Decorative colored crushed stone is an environmentally friendly and inexpensive material that will help to embody any author's solutions in landscape design. This material is resistant to cold and bright sunlight. Its practical benefit lies in the ability to maintain water balance in the soil and restrict weeds in growth. We will tell you how crushed stone is painted, how stones are prepared, what are the requirements for paint and some other nuances.

What is rubble

Crushed stone is a free-flowing granular material formed during crushing and processing of rocks. It is distinguished by frost resistance, strength, resistance to sunlight. Some species accumulate radiation, therefore, when buying this material, you need to request a quality certificate from the seller. Plain unpainted gravel is added to the concrete mix for the foundation.

The most popular are granite, gravel, limestone varieties. They come from the corresponding rocks, differ in strength and size of fractions. Sometimes crushed stone is formed as a result of processing construction waste, this type is called "secondary". The production of secondary crushed stone is a side line of the mining industry.

In construction, the so-called "screening" is sometimes used - a material of fine fraction with an insignificant content of sand. Screening is much inferior to all other types in terms of strength, but it has a very low cost.

A variety of shades of colored rubble make it a popular material for landscape design

Use of decorative crushed stone in design

Decorative crushed stone for landscape design is a very valuable material that combines aesthetic qualities with practical benefits. Painted placers are sold in building materials stores at a fairly high mark-up. Meanwhile, it is not so difficult to organize painting of a batch of rubble for personal purposes or even create a small business on this, as it might seem at first glance.

Painted crushed stone is used to implement a variety of solutions in landscape design. This material allows moisture to pass freely and does not allow it to evaporate, which helps to maintain the water balance in the soil and has a beneficial effect on garden plants. Colored gravel for the garden looks neat, but at the same time unusual. Most popular applications:

• decoration, drawings and inscriptions on flower beds, lawns, paths;
• blind area around the house, gazebo, pond or pool;
• decoration of fountains and waterfalls;
• laying paths in the garden;
• lining the bottom of the pond;
• decoration of patios and campfire areas;
• filling gabions;
• creation of "dry" streams;
• decoration of monuments.

Thus, decorative colored crushed stone is an almost universal material with a wide range of applications and a low price.

Dyeing technology

What is the technology for the production of colored crushed stone? There are several proven and effective ways to paint this material. The first option, the simplest one, is suitable for those who want to make colored rubble with their own hands. For this, the stones (after pretreatment) are painted by hand paint from an aerosol can... This is a rather time-consuming process, since skill is required for even dyeing. If applied inaccurately, the color of the fractions will turn out to be heterogeneous, that is, not suitable for landscape design.

A more stable result and large batches of colored crushed stone can be obtained using concrete mixer. After preliminary cleaning, the stones are poured into the hopper together with the paint. To change the color saturation, painting is carried out in several cycles. The result is an even, uniform shade. After painting in a concrete mixer, the gravel is dried on a metal mesh so that excess paint can drain off the material. With the help of a concrete mixer, you can easily produce really large batches of painted crushed stone for sale.

For a more confident business development, it is worth purchasing a vibrating screen (for sifting fractions of the required size) and a drying chamber.

The concrete mixer allows you to quickly and easily paint large batches of crushed stone

Crushed stone painting technology by stages:

• sifting and sorting material into fractions manually or using a vibrating screen;
• washing and drying the selected pebbles (so the paint will lay down more evenly);
• loading of homogeneous fractions and paint into the concrete mixer hopper;
• mixing rubble and paint, from 1 to 3 cycles;
• removing the painted material from the hopper, assessing the uniformity of the painting;
• drying of crushed stone in a special chamber or in the open air.

Paint requirements

The production of crushed stone for landscape design implies the ability to achieve a wide range of colors. Crushed stone is painted in natural (beige, gray, black), neutral (green, blue, white) and bright (yellow, red) shades. What is the best paint for rubble? The optimal solution is acrylic paint, polyacrylic-based dyes and weather-resistant enamels.

With the right choice of paint, staining crushed stone will not only change the shade of the material, but also improve its performance. Therefore, preference should be given to paints with the following properties:

• water resistance;
• frost resistance;
• resistance to sunlight;
• immunity to mechanical stress (for example, to walking);
• ecological cleanliness, hypoallergenicity.

Preparation of stones

Before painting the crushed stone, the material should be carefully prepared. For painting, granite and gravel placers are suitable, in limestone too strong chalking, which will interfere with the paint. It is necessary to select fractions of approximately the same size, the optimum will be a diameter of about 1 cm. The painting will be of poor quality if there are larger particles, dirt and sand in the placer. At home, sifting is carried out through a metal mesh with suitable meshes. In industrial conditions, a special machine is used for this - a vibrating screen.

The selected gravel is washed. This will help remove dust and dirt from the fractions that will interfere with an even paint application. After washing, the crushed stone is thoroughly dried in the open air or in a drying chamber. Trying to paint wet material is not worth it: the paint will lie unevenly and will not be absorbed. The dry material is ready for painting.

After staining, the crushed stone dries in a drying chamber or outdoors

Drying of crushed stone

After applying the paint, the colored gravel must be dried. You can lay it outdoors on a metal grill or linoleum, but this option will take a long time. A plastic wrap should be placed under the metal grate. It will collect excess paint, which can be re-poured into the mixer.

It is much more profitable, especially when it comes to production for sale, to use a drying chamber. It is much faster, better quality, but has one significant drawback - high cost. Start working between without this equipment, and after the first income, invest in the modernization of the means of production.

Production costs

It is quite profitable to produce colored crushed stone: although the demand for the product differs in seasonality, it is very stable. Equipment and material costs will be relatively modest and will pay off quickly. The business plan for the production of crushed stone should include the following costs:

• concrete mixer - from 8 thousand rubles;
• vibrating screen - from 300 thousand rubles;
• drying chamber - from 100 thousand rubles;
• granite or gravel crushed stone - on average 2 thousand rubles per ton;
• paint - 100 kg on average 20 thousand rubles.

At the first stages of work, you can significantly save money by working without a vibrating screen and drying chamber. A metal mesh (from 200 rubles per square meter) is quite a decent and workable option. Painted crushed stone is usually sold in bags at a price of 30 rubles per 1 kg.