DIY Concrete Path Mold

[RubberDuck]

Hi,
Though this is not my first project, it's certainly my first project post.
I don't have any "on the go" pictures but the final result speaks for itself...
The dimensions are 60X60X5cm thickness of 4mm, the connecting profiles are 1X1cm and the inside measurement were made when i decided on the pattern.
There are molds to buy on the internet, most of them are plastic and not big enough. I think 60cm wide path will suffice in most cases, and if you need you can always make 2 side by side.
Notice that the pattern does not go all the way to the bottom only about 1cm from the top. This allows for a stronger slab and cleaner pull out.
The procedure is quite easy, mix the concrete (1 part cement 3 part sea sand 3 part aggregate) i used my wheelbarrow, pour it on the mold after you have leveled it and made sure it doesn't move. Straighten it making sure the mix has penetrated well in the mold. Wait about 5 min (depends on the outside temp) and slowly pull the mold upwards making sure not to break or tear the newly laid concrete. DO NOT WAIT FOR IT TO DRY BEFORE PULLING THE MOLD! there is no need and you'll have a hard time pulling it after it dries.
Notice the first concrete slab, it was a bad batch of concrete which i'll remove and redo.
I made these at the beginning of last summer, and it looks like it's holding perfectly, it hasn't moved or cracked and no discoloration.
I'm planing on laying this mold around the house as soon as it get a bit warmer... will post new picture when it happens

 

[awemawson]

Did you use any release oil on the mould?

 

[RubberDuck]

---->

Did you use any release oil on the mould?

No i didn't. There is no need because you aren't waiting for the concrete to dry.
Further more, it'll stain and discolor the slab.
I did wash the mold with water and even brushed it a bit to get rid of any residue concrete that was left.

 

[Pete.]

Nice result.

Mould oil won't make too much difference to the concrete once it's weathered a bit.

 

[philsmin]

Really like that, dead simple

Really hate laying flags, I tend to concrete everything given the chance

 

[awemawson]

A bit of mould oil helps the mould to stay clean. First little bits setting act as magnets it seems for the next run and it's neigh on impossible to keep a mould clean over a long run without either mould oil each use, or sand blasting every now and again. Having laid over 120 cubic metres of C35 in the last three years on the farm here I'm not talking from guess work

 

[RubberDuck]

A bit of mould oil helps the mould to stay clean. First little bits setting act as magnets it seems for the next run and it's neigh on impossible to keep a mould clean over a long run without either mould oil each use, or sand blasting every now and again. Having laid over 120 cubic metres of C35 in the last three years on the farm here I'm not talking from guess work

Will take it into consideration on the next batch of slabs..

 

[candymanm3]

Cost

first thing Great simple 10/10 what was the cost of making this , ive seen these on the net made out of plastic called pathmate belgium style but can't seem to buy them in the UK only USA i see that you have made yours at 60/60 cm (24") with a depth of 5cm (2") how heavy is this ? cos i want to do a drive way out of this i was going to make it a bit bigger 70/70cm (27.5") i was going to put down a total of 10cm (4") of concrete 1 sep 5cm (2") then 2nd step at 5cm (2") using your method the frame i have a mig welder so i was thinking of nocking it up my self but the thing is (i can't weld) so was thinking of getting some one to make it for me, could u advise on the best way forward i have thought of making it out of wood but i don't think it would be strong enough you should sell these you would make a killing
many thank's
CANDYMAN M

 

[Engineer1964]

Thats a Great Idea

I guess you could Simply go over an already existing path which has been neglected over the years, and use that as a solid foundation to work from.

Imagine what you could do with a bit of motar color mixed into the concrete

Will have a go making one of these for definate

 

[stuvy]

first thing Great simple 10/10 what was the cost of making this , ive seen these on the net made out of plastic called pathmate belgium style but can't seem to buy them in the UK only USA i see that you have made yours at 60/60 cm (24") with a depth of 5cm (2") how heavy is this ? cos i want to do a drive way out of this i was going to make it a bit bigger 70/70cm (27.5") i was going to put down a total of 10cm (4") of concrete 1 sep 5cm (2") then 2nd step at 5cm (2") using your method the frame i have a mig welder so i was thinking of nocking it up my self but the thing is (i can't weld) so was thinking of getting some one to make it for me, could u advise on the best way forward i have thought of making it out of wood but i don't think it would be strong enough you should sell these you would make a killing
many thank's
CANDYMAN M

Rubber duck hasnt been on the forum since march. Id guess he wont see your message buddy.

As for getting it welded if you cant do it yourself nip the pre cut pieces into your local engineering workshop and offer some beer tokens for them to do it for you

 

[candymanm3]

Re

Well ive just pulled out my gasless mig welder out and made a very small one from some scap thin metal , it turned out ok for a first attempt i had to switch the mig from high to low cos it started melting the metal just need to find out were to buy 50mm x 3mm 1200mm lengh so i can make a 600 x600mm length, which im confident in making . It seems that no diy shops sells it ill have to go to a metal merchants
Thank's for your reply STUVY

 

[candymanm3]

Frame Complete

Well people i have made my first mould it's dam good for a first timer (not that im blowing my own trumpet) ive changed the size from 600 x 600 to 700 x 700 , my Gasless welder done the job it took me about 2hrs to cut the steel & weld just got to do the last thing the paint brush . Ive made mine 700 x 700 50mm x 3mm mild steel cost me £13.80 to make this so Thumbs up
so ive added the new pic of my work so i might start selling these on Ebay

 

[Welderpaul]

Looks like all 4 sides bow in

An idea to add some handles to help positioning it in the concrete?

 

[Country Joe]

Well, it's certainly better than the prototype!
Quite a bit better!
CJ

 

[Country Joe]

Looks like all 4 sides bow in?

An effect of the camera, maybe?
CJ

 

[candymanm3]

yes i see what u mean but the size is spot on i marked measured several times over i even used a set square and im pleased to say that on the actual mould the sides don't bow must be the cheap camera on my iphone 3gs but good coments

 

[Pete.]

Looks like they bow a little and the grout lines on the tiles don't so it ain't the camera. Saying that, it's a tidy looking job and should work perfectly well.

 

[candymanm3]

yea pete i see what u mean just had a look at the frame i will grind the weld of so it springs back and re weld that should sort the slight bow out so much for the set square ..

 

[Engineer1964]

yea pete i see what u mean just had a look at the frame i will grind the weld of so it springs back and re weld that should sort the slight bow out so much for the set square ..

A vast improvement on the first one candyman I didn't want to say anything for fear of sounding rude, but its a great job, still have mine to make

I wonder if i might try to make something alongs the lines of small block pavers like this

I wonder if i use some concrete colouring in the mix and finish off with some sort of sealer, if i would get a half decent end result, the outside edges would be the row of blocks but the top and bottom will be indivual blocks so the the next row will look seemless??

Another point would be how to make the edges of the block seem natural instead of striaght could i grand and the sand smooth the edges of the bar so it looks like natural block shapes??

Will sleep on the idea

 

[candymanm3]

tricky

That looks a tricky one to make i think that would be far to advance for me Gerry i thank you for all comments as you now this is the second time i picked up a welder so i have some steel left 10mm x 10mm so might make another like my second project with out the bows or might be adventurous and make somthing abit wild like your project gerry as for the cement dye you will have to buy white cement as you will not get the effect from grey the only problem is that white cement is not cheap comming in at £12 odd a bag 25kg so its thinking caps on....