Use half flat plant containers to make fast and easy paving stones for your garden. We had a bunch of half flat containers left over from buying plants this spring. I thought they would make great stepping stone molds, but wasn't sure how to get the best results and be able to reuse the molds for future projects. I got the idea to line them with plastic and turned out to be the perfect solution.
By Jess from Hillsboro, OR
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Great idea - thanks!
Fantastic idea now each around $6.00 so woohoo to savings plus cute
And red cement for colored
We made 5 of these this past weekend but 3 already broke. We followed the instructions so I dont know what we did wrong.
I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm not sure what to recommend. My stepping stones are still in one piece 6 years later. Maybe you didn't allow it to dry long enough?
I did a little more research and cracks are usually due to the mixture being too dry. So I would add more water to the mixture if you try to make them again.
Good luck!
I would pour half the concrete into the mould give it a bump to settle it then put in some wire to reinforce it then the other half of the concrete and jiggle it again to settle and remove air bubbles that's how i make all my different stepping stone always wire them cheers Gloria
Adding 1/2 to one cup powdered lime to the mix adds hardness to it.
you need wire rebar in the middle and layer more concrete on top. I make rhubarb stepping stones with the wire rebar.
Rebar is a good idea but they have held up relatively well over the last 10 years. One corner broke but they are mostly intact. I'll try to take a picture when the weather is better.
Reinforce with chicken wire in the cement and/or thin rods submerged in cement, fill form for good thickness, let sit for couple of days out of sunlight. Seal with waterproof coat.
Maybe needed a fiberglass fibers and if they came out hairy, burn off the hairy fibers
What about cutting the bottom out and using just the frame? Wouldn't need the plastic.
You could certainly do that. I like the lattice pattern that comes out on the bricks.
If they cracked perhaps the ground under them was too uneven so they cracked when stepped on. Just a thought. Havent tried this yet.
How much concrete mix did you use for each 10 x 20 flat?
We were able to get two or three per bag, depending on the thickness.
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