Post #788415 by MadDogMike on Mon, Jul 9, 2018 1:00 PM

Making some progress. Got the behemoth Tiki to the new house and unloaded it. The small utility trailer has a 6 inch rail all the way around and I knew they was no way to lift it over that rail. So I used a large pry bar to roll it to one side of the trailer then three of us got on the other side and tipped the whole trailer over and dumped the Tiki out on the ground, worked perfectly :lol:

Started staining the patio concrete, I like the way it's turning out. Got my wind block wall framed in

I did some experimentation with making my own lava landscaping blocks. There were a couple of things I didn't like about the ones at Lowe's/Home Depot; boring texture (I wanted lava) and boring color (I wanted black). So I made a mold from some metal and wood and cast a few. The mold worked fine but they weren't exactly what I was looking for; I added black concrete dye but they weren't anywhere near lava black. They were also pretty time consuming to make. So now I have a new plan. I'm ordering some black concrete acid stain and will see if the commercial blocks and my blocks can be stained black. Then I can use about half commercial blocks and half custom textured blocks. I'm got some lava textured rock stamps to experiment with and plan to incorporate some glazed ceramic "oozing hot lava" and some real lava rocks and/or obsidian into the concrete. Will keep you posted on outcome