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Questions and Answers about Artificial Rockmaking. |
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Stones
Corner
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Over a ten year period many hands on artificial rock making workshops on the art of making realistic artificial fake rock have been successfully run. We were constantly amazed at the diversity of the people both male and female who attended these workshops. This included persons who have worked in landscaping, landscape design and garden construction for a long time and others who have never even touched portland cement before.
The main things learned over those years are instilled into the step by step artificial rock making details in our faux rockmaking dvds. In a face to face teaching situation the teacher or so called expert is not the only teacher, the students are as well. A lot was learnt from conducting these workshops such as where people are commonly likely to get a bit stuck with a certain stage of the artificial rockmaking process as well as commonly asked questions and also not to assume that everyone knows basic building and gardening 'trade talk' and pass up on basic but highly relevant information.
The artificial rock making dvds are a combination of keeping the construction techniques as less complicated as possible and showing you how in your own garden to potentially make some of the most realistic fake, faux rock you are likely to see.
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No definitely not. If you follow the step by step methods outlined on the artificial how to rock making dvds and use the materials demonstrated with or in the very least materials that are compatible than no doubt you will end up with a handcrafted rock., If there are certain materials that may not be available for colouring and texturing in your region its ok... these artificial rockmaking techniques are flexible and adaptable. Look around to see what's in the garage, at the local hardwares and tradesman suppliers and you will more than likely come up with what you need to make your own rock and possibly come up with your own personalised adaptions and that's a good thing because we are not about selling you a system but rather a way to make great fake rock that you can expand your own ideas on.
Without factoring in cyclones, hurricanes, earthquakes, ice ages etc your fake solid, hollow and waterfall rocks more than likely will still be here when we're not...
What about wear and tear on the artificial rock surfaces?
The most important thing when making handmade faux rock and especially artificial rock waterfall and pond features is to make sure your sand and portland cements are well mixed together. Inadequate mixing of the cement with other materials is the major cause of artificial rocks breaking apart and bits falling off. The fake artificial rock surfaces wear really well and if anything should just improve with ageing due to the layers of color and sand textures used.
I see you you have two methods of making artificial rock..ie fake solid rock and artificial hollow rock is one method easier than the other or are they the same?
Making solid fake rock is an easier process to start with and gives you the hands on feeling of working with cement based mortars whereas the hollow rockmaking techniques involve more materials and more time in the construction phase.The exception to this is our new lightweight rockmaking techniques which uses fabric for the outer rock like skin and will become available in the near future.
PVA, Color Hardeners
Dear Mr Tutor
I just received your DVD 4 pack and it is great. I live in Indiana in the States. I have a couple of questions. I am having a little trouble finding Bond and Seal. Most products here are either for sealing or bonding, but not both. Any ideas for Bond and Seal distributors in the USA? Also, I have found the Color Hardener Powders, but do you use this for the oxide natural tints also, or is that a separate product? I am very excited to start, but I just need to get all my materials.
Thanks for the great DVD's
Jeff .
Hello Jeff,
Nice to hear from you.
The bond and seal is a typical PVA glue sold in Australia under the name of 'Bondcrete' which is quite thick in consistency so I mix it 4 parts water 1 part PVA glue for most rockmaking functions. I am sure any hardware will have something exactly the same albeit perhaps under different brand names. My suggestion is use two Color Hardeners.....a black or charcoal and a white or ash white.Some of these suppliers also sell what's called 'Color Dispersants' in approx 1lb bags including the deep green. They are powder like oxides and come in a large variety of colors or you could buy available oxide powders from the hardware.
Now this is where the cost saving multifunction comes in. You can use any of these powders to make tints simply by mixing them with water and tablespoon of off white cement to make it adhere to a surface. You can also create more color hardeners by mixing small amounts of different oxide powders with the white color hardener powder allowing you an extra scope of colors without having to buy lots of larger size bags of color hardener powders because you have just made some of your own'.
All the best
Keith Tutor
Colour Hardeners
Hello Karl,
Firstly have a read of our info page on www.artificialrock.com.au Colour Hardeners are coloured powders that stick fast on a wet concrete, cement, masonry surface. They are a combination of sand ,off white cement and oxide mixed and generally sold in 15 or 20 kilogram bags. General cements, also known as neat cement are typically grey in color off white is near white in color and is the cement to use for making sandstone and lighter color types of artificial rock. Bondcrete is a brand name and is a universal polymer sold under differing names in most countries. Its generally quite thick and needs to be watered down ( 4parts water 1part polymer) for the majority of rockmaking applications.
regards
Keith Tutor
Swimming Pools
Hello Michael,
There is as you are might be aware quite a lot of conjecture as to the subject of artificial rock and possible wear and tear associated with swimming pools.My opinion is that any water that has levels of salt in it will eventually cause some form of erosion after all that's what it does in nature.
To your specific question...my techniques of rockmaking and their end result are raw concrete and mortar combined which becomes a finished porous surface, kind of like sandstock bricks ie. designed to breathe. How much neat cement and what type of sands you use in the surface final mortar mix can determine how hard that mix will set and how well it will wear with the constant flow of chemical or salt water.
There are a lot of sealers on the market which also in my opinion can help with varying degrees of success with the wear on the artificial rocks surface but like a coating of wax on a cars metal surface you apply wax not just once but lets say for example, periodically.
Sealers are similar, they have a running time that they are effective and then you need to reseal the area again
For porous surfaces I feel the penetrating sealers are far more suitable than a sealer that simply sits on the rocks surface and it should also be a sealer that dries without leaving a glossy un life like surface on your work.We don't sell sealers I can only tell you from my experience what seems to work the best such as a penetrating sealer that is suitable to deal with and recommended for a surface being regularly damp or wet. These you will find in your research under differing brand names.
PLEASE NOTE.
When I designed our educational Rock making techniques it wasn't with swimming pools in mind and for good reason although I have myself used them for several pool waterfalls with success and that is mainly because of my years of experience. I do not make claim nor endorse our Rock making methods for use in swimming pools and their related waterfalls because a high number of the people who purchase our DVDs often have little or no experience in making rock for a start, have little knowledge of the fundamentals of concrete structure and construction and should in no way be entertaining
thoughts about doing this sort of work around their pool without someone on hand with extensive experience in this area of expertise.Its a specialty field with specialty products and I am aware that there are a few companies in the U.S that sell educational dvds and books specifically catering specifically for swimming pools and the like.
What I am saying is not being said to turn you off our rockmaking methods but I need to explain that honestly and also outright. You can do amazing creations with our methods but if you were wanting them for pool decoration and a waterfall make sure you have on site guidance from a person / persons who has the necessary experience required to make sure your project is done with safe construction and longevity in mind.
regards
Keith Tutor
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