I took off at a run for the house to grab some supplies. On such short notice all I could come up with was a couple spring pans and a jello mold. Don't forget the veggie oil and a rag or some type of non-stick spray.
I had some buckets in the shed (where we were working already) so I grabbed a few sizes and got started. I filled the spring pan 3/4 of the way full and placed the bucket, adding rocks to add some weight and continued filling the pan.
I did that with another spring pan and my jello mold as well. I used my hand to level off the top and covered the whole thing with a garbage bag. Leaving it to sit for a couple days before taking my forming off.
That bucket slipped out like butter. I've tried this before but forgot the oil. Yeah, that didn't end so well.
The spring pan was even easier. Bottom popped right off and once I loosened the pan it slipped right off. How easy is that.
I need to run a sanding block over it and am thinking about adding some color to finish it off.
I really love how the jello mold piece turned out. The fluting is wonderful! I had two nesting sizes so I used one on the interior also. I couldn't find much heavy to hold it in so I've used all kinds of junk, looks perty doesn't it?
This one was a little tricky for the demolding process. The outer mold popped right off. The inner mold, well, that's another story. Doesn't that look great!
See all that concrete.... none of it should be there. I didn't do a very good job cleaning it out. I chiseled it out as best I could and muscled the inner mold out (quit laughing, I have some muscle).
Then, the bottom piece on the mold is removable and refused to come out. I had to tear it up to get it out. I'll have to change how I do that next time.
Here's all three pieces that I did (too bad I couldn't figure out more molds quick, I just hate to throw the leftovers away). Next time I'll be better prepared.
Now, how to finish them off. Stay tuned, not sure what I'm going to do but I've got a few ideas. Pictures coming soon!
This is all we need to get some carved vertical concrete work done. A couple buckets, a mixer, releasing agent, chip brushes, a couple trowels and some stamps. Each bag of Tru-Pac gets mixed with a 60 pound bag of mortar and covers roughly 12 square feet.
Thankfully, my hubby volunteered to do the mixing as long as we start bright and early in the morning, and I do mean bright and early! I am not a morning person but handling it all by myself makes it go even slower.... I'm too worn out from the mixing process that I can't do as much each day and by starting so early I avoid the hottest parts of the day, win/win! Even with him mixing I can only handle 6 batches at a time and it takes me roughly 5 hours from start to finish.
Here's a great video that shows how it mixes up and goes on the wall. Really neat stuff to work with and so versatile, imagine the possibilities.
First things first, there's a layer of plywood on the wall and we've added roof liner as well, then the metal lathe. Be careful with this stuff, its nasty and will tear you up. I forgot my gloves one time and paid for it. Ouch!
To ensure your finished work stays on the wall you've got to add lots, and lots of screws, every 6-8 inches.
Once your metal lathe is on the wall its time for a scratch coat. Just use the same mortar you'll be mixing with your tru-pac.
Now, its time to add the finish layer. I always forget how much fun this stuff is to work with. What you see here is my first batch. It should cover 12 sq. feet at 1 1/2", obviously I can't throw it that thin. My first day of work six bags averaged out to about 7 sq. feet per bag. Hoping to do a little better than that tomorow.
To apply this to the wall you simply throw it in handfuls and use a pool trowel to spread it out. I don't worry too much about the tool marks yet. After I stamp I use what's left as inspiration for where to carve, which removes them in the process, works for me.
Once I get a couple batches on the wall I go back and add some texture with stamps. When I got started doing this I ordered the kit with all kinds of texture rollers, small trowel size hand stamps and larger stamp pads. I find I really only use a couple of the rollers, an occasional hand stamp and a couple of the larger pads. Didn't take long for me to pick out my favorites.
The powder substance you see all over is the releasing agent. It comes in a variety of colors so you could mix it up if you wanted to but I use the standard grey color. It keeps your stamps from sticking in the mix and affects how the color takes when its times for staining, allowing for some variations. I end up using quite a bit of the stuff.
Once I've gotten the mix up on the walls I begin to carve the basic outline for the design, using my pool trowel. If I don't like something I can go back in with the trowel and change it up, the material is workable for quite a while at this point. You can really do just about anything you want. I have seen people make really small stones but I am not able to do that, they just fall off the wall. The suction holding the mix to the wall releases if you mess with it too much and the smaller the stone the less surface area it has to hold it on the wall, that's my excuse anyhow.
I haven't done too much with individual stones, I tend to carve "cliffs" so I'm on a learning curve here. I completed my third day so far and each day I've learned a little something new to make the next day go a little smoother.
Now that I've got my individual stones marked I go back in with the trowel and start carving away to create some depth differential between the stones. Be sure to come back in with a hand stamp and give these areas some texture now or you'll forget and it'll be too late (learned that the hard way, it will be alright when it gets some color on it but every time I see it I'll know it was a goof up on my part).
I use another trowel, a tuck pointer, to finish off the carving. There is a wedge stamp that'll help create the individual stones but I didn't have it the first day so I've been using my little tuck pointer instead. It works just fine but I'm sure the wedge would speed the process up a wee bit.
Here's a look at what I got done on day one.
... and two.
I've managed to get one side of the building completed this week and next week, the other half. Then its time for staining.
One of my favorite things about this material is how creative you can be. It'll do a variety of designs and you can get as creative as you'd like. Here's a look at a few of my other projects using the same mix:
This is a pump house carved to look like a stone facade.
This is a pool surround with a mine entrance and small tunnel.
This is another retaining wall, the trees are carved concrete.
Lastly, a fireplace carved to look like stacked stone.
I have always wanted to do an art piece and thought maybe I'd get my chance when we finished off the basement, well, that hasn't happened yet, but soon we'll be opening a shop called The Chirping Frog, (an antique & more mall) and I'm thinking of doing one for it. Stay tuned and I'll let you know how that goes.
If you're looking to see more projects and watch some videos you'll find all kinds of stuff at Vertical Artisans on YouTube or type in "Carved Vertical Concrete" and you'll find a variety of projects to watch. Really fun stuff.
We love concrete, can't help it. There are so many options, you can do just about anything you want. Our last house had exposed aggregate borders for the flowerbeds, this time we opted for wider (and deeper since they'll probably get driven on at some point) and then we stamped and stained them. Here's a look into our process.
When we bought the property there was a rock driveway that just died about halfway across the land. We added a circle drive once the house was done and of course, began working on the landscaping. Above is the island that we plan to border with a concrete edge.
We framed it up in stages. We had lots of pours going on for patios and the like so we would try to do a portion of the island when we had a need for concrete already. The red you see is a stamp liner so the portion you'll see will have a decorative edge.
This was my job through the pouring process. Nice! I have shoveled and pulled concrete before, mimally and it's really difficult (that stuffs heavy) plus I stink at it. Just not strong enough. This is the perfect job for me!
We did do a little edging (not shown) and we will be stamping.
Jason is off finishing whatever pour that coincided with this one and I'm left to get it stamped.
Here it is. The darker area with the framing is the most recent pour. We've already removed framing on other sections that were done earlier.
Got it stained. I used saw dust and coffee grounds to get the color effect and sprayed it with stain. I used two colors. I can't remember the main color (a dark brown) and then spritzed it with some black.
We got the border poured within a summer's time but the rest of the island, from the first picture to this one was year's in the making. It has really filled in nicely.
Have you done any interesting flower borders in your yard?
I have flower beds all throughout the yard. Which, in the heat of summer requires hoses all over the place. I'd like to say "he loves me" and that's why he trenched water lines everywhere to help me keep my flowers alive, but the truth is he was really sick of hoses! I'll take it- watering is so much easier!
Now, to hide the pump, sounds like a good summer project doesn't it? (This project was completed a few summer's ago).
First, we dug out and poured a pad with footings, then the framing begins.
Inner framing is nearly done.
Inner framing and rebar, getting closer.
Ready to pour. Inner framing is done, rebar in place and outer framing with supports is in.
Here's a look from the lake side. Pour in progress.
I won't be doing anything to the top so he's stamping it.
Removing the forms. Almost my turn...
Here's the finished product. Took me a couple days to get it carved and another couple of hours for color.
Someday it'll get a door. Not sure when, but someday!
Now when I want to water all I have to do is flip that little switch and turn on faucets located strategically throughout the yard. (Some still require hoses while others are now hooked to a sprinkler system). Thanks babe- works great!
In a couple weeks I'll be doing a similar vertical application to "The Chirping Frog", the wainscoting across the front of the building and the piers holding the pine trusses hubby made for the entrance. Can't wait to get started. Right now those trusses are loaded up on a trailer waiting to make their grand entrance, also only a couple weeks away.
We knew we wanted a pathway with spaces between the steps, similar to some we've seen at National parks. Wood would be great but who wants to take care of it? Not me! Our solution, of course, was concrete. This was quite the project. Pretty much took an entire spring/summer with at least four different "pours." Crazy, but we both love the finished result.
We poured it in two pieces. This was the first half. You can see the curb and rock underneath and then it was framed out so that the planks will hang over the edge of the curb
When we built our home 8 years ago we had a concrete retaining wall poured when the basement walls went up. I always had plans for that wall (anyone who knows me knows I can't just leave it a plain concrete retaining wall, that would be a crime). It took me nearly 6 years, probably closer to 7 to get to it, but plans none the less.
