least a third of the volume of gravel loaded into the concrete mixer. Having started the unit, you can rest easy for the next 40-60 minutes - that is how much time is needed for uniform coloring.

Step 3: Drying the stones

While the decorative gravel, made by yourself, takes on a new color, you can prepare a receiving container, if you have not already done so. The container is a large box with a mesh stretched around its perimeter. If it is a metal net, then it can be pulled a short distance from the bottom of the box; if you are using a regular net, pull it to the very top of the container. Thanks to this device, excess paint will flow down to the bottom of the box without hindrance, and the painted material will remain on the grid.

Remove the gravel from the mesh and lay it out in the open air to dry, placing plastic wrap. The paint remaining in the box can be reused to color a new portion.

How to paint rubble with your own hands - laying and creating patterns

You can also create bright garden paths or colorful flower beds on your own, without resorting to the help of specialists. To do this, you will need a shovel, a wheelbarrow, plastic wrap, curbs, plastic or metal strips, and ready-made decorative gravel.

How to paint rubble with your own hands - a step by step diagram

Step 1: Preparing the area for laying

In the place where the material will be filled up, it is necessary to remove about 10 cm of the top layer of soil. Pour the soil into a wheelbarrow - for sure there is a place in your garden where it can then be placed.

Step 2: Putting up the borders

If you decide to do the usual garden path, all you need is to set the curbs. They can be used natural stone, or plastic and metal strips. Curbs should be firmly on the surface, you can even lightly dig them into the soil.

Step 3: Prepare the base

After installing the curbs, it is necessary to pour a layer of sand at least 5 cm. Level it around the perimeter and pour water over it for better shrinkage. Let the sand dry a little and proceed to the next stage of preparing the base - lay an insulating material on top of the sand. Manufacturers offer special synthetic materials with ready-made holes through which water flows. You can also use a regular plastic film, in which make a sufficient number of holes in advance for the outflow of water in case of precipitation. Another layer of sand is poured onto the polyethylene, this time a smaller one - 2-3 cm.

Step 4: Prepare the stencil

If you are planning to make a path or other surface multi-colored, for convenience, prepare in advance the inner borders of strips of metal or plastic. Thanks to them, the crushed stone will not mix with each other, and you, in turn, will be able to form any geometric patterns. This step can be skipped if the material is the same color.

Step 5: Covering the Colored Stones

The last, final step - our decorative gravel is evenly poured onto the prepared base. You can level the surface with a conventional rake. If you cover gravel on a lawn or in a flower bed, a small layer of 2 cm will be enough; for footpaths, it is advisable to pour at least 4 cm of gravel.

You may be interested in: We can buy secondary crushed stone at the lowest price with delivery in Moscow in any volume.

Painting of crushed stone (production of decorative chips) - a good idea to start your own small business and not only. Having suburban area, you can decorate it with your own hands without resorting to the services of design bureaus involved in landscape design.

There are two ways to paint gravel:

• At home without the use of mechanized equipment,
• In conditions industrial production, using concrete mixers and drying chambers with weighing equipment.

In both cases, crushed stone screenings with a fraction of 10-30 mm are taken for painting. In industrial production, it is recommended to install screens to separate crushed stone into equal fractions, which is more appreciated by companies working with landscape design.

IMPORTANT: only “clean” screenings (without dirt and dust) can be qualitatively painted, the moisture content of which should not exceed 20% of the specific gravity.

Therefore, the first operation in the staining process is the washing of crushed stone screenings, preferably in a warm soapy solution. Do not rely on a visual inspection of the material for the presence of dust on it. She is still there...

At home, when painting a small amount of material, this is easy to do. But if you organize industrial production, in the technological chain it is necessary to provide for a washing unit with further drying and weighing, both before washing and after it. This will help determine the percentage of moisture in the finished raw material.

TIP: do not wash up rubble for the future ...

Being in storage areas, wet rubble will be covered with an even greater layer of dust than it was originally. It must be washed exactly as much as it will be painted.

There is an opinion that pre-heated crushed stone is better coated with paint. But this is not the case if you use ordinary stone dyes. When the paint base is exposed to temperatures of 65 degrees and above, it begins to delaminate, which leads to poor adhesion of the paint to the surface of the rubble. In the future, this will affect the reduction of the service life of the finished material. Also, heated crushed stone exudes gases harmful to human health, which can lead to loss of consciousness and injuries at work.

There are special shrink dyes for stone surfaces. But their cost is quite high. This will also add the cost of heating the crushed stone and its final drying in high-temperature (110-130 degrees) thermal chambers. This reduces the profitability of production compared to the method without heating.

The operation of heating the crushed stone can be replaced by applying a deep penetration primer, after which the crushed stone can be coated with conventional acrylic-based water-dispersed paints without loss of quality.

The second stage of staining rubble is directly staining it.

At home, any container with a tight-fitting lid is suitable for this. Most often, buckets of paint or ready-made building mixtures are used for this, in which crushed stone is poured no more than half of their volume.

Next, a dye of the desired shade is prepared. To do this, take paint (enamel on stone, alkyd or acrylic paint, etc.) for outdoor work. Pigment is added to it in fixed doses and thoroughly mixed.

colored gravel

There are recipes for the preparation of dyes based on PVA glue with the addition of cement, water and coloring filler. But in this case, there is a possibility of manifestation of the so-called "human factor" - a little more or less of some component and the color of the next painted gravel will differ from the previous one. This requires accuracy in dosages, which is not always feasible.

At home, crushed stone can be painted as follows: paint is poured into the prepared crumbs poured into the container, but not more than 15% of the volume of raw materials. The bucket is tightly closed with a lid and by simple shaking for three to four minutes, staining is performed. Then the mass is poured into a sieve, under the bottom of which a container-tray is placed to drain excess paint. Periodically, the drying mass must be shaken to avoid sticking of the elements.

In industrial production, such operations are mechanized. As a mixer for coloring, you can use a conventional concrete mixer. A better finished product will be obtained if the mixer is equipped with automatic dispensers of raw materials and paint, as well as a kneading timer. Unfortunately, in most cases, filling the mixer with components is done manually and “by eye”.

The third stage of staining crushed stone chips is its drying

Depending on the dye used, it can take from several hours to several days. In order to avoid sticking, during the first time of drying, the painted mass must be periodically shaken up.

In large industries, ejection tables are used, located in thermal drying chambers. The temperature maintained in the dryers ranges from +28 to +35 degrees. The combination of such conditions allows the production of painted crushed stone with quality coating and stable colors.

Depending on the components used, the warranty period for paint fading on open surfaces can be 15 years or more, provided that it is backfilled in accordance with the conditions specified by the manufacturer in the technical description.

If the crushed stone was painted independently, then for a longer service life, several rules should be followed:

• Pour the painted crushed stone onto the previously cleaned and covered polyethylene film plot,
• Do not cover paths and walkways with painted gravel,
• Do not fill up painted gravel near ponds or decorative fountains.

Of course, staining gravel can be seen as a good idea to start with. own business without large capital investments. This will not bring super profits, but it will give an opportunity to realize their design concepts and solutions. And what could be better when work brings material and moral satisfaction.

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Crushed decorative color

The emergence of a new type of bulk powder for the domestic market building material produced something like a revolution, in particular - in landscape design, because for many years the product of crushing different breeds stone, called crushed stone, was used mainly in the manufacture of reinforced concrete structures, concrete mixtures, pillows under the motorway and so on. Thanks to the production technology, colored gravel has also gained recognition as a decorative raw material.

1. Do-it-yourself painting

Characteristics, application

Fine-grained stone is obtained by crushing granite and marble rocks and dyed in various colors. The production of painted gravel involves the use of polymer and acrylic waterproof dyes. The parameters of this raw material are as follows:

Name	Strength grade, (M)	Volume weight, (t/m3)	Fraction, (mm)	Frost resistance, (F)	Abrasion, (g/cm2)	Aeff*, (Bq/kg)
Granite crushed stone	1200–1400	1,6	5–30	300	0,20	up to 370
Crumb marble	600–800	1,38	5–10	50	0,20	up to 370

*Aeff - specific activity of radionuclides, an indicator of the environmental safety of raw materials.

The advantages are:

• high strength;
• durability, which significantly reduces the cost of maintaining and maintaining park areas;
• resistance to temperature extremes;
• environmental safety, no toxic emissions;
• the cover can be easily removed and/or transferred to another area.

The scope of use of multi-colored stone is extremely wide:

• Landscaping, arrangement and beautification of household and summer cottages. For example, decorative colored marble crushed stone is used to decorate flower beds and flower beds.
• IN road construction for designing walkways.
• Pet shops and pet owners use it as a filler for keeping their pets in aquariums and terrariums.
• In the field of funeral services, painted gravel is used in the cemetery for graves and backfilling of paths in areas.

How to paint yourself

Making colored crushed stone with your own hands is quite simple. In addition to the raw materials, you will need:

• concrete mixer;
• metal grid;
• a container for painted stone, which is a large box with a fine mesh stretched over the top;
• shovel;
• polymer or acrylic waterproof paints for outdoor use.

The manufacturing process consists of the following steps:

1. Preparation. Since factory raw materials (crushed stone) may contain grains different sizes, it is necessary to sift it in order to select a homogeneous fraction for staining. To do this, a metal mesh is installed at an angle of 60º to the surface of the earth and crushed stone is thrown onto it with a shovel. Large rock rolls down the screen, and small rock accumulates under the sieve.

2. Painting. The sifted material is loaded into a concrete mixer, then paint is poured in an amount of at least 30% of the volume of the stone, otherwise the coating of the raw material will be uneven. The staining process takes about 15 minutes on average.

Drying. The processed stone is laid out on a box with a grid and kept on it until excess paint drains from it, and then it is poured onto a prepared piece of polyethylene for final drying. This process takes from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the air temperature, but it can be accelerated by using a gas burner.

The finished material must be evenly colored and free of clay and other impurities.

Price

The price of colored decorative gravel is much higher than usual, due to the fact that raw materials for its manufacture are bought at an average of 2,000–3,000 rubles / ton. The cost of painting 1 ton of stone is approximately 4,000 rubles, as a result, the cost price is 7,000 rubles / ton. After processing, it is usually packaged in bags of 20 kg, which are sold from 650 rubles / bag. Thus, the cost of a ton of painted stone is 32,500 rubles.

You can buy packaged colored crushed stone in Moscow at the following prices:

Name	Fraction, mm	Packing in bags kg	Price, rub/bag
Decorative crushed stone	5–105–10	520	250–280650–700
Colored marble chips	5–10	10	550–600

Colored decorative crushed stone and other stones for decoration

Production of colored gravel as a business at home

Do you have the basics of construction, free time and savings?

Then the production of colored gravel can be an excellent source of income. Such a business is easy to organize even at home.

The idea of ​​producing colored gravel is as simple as the world. Specific knowledge and skills are not required, because you will have to work with ready-made raw materials. The main task is to process acrylic paint sorted crushed stone (fraction up to 30 mm). Already processed crushed stone has several names - painted pebbles, colored gravel, decorative stone.

It would seem, who needs colored stones? Meanwhile, the material is popular and has found wide application in:

Accordingly, the main categories of consumers include pet stores, individuals, public utilities, landscape designers, ritual services, "green" farms. It is important to note that colored crushed stone is sold, as a rule, in large quantities, which allows us to assert the profitability and relevance of the business for its manufacture.

How to make colored gravel at home

To paint the stones yourself, you will need:

• concrete mixer (200 thousand rubles);
• a pair of bunkers for raw materials and finished material (300 thousand rubles);
• packaging material (25 kg bags for 10-13.5 rubles/5000 pieces);
• shovels (250-500 rubles per piece);
• paint (5 thousand rubles from the consumption of 20 kg of paint per 1 ton of raw materials for 250 rubles);
• sifter (if the stone is poorly sorted);
• a sieve for drying with a vibrating block (45 thousand rubles);
• a device for sewing up bags (40 thousand rubles).

You can easily do without the last two categories if you have a well-lit drying room with good ventilation and skills in the basics of sewing (bags can be sewn with a gypsy needle with a strong thread). If a production line is purchased, then it is worth focusing on maximum performance at the lowest cost.

Colored gravel production technology

It is not difficult to produce colored gravel for landscape design.

Decorative pebbles for decorating a flower bed - do it yourself

The production technology of raw materials goes through 3 stages:

1. Primary processing. It involves crushing rock in a special bunker.
2. secondary processing. It involves re-crushing into smaller fractions with a grinding effect.
3. Sort by size/type. The process is carried out in a special installation (roar).

Landscape designers often use painted natural materials in their work.

We make colored gravel with our own hands to decorate a summer cottage

The coloring technology is simple, and the secret lies in the use of a special paint, which must be firmly fixed on the surface of the mineral, transmit bright and saturated colors, but most importantly, not be washed out with water. Such properties are possessed by the Decoril paint developed at SSC NIOPIK.

Paint "Decoril"

High-strength paint "Decoril" is represented by a bright palette, designed specifically for

• coloring of natural and artificial stone;
• coloring of various crushed stone, including limestone, granite, marble;
• coloring of sand, marble and granite chips;
• coloring decorative wood chips, mulch;
• tinting fire-retardant coatings;
• decorating indulin roofing.

Paint technical parameters

The paint is made on the basis of dispersions of high-strength organic pigments, provides bright saturated colors, and is environmentally friendly.

The paint is available in finished form and in the form of a concentrate, which, after dilution with water, is ready for use.

The resulting color has a high light fastness (5-7 points), retains color for several seasons, and is resistant to water. The proposed paint is easy to use and does not require special equipment.

The emergence of a new type of bulk building material for the domestic market has made something similar to a revolution, in particular - in landscape design, because for many years the product of crushing different types of stone, called crushed stone, has been used mainly in the manufacture of structures made of reinforced concrete, concrete mixtures, pillows under highways and so on. Thanks to the production technology, colored gravel has also gained recognition as a decorative raw material.

Fine-grained stone is obtained by crushing granite and marble rocks and painted in various colors. The production of painted gravel involves the use of polymer and acrylic waterproof dyes. The parameters of this raw material are as follows:

Name	Strength grade, (M)	Volume weight, (t/m3)	Fraction, (mm)	Frost resistance, (F)	Abrasion, (g/cm2)	Aeff*, (Bq/kg)
Granite crushed stone	1200–1400	1,6	5–30	300	0,20	up to 370
Crumb marble	600–800	1,38	5–10	50	0,20	up to 370

*Aeff - specific activity of radionuclides, an indicator of the environmental safety of raw materials.

The advantages are:

• high strength;
• durability, which significantly reduces the cost of maintaining and maintaining park areas;
• resistance to temperature extremes;
• environmental safety, no toxic emissions;
• the cover can be easily removed and/or transferred to another area.

The scope of use of multi-colored stone is extremely wide:

• Landscaping, arrangement and beautification of personal and summer cottages. For example, decorative colored marble crushed stone is used to decorate flower beds and flower beds.
• In road construction for the design of footpaths.
• Pet shops and pet owners use it as a filler for keeping their pets in aquariums and terrariums.
• In the field of funeral services, painted gravel is used in the cemetery for graves and backfilling of paths in areas.

How to paint yourself

Making colored crushed stone with your own hands is quite simple. In addition to the raw materials, you will need:

• concrete mixer;
• metal grid;
• a container for painted stone, which is a large box with a fine mesh stretched over the top;
• shovel;
• polymer or acrylic waterproof paints for outdoor use.

The manufacturing process consists of the following steps:

1. Preparation. Since factory raw materials (crushed stone) may contain grains of different sizes, it is necessary to sift it in order to select a homogeneous fraction for coloring. To do this, a metal mesh is installed at an angle of 60º to the surface of the earth and crushed stone is thrown onto it with a shovel. Large rock rolls down the screen, and small rock accumulates under the sieve.

2. Painting. The sifted material is loaded into a concrete mixer, then paint is poured in an amount of at least 30% of the volume of the stone, otherwise the coating of the raw material will be uneven. The staining process takes about 15 minutes on average.

3. Drying. The processed stone is laid out on a box with a grid and kept on it until excess paint drains from it, and then it is poured onto a prepared piece of polyethylene for final drying. This process takes from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the air temperature, but it can be accelerated by using a gas burner.