Hallson Gardens

When we first made this path from concrete, using a Walkmaker mold, we were rather disappointed - see Picture 1. I think this was taken around 1999.

The path wasn't really level, so I re-laid half of it. But the concrete was from a different batch of mix & the path became two-toned. NOT satisfactory - see picture 2.

Then I got the colours to match by applying a concrete slurry over it all, but it still looked disappointing, so I tried laying down a brick border - picture 3.

It seemed to work for a while, but I still wasn't happy with the brick border and the concrete was a rather monotonous colour - picture 4.

So, I tried staining the concrete with ferrous sulfate. By now the brick border was no longer straight. The combination was a complete disaster. It all looked terrible - picture 5.

But how to get rid of the iron sulfate staining? VERY difficult. Much more concrete slurry was applied to try to cover it up. But the brick border was still no good at all. Picture 6.

So, eventually, the bricks were removed & replaced by treated wood landscape ties. They at least stay in a straight line. I'm not sure when this was, but my guess is that Picture 7 was taken in 2002..

By 2006, moss was establishing itself - picture 8.

And now, in 2007, the moss is still expanding. I have to pull weeds out of it now and then, but it's not a big job. Picture 9 was taken today.

And here are the pictures -

http://www.pbase.com/mtu_fulani/image/78224171

I like your path a lot. In fact I'm planning on doing something similar in my back yard. What did you use beneath and around the concrete pavers? It looks like they are set in gravel.

I dug a trench several inches deep and filled it with crushed grit & tried to compact it. I think the crushed grit idea was a bad idea because it included a lot of really fine stuff that I think was crushed concrete & that (I suspect) was probably very alkaline, & helped kill several nearby rhododendrons. If I were doing it again, I'd first fill the trench with gravel, and compact it & then add coarse sand and wash that in with a hose and then add a layer of more coarse sand on top - and compact that thoroughly to make it realy firm and level - and only then would I used a Walkmaker mold to cast the path itself on top of the sand.

Incidentally I think there's more choice in Walkmaker mold patterns now. Some are so shaped that by using only part of the mold, you can make a path with bends in it. The path in this picture was made with one such - http://www.pbase.com/mtu_fulani/image/55436100

The edges of the path where the landscape ties now sit were dug out later and filled with 3/4" crushed rock. At first I wanted to use Timber Bamboo for the edgings, but couldn't find any so I used the treated landscape ties. Now I think they'll probably last a lot longer than Timber Bamboo would have done.

Neat.

I am planning a small section of walkway up to my front door and a longer curving section to the back yard. I will heed your advice when I start this project.

Thanks for the great tips.

Alexa

Herb, you're too critical, they all look great to me.

How did you make the concrete slurry. I'm wondering if that would work to refresh the blotchy interior of some bird baths? Also hide the seams of a cement repair?

Mary Ann,

Making slurry is quite easy. Just mix it with more water than you'd use for making a concrete casting, so that you get a rather sloppy mix.

Also, use a mix that has sand as the aggregate, and not pebbles. The concrete topping mix made by Target is the best one that I've found, though bonded topping mix could work even better. Another approach is to add some extra Portland cement to the mix too.

Naturally, you'll want the slurry to adhere to whatever you're coating. If the surface of your bird bath is very smooth, it may need to be roughened ('etched') to help the slurry to stick. A common way to etch smooth concrete is to pour Muriatic acid on it, but if you try that be very careful indeed. Muriatic acid is highly corrosive and gives off very nasty fumes too - so if you're not familiar with it get advice on how to handle it & how to protect yourself - or else hire somebody who's familiar with the process to do the etching for you.

Very good, Herb, thanks. I had never heard of 'topping mix'. I do have some straight Portland on hand for hypertufu, maybe add a bonding agent with that?

I would never have thought of Muriatic acid, powerful stuff, that's a cleaning agent too. Great idea. Now I just have to figure out where I'll safely do this project so I won't ruin other things while making these improvements.

Mary Ann,

I haven't tried pure Portland with only bonding agent added, so I can't judge how well it would work: I suggest you try making a very small amout of slurry that way & smear it over a small piece of waste concrete & see how it performs.

Incidentally, a few years ago, I had a concrete mold that I no longer wanted, so I turned it into a bird bath by filling it with layers of topping mix to make it shallow enough for a bird bath. I didn't etch the iside of the mold before doing this - and now, several years later - some of the added material has discolored & is flaking off. The birds don't seem to mind though.