Concrete tiki for the yard - Other Crafts

L LoriLovesTiki Tiki Socialite NJ Joined: Jul 03, 2011 Posts: 1339	L LoriLovesTiki Posted posted on Sat, May 4, 2013 6:18 PM After reading this thread from Gwen http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=45047&forum=18 on building tikis with hypertufa I really wanted to give it a try. Today, I finally did. For those who are interested, here was my process: I mixed equal parts Portland cement, peat moss and sand using a little bucket for measuring. Then I added water to my wheelbarrow and mixed everything until it was wet. Not super wet, kind of a peanut buttery consistency. I shoveled it into a 8" diameter cardboard form that is sold in the building dept of Lowe's. We've used them to make footings. Before filling I had my husband cut it in half lengthwise and then cut it again from top to bottom so it would be easier to remove later. We taped the seam but it didn't really hold, but the concrete was kind of dry so it ended up not mattering at all. There were some differences in the recipe from Gwen's instructions and I guess that's why the timing of the project was WAY different! She removed her cardboard after 18 hours. If I had waited that long I would have made a concrete log!!!! After an hour (!) the top was pretty hard and the seam we gaping open so I pulled off the cardboard and it was standing strong. At the 2 hour 15 min mark I started carving. It carved pretty easily but the concrete is a little crumbly. It gives the piece an aged look, which is cool. It's very dark at the moment but it's going to get lighter as it dries. Too bad, I like it dark. This was a couple of hours ago. The carving looks better in person, I'll try to get a better pic. The only part I'm a little unhappy with is the teeth. Poor guy lost some due to crumbling! But here's solid proof of how good he looks: my husband just went out to the garage to check him out (I did this all on my own) and he said "looks good, we need to make a bigger one." High praise, indeed! I think that for the next one we're just going to do a cement and sand mix and eliminate the peat moss. I think that's why it's crumbly. That, and the fact I probably didn't pack the mixture as tightly as I should have in the form. I don't know if this picture is any better but the carved parts are really quite deep and in person, easy to see.

After reading this thread from Gwen http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=45047&forum=18
on building tikis with hypertufa I really wanted to give it a try. Today, I finally did. For those who are interested, here was my process:

I mixed equal parts Portland cement, peat moss and sand using a little bucket for measuring. Then I added water to my wheelbarrow and mixed everything until it was wet. Not super wet, kind of a peanut buttery consistency. I shoveled it into a 8" diameter cardboard form that is sold in the building dept of Lowe's. We've used them to make footings. Before filling I had my husband cut it in half lengthwise and then cut it again from top to bottom so it would be easier to remove later. We taped the seam but it didn't really hold, but the concrete was kind of dry so it ended up not mattering at all.

There were some differences in the recipe from Gwen's instructions and I guess that's why the timing of the project was WAY different! She removed her cardboard after 18 hours. If I had waited that long I would have made a concrete log!!!! After an hour (!) the top was pretty hard and the seam we gaping open so I pulled off the cardboard and it was standing strong.

At the 2 hour 15 min mark I started carving. It carved pretty easily but the concrete is a little crumbly. It gives the piece an aged look, which is cool. It's very dark at the moment but it's going to get lighter as it dries. Too bad, I like it dark.

This was a couple of hours ago. The carving looks better in person, I'll try to get a better pic. The only part I'm a little unhappy with is the teeth. Poor guy lost some due to crumbling! But here's solid proof of how good he looks: my husband just went out to the garage to check him out (I did this all on my own) and he said "looks good, we need to make a bigger one." High praise, indeed!

I think that for the next one we're just going to do a cement and sand mix and eliminate the peat moss. I think that's why it's crumbly. That, and the fact I probably didn't pack the mixture as tightly as I should have in the form.
I don't know if this picture is any better but the carved parts are really quite deep and in person, easy to see.

Post #676624 by LoriLovesTiki on Sat, May 4, 2013 6:18 PM