Decorative concrete - one of the most popular building materials, has recently become widely used in landscape designers, as well as those who ennoble the garden plots with their own hands.
Represents a composite material consisting of cement, water, gravel, modifying additives and dyes.
Decorative concrete is a high-strength material, resistant to unfavorable environment: oil products, chemicals, UV radiation, withstands temperature changes and mechanical loads.
In order for decorative concrete products to serve you as long as possible, it is recommended that at least once a year they be treated with a hydrophobizing agent.
The photo below shows decorative products made of concrete.
For the preparation of decorative concrete, you will need a concrete mixer to ensure a continuous mixing process. We take cement and sand in proportions of 1: 3, after thorough mixing add water.
If you plan to make colored concrete, then add dyes, at the same time additives and additives are added( modifiers and plasticizers that provide plasticity and prevent the appearance of cracks, and also make it easy to remove the finished product from the mold).
After the mixture has become homogeneous, crushed stone is filled with about 40% of the total mass. We mix thoroughly and the decorative concrete is ready for molding.
Below you can see the decorative concrete and the technology of its manufacturing.
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Ways of forming decorative concrete
Tumbling - with this method a ready solution is poured into molds or formwork and a stuffing can be done with a wooden stick( you can use a metal rod).This is the so-called manual method.
Below the photo shows the filling of the shape of the future product
Filling with vibropress - a mechanical method of molding.
Use a special vibropress to pour the solution into the molds.
To obtain a large number of identical elements, for example, in the manufacture of a fence, already use hydraulic presses.
Due to molding, which is performed under pressure, the products are more durable.
Polyurethane molds are very common now, they also use silicone, plastic and wooden forms in construction.
Variety of shapes is impressive - it's stone, and animal skins, basket weaves, geometric shapes, floral ornaments.
Examples of forms are shown in the photo below.
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You can make a form yourself. To do this, take a tile, imitating a stone, a wooden box depth of 15 cm( it can be made independently from plywood).
The box is filled with silicone sealant to the middle and pressed, pre-greased with solidol, tiles in the silicone face. Surplus sealant cut with a sharp knife. The form can be used after 3 days.
The video shows the process of making a mold with your own hands.
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Garden paths
Decorative concrete is most often used when creating garden paths. Can be made in two versions: in the form of plates that are made with the help of molds or embedded in a solid, self-constructed formwork.
In the latter case, the printing method is used for decoration.
To make an integral garden path on the plot of land, measure the area where it is planned to be built.
Remove the top layer of the soil, about 10 cm. Put the formwork, reinforce it for strength and fill it with a layer of crushed stone. Pour a solution, periodically ramming it, smooth it.
If you plan to make a garden path color, do not forget to add dry free-flowing dyes to the solution.
For the relief surface of the garden path the stamped method is used.
For this, the surface of the concrete to which the stamped pattern will be applied is smoothed, stencils or stamps, previously lubricated with technical oil or water, are laid on the not completely frozen surface to prevent adhesion to the product, and are gently compacted.
After the final curing of the decorative concrete, the stamps are removed, the surface is washed with brine and the protective layer is applied with a special impregnating compound.
The printed method allows you to make a symmetrical geometric or mirror image. The stamped method is often used for repeating decorating elements.
Also, the garden path can be decorated with marble chips or colored glass, which is pressed into the surface of the grasped, but not frozen mass.
On the video you can see an example of making an integral garden path for a backyard.
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Decorative concrete fence
You can also make decorative fences of concrete for an infield or enclosures inside the courtyard with your own hands.
For its manufacture, either molds of the necessary sizes and structures are selected or manufactured. The main elements of the fence are pillars, sectional plates, caps.
Slabs or sectional panels can be single-sided and double-sided.
Different form, texture, patterns. Pillars can be either integral, or prefabricated, with or without patterns applied. Top hoods usually have a dome shape, can be round, square.
For drawing a pattern or a pattern on the elements of a fence, use a printing method, similar to a garden path.
The photo shows an example of a decorative fence for a backyard.
Sculptures of
Often in the courtyards of country houses you can see fabulous stumps, mushrooms, figures of fairy-tale characters, animals.
Here you will need not only hands, but also modeling lessons.
To begin with, we form the skeleton of the future sculpture.
The armature and welding machine are usually used for this. If the figure inside is hollow, then before forming, wrap the frame with a metal mesh. The concrete mortar is laid out in layers.
Important: every new layer is thrown, only after the previous one is seized.
We transfer small parts( weave) when applying the last layer. On the last one, grabbed, but not frozen, we apply mosaic, stamps as necessary.
After the decorative concrete has solidified, we paint the product. The sculpture is ready, we can put it on the place chosen for it in the yard.
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Wall decoration
Another way to apply concrete is to finish the walls. The decorative coating has high strength, has a low level of thermal conductivity, which is especially effective in the winter season.
Aesthetic appearance of the walls, as well as a large assortment, a variety of colors of decorative plaster for concrete will satisfy anyone, even the most biased consumer.
Thanks to the texture mass, you can make the uneven surface smooth, eliminating cavities or bulges.
The plastic structure, which lasts for a long time after application, allows a stamped or artistic thread, interspersed with decorative elements, to create the desired pattern.
The first steps in the work on the decoration of walls with decorative concrete plaster is their preparation. This is cleaning the surface from dust, grease stains.
After this, the walls are primed. It is advisable to treat the primer 2-3 times, so that the product is deeply absorbed and provides a firm grip of the substrate with the finish. We apply a solution of decorative plaster with a spatula.
We give the wall a decorative look: stamped, relief, mosaic. To create a symmetrical pattern, use the printed method. After drying, fix it with a varnish or wax.
The video below shows the technology of working with decorative plaster for concrete.
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