Skip to main content

Making Cast Concrete Pavers

Custom molded team pavers from our art or your design.
Making concrete "pavers" or stepping stones, monuments, milestones, headstones and more with your wording.
This is a basic outline for semi-experienced do-it-yourselfers. Complete information is available on each part of this outline elsewhere on the web.

Custom address concrete block
[1] Decide on the size of the layout and create a rough sketch. This is the time to measure out the area
where the final product or resulting cast forms will be placed. Concrete can be heavy and have sharp corners, so measure it out first.

[2] To your layout, add any text or ornamentation you like. Mold letters may be found for purchase online or through letterbank.com. Professionals use reverse cast metal letters, and often the newest cast rubber letters, which are significantly less costly.

[3] Measure the text size and create or order letters. Remember, the letters will be indented into the finished concrete, and so must be reversed to read correctly.

[3 option] Order ready-to-mold one-piece reusable rubber molds from LetterBank.
Some Examples here and here.

[4] Place and secure the letters and/or casting shapes to your form, or place and pour a wet solution of concrete over the letters. Avoid rocks and very coarse gravel, as this will cause pockets or gaps in the finished product. In this example, there is a silicone spray being put on the pan to help in removing set concrete.

Vaseline is also brushed into the mold itself to assist in removing highly detailed molds from set concrete.







































[5] Once the concrete sets (usually overnight at least), remove the letter forms carefully. Allow the concrete to cure for an additional 5-7 days before placing in the desired location.

[6] Be creative! Concrete is fairly inexpensive and will last a long time. You can add concrete color dyes when mixing for various artistic projects.



For additional information, contact us at
MyDIYsigns@gmail.com or @LetterBank on Twitter.



Send feedback, comments and questions. We';; answer them as best we can.

Happy DIY!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to make a simple Do-It-Yourself foam letter sign

Here are a few easy-to-follow steps for making a foam letter sign. Before you start, here are some basic descriptions to help you plan for what you need. You may want to print this out and save this or forward it to someone looking for guidelines. Contents : What are foam letters? Where can I order foam letters? How can I find the cost? How large do the letters need to be? available space (for your sign) how far does the sign need to be readable? aesthetics What do I need to have to make this turn out well? Using the yardstick Before you glue or cement anything in place You're almost there! What are foam letters? By "foam', I refer to the dimensionally stable extruded plastic "foam", which is cut into letters usually from a 4x8-foot master sheet. The sheets are usually available in 1/2", " and 1-1/2" thickness, so for the sake of this brief article, I'll refer to 1" thick letters when I mention foam letters. Foam let...

Concrete letter casting basics

This is a beginner's guide to the basics of casting concrete   For specific details, search online for how to create concrete casting forms. To cast concrete with lettering and a logo if desired, you need a form, concrete and letters. The form can be on a flat surface, into which you can pour your concrete, or the form can be erect with a bottom, sides, a front and a back. Be sure to mix sufficient smooth concrete so that a spill or leak won't scuttle your casting pour. Stir and poke the concrete to reduce incidence of air pockets. For the sake of simplicity, this article focuses on using a flat form or pan for making pavers. After deciding on the form or pan shape and size, follow the basic preparation instructions. I Reverse-cast metal letters with a 7-degree draft for casting f you're casting pavers , especially those with a pattern, design or wording combination, you'll likely want to have a reusable form with multiple-use letters. Letters made to be ...

Fast Stencil Tech compared to Self-Adhesive Paint Mask

Which is Better? Paint Mask or Stencil? This is a brief article to determine the best product for your project, using a side-by-side comparison of features and drawbacks to each method. Let's start with Stencils. What's a stencil?  Stencils were made of oil board, a resin-impregnated paper card stock, roughly from the 1920s to the 1990s. At that time, several specialty plastics and metals became more popular replacements for the paper and not as easily damaged. Currently, most street markings like the word "STOP" or turn lane arrows are made in sections from metal panels due to their size and the need for flat storage between uses. Polycarbonate plastic and styrene have all but replaced the original oil boards for stencil material. Stencil shows letter bridges to keep letterforms intact. How is it used? A stencil is essentially a panel with cut-outs in it, which mask the non-paint areas. The cut-outs are the place where paint will be brushed, rolled or...