Pocster Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Hey! As I needed so many of these and to save some ££££ I bought a plastic mould and made my own. As they needed to be very light in colour I used white cement with some sand and dye agent. Once made they looked great!. Now after about 18 months of being in situ they have thousands of little hair line cracks and indeed I can see they are literally falling apart!!! Why is this??? - did I do anything wrong!? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triassic Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 The last ones I did I used the coloured sand and cement to coat the face of the mould, maybe 6mm thick, then I filled the rest of the mould with concrete. How did you make yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 What mix ratio did you use? Sounds maybe too weak. Then, if outside I'd have used a waterproofing additive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share Posted January 26, 2017 White cement; some sand (not too much as it would colour it) then the finest of dye was all I added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 You made a mortar capping rather than a concrete one. I would go with what @Triassic said - thin coat of coloured mortar preferably made with waterproofing agent in it and then a strong concrete mix with some ballast in it too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share Posted January 26, 2017 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Frost damage?... http://www.makersgallery.com/concrete/faqs.html How can I make my concrete more frost resistant? Make a high quality crack-free concrete. Cracks allow moisture penetration; the water can then freeze and crack the concrete even more. The main thing is to use as little water as possible. In a wet mix, some of the water does not get chemically combined. This water can freeze and crack the concrete from inside. Also make the concrete as dense as possible (vibrate to get the large air bubbles out if it's a casting). Also, use an air entrainer. When added to concrete, then mixed (either in a concrete mixer or with a power drill - hand mixing doesn't work), the air entrainer creates tiny air bubbles in the mix which allow expansion and contraction when freezing. Also, use a good quality sealer to prevent as much water penetration as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Why not put some fibres in? They are designed to prevent cracking. And it is annoying me (sorry) - could you remove the extra p from the title. Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crofter Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 26 minutes ago, Ferdinand said: And it is annoying me (sorry) - could you remove the extra p from the title. Done. SWMBO always said the only thing I did well was taking the p out of things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted January 27, 2017 Author Share Posted January 27, 2017 Copppppppppping stones ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 (edited) Edited. Edited January 27, 2017 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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