Low Rent Renaissance

Continued experiments & efforts on log planters. The smaller one is over a burlap armature. Raw burlap soaked in bonding agent, then saturated with grout and placed over a plastic pot. I also had some strips soaking, and wrapped those around the pot as well. After the grout cured, the pot was removed, and I was left with a sturdy armature.

Hardware cloth armature. First coat.  Faux bois effort. 

Well...he is a strange looking cat.  The 10 gauge wire/chicken wire armature looks as though it will hold up except for the tail area, which cracked when I turned the sculpture over to coat the cat's underside. I ended up breaking the mortar off the tail, then wrapping that part of the armature with burlap strips soaked in bonding agent and coated in mortar, then plastering over that with more mortar. He has a kind of fat lizard-like tail now. Whiskers are the nylon bristles of a wallpaper pasting brush.

(When I first posted this I used the word "coupling" to describe a 1-1/4" bushing . I apologize and hope I didn't cause anyone any grief. You need a 1-1/4" threaded  bushing  . So far, despite that I've had to make a few adjustments, this sprayer has worked well for me. A little electrical tape around the threads of the bottle make for a tighter, more permanant fit.Thanks.) This is an effort to make and use a simple, inexpensive mortar sprayer. I’m using it with my Harbor Freight  2 hp 125 PSI air compressor. The sprayer is made from a 1.42 gallon Clorox bottle, a 1-1/4” PVC threaded bushing and plug, a Harbor Freight air gun, and a brass coupler. It was simple to make, easy to use, and worked well spraying a very wet mix of three parts sand to one part Portland cement. As you can see in the photos, the bottom is cut from the bottle to make a funnel. Then the PVC bushing screws onto the Clorox bottle. It's not a perfect, tight fit. You can stil...

The armature is made of 10 gauge all purpose steel wire wrapped with chicken wire. The mortar is two parts sand, one part Portland cement, one part lime. Components are mixed dry in a large bucket, then enough water is added to a small portion make it damp and clumpy. I wet my glove, then massage a handful of the mix to the right consistency. I'm experimenting to see if the wire armature is strong enough to support the cement sculpture. The figure is about two feet long.

The front of gate is pretty much complete, except for some touching up with the Dremil tool. The back will will simply be primed  and painted.

Almost completed.  Knots, grain, splits, & nail holes.

Details of faux wood effort. 

Armature made from fence posts with gate corners, extruded polystyrine sheathing. metal lathe, and chicken wire. Using two parts vermiculite, one part builder's lime, one part Portland cement. Hanging plaque made with similar mixture over Styrofoam and chicken wire.

Working toward re-making the garden gate, which was an earlier attempt at faux wood using papercrete. The gate hangs on a fence post, so weight is a big consideration. That first effort was made of vermiculite, cellulose insulation, and cement. This new mix is two parts vermiculite, one part cement, and one quarter part builder’s lime. I started with one part water, but the vermiculite seemed to absorb a lot, and I had to add water was I worked. I made the armature for this small experiment out of  Styrofoam insulation and chicken wire. It will be a sort of hanging plaque, but I am more interested in seeing if the mix, sans paper, will work for the gate, and how heavy the finished product will be.  The vermiculite mix handled almost as well at that made with sand. It was coarser, but not as much as papercrete, and I could add more details than with papercrete. 

I was out early yesterday morning to try and beat the South Carolina heat but, I swear, it warmed up too quickly.  I experimented, substituting builder’s lime for joint compound: two parts sand, one part cement, one half part builder’s lime. No paper. Using a two pound coffee can for measuring and mixing the dry ingredients in a five gallon bucket, then hand mixing small portions with water in another bucket to make small batches. Very nice, smooth, clay-like feel to this mix. Sticks nicely. I was able to sculpt a little with it, but mostly used it as plaster. I am interested in deleting cellulose insulation in a mix because I want to try to add finer detail in future work. It seems to be curing nicely despite the heat.  The bottom photo shows the section covered with this mix. The most difficult aspect of mixing this mortar involves water. It is so easy to mix in too much water. It's best when the mix is damp and crumbly. I found that making sure I had a bit of dry mix ...

I accidentally deleted this post. I'd written that I'd run out of ready mix joint compound and substituted some powdered joint compound, and was pleased with how it handled. It also allowed me to thoroughly mix the joint compound in, which is difficult when using ready mix. When using ready mix joint compound, I add water to the sand, cement, and cellulose insulation, then add a glob of joint compound, squeezing and mixing as thoroughly as possible. Using the powder I can just add the joint compound to the dry mix and mix it in with a drill bit. I was surprised that the powder gave the mix a similar "clay-like" quality to that mixed with ready-mix. I'd made small batches that day, using a two pound coffee can, mixing one can sand, 1/2 can Portland Cement, 1/2 can cellulose insulation, and what amounted to two cups powdered joint compound, and mixed it with an electric drill with a mixer bit. This mix seems to set a bit, especially on a hot afternoon, in the b...

Continuing work on the garden wall using the sandy mix with powdered joint compound. This section is an effort at faux wood. I'm fairly pleased with it and would like to try "faux bois" textures with finer aggregates than sand and paper.  The photo below is the finished section of "faux brick showing behind broken stucco."

Continuing to rework the garden wall. This section is an attempt at faux brick.

More work on the garden wall. These days I'm mixing the ingredients dry in the cement mixer -- six parts sand, three parts paper, three parts Portland cement -- then putting a bit of the dry mix into a 5-gallon bucket and hand mixing in water and joint compound. It's a very workable mix, and cures to form a nice, hard shell.

Continuing to rework the garden wall using the same sandy mix --six parts sand, three parts cellulose insulation, three parts Portland cement, approximately two parts water, and a little joint compound.

A work in progress -- refinishing the papercrete garden wall. Papercrete, I think, for most of us, involves a  lot of experimentation and a good sized learning curve. There is information on line, but most of it is like the information in this blog – experimental recipes and processes that offer a starting place for our own endeavors. Those batches of papercrete I mixed two or three years ago for the garden wall were, like the first layers daubed onto the gazebo structure, too soft for exterior work– too much paper, not enough sand. The strongest, most workable papercrete has been the heaviest – lotsa sand, some paper, some cement, some ready-mix joint compound to help it stick. The same learning curve applies to the lime plaster applied to the garden wall a couple of years ago. Though the surface of the inside wall was still looking fair, the outside surface was brittle and full of cracks. Possible causes are plentiful. Like my practically nonexistent curing process. Or m...

 We finally got our 15 tilapia fingerlings. Ammonia levels in the fish tank were high for a day or two (testing with Jungle Quick Dip Amonia Test Strips), and I took water out several times with a pitcher and replaced it with clean water from a little reservoir in the yard. Today the ammonia level checked out and the fish seem to be doing well, though we lost a couple of the smaller ones. We planted a variety in the grow bed to see which would do best -- two types of pepper, two of tomato, two eggplants, and a couple varieties of lettuce. I took the plants from the pots, rinsed the roots clean with a hose, and placed them in the gravel bed. We were surprised they did not go into shock, are budding out, and thriving. We're feeding the fish pond pellets right now but are researching which kitchen scraps to feed tilapia.  Looking forward to an abundant harvest.

 The base coat on this planter is plain old hypertufa consisting of (using 2-pound coffee cans for measurement) one can of peat moss, one of Pearlite, ½ of Portland Cement, one of water (there about), and a little lime putty. I’d made the armature using two old, sun-beaten, brittle planters that were ready for the landfill fastened together with sheet metal screws and covered with two layers of poultry wire (see photos below). So far I’ve found that this type of Hypertufa mix is good for casting but is honestly difficult to daub onto wire without either ready mix joint compound or lime putty to make it stickier. Even then it doesn’t seem very workable. Perhaps more cement to the mix would make it stick to the armature better. I'll continue to research and experiment. As it was, I applied the hypertufa with some force to push it deep into the wire and keep it from falling off. For the design on front I used the same mixture as above, but substituted cellulose insulation for...

This is a nice, easy to use garden sculpture mix, using “2-pound” coffee cans for measuring and mixing by (rubber gloved) hand in a five gallon bucket. ½ can Portland cement 1 can peat moss 1 can cellulose insulation 1 can water (there abouts…damp (not wet) mix) Substitute lime putty for ready mix joint compound. Add a big gob of  it and mix well. Lime putty is builder’s lime mixed with water to a pasty consistency.You will probably need to go to a builder's supply to purchase builder's lime. Neither Lowe's nor Home Depot carry it. This lime putty had set for many months in a sealed five gallon bucket, and was a little “thinner” than ready mix joint compound, and not so sticky. I think that is what made this mixture feel so good. This hyper-tufa “clay” was truly "clay-like" and easy to model over a chicken wire, 1/2 gallon plastic milk jug, and PVC pipe armature. I hope this guy will become part of a scare crow for our steadily growing garden. I hav...