First of all, Hello- I am a newbie here.
I am keen to make a tiki fountain for the yard, and hypertufa is my material of choice. Looking around online, I see some water features using hypertufa, but I have also heard some words of doubt about it being too porous a material. Anybody have an informed opinion? Also, being new here, I am happy to accept advice if I am not posting this question in the best place. Thanks!

[ Edited by: Gwen 2013-05-08 10:59 ]

[ Edited by: Gwen 2014-05-05 08:28 ]

First. I hope you're a real person. We've had a rash of spam accounts the past few days.
Second, great dog portraits.
Third, I had no idea what hypertufa was until you posted it. It looks like the perfect material to sculpt a giant moai out of. So if you are real, thanks for posting. That's useful info that may come in handy.

There's a guy here who made a moai out of it:
http://www.tedsstuff.co.nz/artgallery.html

Looks like it would do a fine job.

So welcome, and if you plan on sticking around, be sure to make an introduction over here:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6&forum=1&start=3600&3613

Hello Hale Tiki! I am very much a real person and not a spammer. I just went over and introduced myself on that forum.
Yes, hypertufa is wonderful for the making of tikis, as it carves very easily and has a slower drying time than other concrete mixes. I have done a few small ones as a trial run, and plan to cast a pretty large on on Sunday. My concern is just whether it is appropriate for water use... I know from poking around that there is a member here (Seamus) who has made fountains. Perhaps my best bet is to message him. But I also think it would be good to address the question on the forum, as others might want to know about the possibility of using hypertufa for water features.

Welcome to Tiki Central Gwen. I have researched hypertufa a few times, looks like fun but I haven't tried it. I like that it quickly looks aged.

I did a "hypertufa" search on Tiki Central and got several hits, but looks like the people who had tried hypertufa are no longer around on TC

You are in the forum, be sure to post some pics of your progress and finished project :)

Welcome, glad to hear you're a real person.

I second what MDM said, please post pictures! I don't know of this concrete mixture you speak of but I'm intriqued. You can create a thread for your pictures in the "creating tiki" forum.

:)
Lori

[ Edited by: lorilovestiki 2013-03-24 15:33 ]

Does hypertufa make a good casserole?

Hi Lori- I will indeed post some pics as soon as I have something to show...
And Atomic Tiki Punk- sure. Just make sure to add lots of mayo.

I have been scouting around and I think I have found the answer to my original question. Yes, you can make fountains using hypertufa, but it is advisable to coat the hypertufa with a layer of less porous concrete. So that is what I am a-gonna do.

Well, just finished this guy. I find I am less than thrilled with hypertufa as a carving medium, as it it very difficult to get any degree of refinement-you are pretty much married to the rough-hewn-from-the-lava look I am not especially proud of him, but here is my funky creation. Next time I will do things differently. I will:

1. carve from a sand and cement mix, which should allow for much finer detail

2. be smart, and work on a raised surface. I had to quit working on this one before I would have liked, because my poor back was killing me from the stooping over.

I think it looks great! It has enough detail and awesome texture. I would hate to see you coat a whole hypertufa fountain with concrete and loose that texture, you would just cover the pooled water areas right?

Thanks for the kind words, Mad Dog Mike. If I end up using hypertufa for the fountain I would indeed only coat the interior of the basin. I agree that the texture is kind of cool, but it was also pretty frustrating. Another concrete formulation I tried and liked better consisted of three parts vermiculite to one part concrete. It carves beautifully and is still quite textural. My dream is to have a whole bunch of these guys though out my house and back yard.

Gwen,

I REALLY like this guy! I think there's enough detail. Don't be so hard on yourself. I'd be thrilled if I could make one like this, seriously. I know I'm being a pain in your you-know-what but the next time you carve one if you could get somebody to take some progress pictures that would be fantastic. (I know I'm pushing it, sorry.)

What was your "recipe" for this one? Did you buy the ebook - Hypertufa how-to manual? If so so I need it or is something I can just "wing?"

Thanks in advance,

Thanks for the kind words, Mad Dog Mike. If I end up using hypertufa for the fountain I would indeed only coat the interior of the basin. I agree that the texture is kind of cool, but it was also pretty frustrating. Another concrete formulation I tried and liked better consisted of three parts vermiculite to one part concrete. It carves beautifully and is still quite textural. My dream is to have a whole bunch of these guys though out my house and back yard.

Hi Lori- I am totally happy to answer questions, and next time I will post progress pics. In the meantime, here are instructions. This is really not hard to do- you should give it a shot!

I purchased a concrete post tube at a lumbar yard. This one was 10" in diameter. I cut the tube in two lengthwise so that I could remove it cleanly. I tied a rope around it to hold it in place while the hypertufa set.
The mix I used was 11/2 parts peat moss, 11/2 parts vermiculite to one part portland cement, plus enough water to make a consistency about like mayonaise. Since I am lousy at the math that would have allowed me to figure out just how much to mix, I did it in batches, and just kept making batches until I got the tube as full as I wanted.
I let it sit for about 18 hours, then removed the cardboard tube. I used an old hand saw to bevel in the head area, then I used paper pattern pieces I had cut out to trace the basic features. Since the concrete was very soft, I just pinned them right on. After that, I started roughly carving the basic forms, using some cheap wood carving tools. I worked on it yesterday for maybe three hours, then when my back got too sore I quit for the day. This morning I went back out and put in another several hours- it is much easier to get detail on the second day. As I mentioned in the post above, don't be a doofus like me. Put the form up on something so you can work in a humane manner.

A fun thing to do is to carve a small one, using an empty oatmeal box lined with a plastic as a form. I did a few of those, using just vermiculite and concrete. It carves really nicely. The only reason I went with the peat moss for this large on is that vermiculite is more expensive, and I am on a tight budget right now.

p.s. No, Lori- I didn't buy a hypertufa e-book. What I did buy was a really fantastic out of print book on concrete garden sculpture called 'Creating with Concrete' by Sherri Warner Hunter. You can find it easily.

[ Edited by: Gwen 2013-03-26 19:50 ]

Gwen I love the one you did. Would it be possible to get dimensions and approximate weight of that guy? I'm really wanting to get some tiki carvings or statues in my yard this year and this may actually be something I could do.

Thanks!

Oh, and Welcome to TC!

Dale

Hi Dale. He is ten" in diameter at the widest and 28" tall. I don't know his weight- heavy, but not nearly so heavy as conventional concrete, since the vermiculite and peat moss are so light weight. Maybe fifty pounds?

Wow! Gwen I think he turned out pretty spectacular, you must have some pretty high standards for yourself if you think he didn't turn out very well. I would be very proud to have something like that in my yard. Welcome to TC I hope you stick around and keep on creating. Loving what I am seeing so far. :)

Thanks Gwen!

Those are great directions. I've done some concrete work with my husband so I have a little experience in that area. It's starting to get a little warmer in the Northeast so I'll be attempting my first concrete tiki soon. When I do I'll take some pictures. I'd love an army of these guys around my pool.

Mahalo,
Lori

On 2013-03-26 19:46, Gwen wrote:

p.s. No, Lori- I didn't buy a hypertufa e-book. What I did buy was a really fantastic out of print book on concrete garden sculpture called 'Creating with Concrete' by Sherri Warner Hunter. You can find it easily.

[ Edited by: Gwen 2013-03-26 19:50 ]

Gwen,

Sherri has three different books:

1. Creative Concrete Ornaments for the Garden: Making Pots, Planters, Birdbaths, Sculpture & More by Sherri Warner Hunter (Mar 6, 2012)

2. Making Concrete Garden Ornaments by Sherri Warner Hunter (May 1, 2002)

3. Creating with Concrete: Yard Art, Sculpture and Garden Projects by Sherri Warner Hunter (Jun 30, 2001)

Is one book better than the others?