Equipping garden paths on their personal plot, each owner of the territory thinks about creating beautiful and functional elements of landscape design. Excellent materials for the manufacture of paving slabs at home can be:
- a rock;
- cuts of trunks;
- gravel.
But the most common solution for your site in the role of a coating for paths and sites is the usual paving slabs. It is known that it has excellent characteristics, attractive appearance and is ready to serve for quite some time under favorable conditions. If you make such elements for the design of the site yourself, then they will be combined with the style of the garden and home.
Selection of materials and preparation of tools
Before you start making paving slabs at home, a photo of such elements is certainly worth considering. So you can determine for yourself what kind this part of the infield should have. The composition of such tiles usually includes:
The ingredients are combined in a certain proportion, which depends on the brand of cement used and the purpose of the products. For strong tiles it is recommended to use cement M-500. It is not recommended to save on quality, so that during operation do not stumble on a crumbling track. Water and sand should be cleaned of leaves and impurities. But in the sand, fine-grained stones may be present. From this, the quality of concrete will not deteriorate. The product in the end will only gain a more pronounced texture.
In the manufacture of paving slabs at home, the instruction provides for the use of a plasticizer. You can increase the strength of products and ensure their resistance to temperature extremes. Plastic molds are usually used for pouring. They are presented for sale in a wide range. They can have different sizes and shapes. Each form is usually designed for approximately 200 fills.
To speed up the manufacturing process, you should purchase several pieces. To reduce your budget, you can use plastic food containers. Such a container has sufficient flexibility, strength and softness. Uncomplicated containers allow you to make rectangular bricks.
Solution preparation
Before you start making paving slabs at home, step-by-step instructions must be studied. Having familiarized yourself with it, you can find out that mixing the sand-cement mixture can be carried out manually, and you can quickly cope with the work with the help of a puncher with a nozzle in the form of a mixer. When planning the scope of work you can think about using a concrete mixer. If it is in the arsenal of the owner, you can further save time and effort. Such equipment has found its application in solving many problems. For example, when repairing fence poles or concreting a stream channel in your own garden.
The manufacture of paving slabs at home is accompanied by the mixing of the solution. The first to fall asleep sand, and after - cement. It is not necessary to stop the rotation of the container. The liquid is added gradually. In this case, the solution should be constantly mixed. Do not overdo it with the amount of water, because the solution may lose strength, which will appear in the finished concrete. To eliminate such a nuisance, at the stage of mixing, water-repellent additives should be added to the solution, and reinforcing fiber is used to increase strength.
In the manufacture of paving slabs at home, you can give products a variety of colors. For this, pigments are usually used, which are highly resistant to atmospheric phenomena and ultraviolet. The mass with their presence in the composition also becomes resistant to an alkaline environment. You can determine the amount of dye to be added using the sample method. You need to start with 30 g, increasing the proportion. The mixture will get a uniform color after 7 minutes. Is the composition ready? This can be determined by the absence of lumps and the uniform distribution of pigment throughout the volume of the material.
The composition and proportions of the solution
Before starting work, it is important to determine the composition and proportions of the components. Only then will you be able to get tiles with high performance. It should contain:
- sand;
- plasticizer;
- cement;
- crushed stone;
- water.
Optionally, you can add not only pigments, but also a dispersant. Their presence implies a change in proportions. The composition in the manufacture of paving slabs at home should be added 23% cement, 57% crushed stone and 20% sand. As for the plasticizer, it should be added in a volume of 0.5% by weight of cement.
Having determined the amount of dry components, you must add water in a volume of 40% of their mass. If you want to use pigment, then 1 ml should add 700 ml. As mentioned above, a dispersant can be added to the composition in the manufacture of paving slabs at home, its volume will be 90 g per 1 m 2 .
Distribute dry components separately. The total mass of water is taken into account depending on the proportion of dry ingredients. When using pigment and dispersant, they should be added by dilution in liquids. So, to obtain a square meter of frost-resistant tiles, the thickness of which will be 4.5 cm, you need 22 kg of cement, crushed stone in a volume of 54 kg, 19 kg of sand, 110 grams of plasticizer and 9 liters of water.
Sand with cement and plasticizer are mixed in the first stage. Then rubble should be added, and at the very end - liquid. However, pouring it in full immediately is not worth it. It should be added in small portions. The consistency of the solution should be dense, the mixture should be kept on the trowel, but not crumble. When tapping on the form, the composition should spread well. Mixing is recommended in a concrete mixer, but a construction mixer is an excellent alternative for a small amount of work. Some even cost a trowel, but manipulations in this case take longer.
More details on the proportional ratio of ingredients
The proportions in the manufacture of paving slabs at home are especially important to observe if an impressive impact is exerted on the surface. Using standard ingredients (water, cement and crushed stone), you should use the following proportion: 1: 2: 2. For 50 kg of cement brand M-500 will require about 20 liters of fresh water, which is about 2 buckets. A plasticizer is added to a small amount of liquid, and after that the mixture combines with the main composition and mixes well. At the next stage, granite crushed stone can be poured into the concrete mixer in the volume of three buckets. Everything is mixed with water.
You can reduce the risk of cracks in the finished product and increase its strength by adding granite screenings. In the next step, you can add a bag of cement, which is 50 kg or three buckets. The composition mixes well after adding each serving. The next step will be the addition of another bucket of granite rubble. Then four buckets of river sand are added to the concrete mixer. After each serving, mix well. If required, you can add a little water.
Now comes the last bucket of rubble. The whole process of mixing the mixture will take no more than 10 minutes. The proportions mentioned above will allow you to get a thick solution of high quality. After mixing the components, it is poured into molds, the contents are compacted with a mallet. The molds should be shaken a little, which will provide more dense shrinkage. After 2 days, the tile can be removed.
Features of filling in forms
Before pouring, the inner surface of the molds is lubricated with any oil, you can even use the waste machine. Subsequently, this will facilitate the decomposition of products. You can increase their strength by laying a metal mesh in a half-filled concrete form. Instead, you can use a wire or bar.
Then, the remaining solution is poured to the edges. For vibration, a vibrating table can be used. If there is no such design, it can serve as a shelf or rack. You should perform a few taps on the table.
Drying stage
In the manufacture of paving slabs at home, the next step will be to free the finished product from its forms. Before that, they are aged for three days, but previously they are covered with a plastic film. At this time, you need to maintain the required level of humidity.
Hardening products must be periodically wetted. After 3 days, you can carry out the decoding by moving the sides and shaking. Products are dried for about 4 days. At this time, the tile will gain the specified strength. It can be used as a cover for playgrounds and garden paths.
Mold making
In the manufacture of molds, many materials are used, among them:
- wood;
- gypsum;
- polyurethane;
- plastic;
- silicone.
Using them, you can create the simplest or most complex forms with a specific texture. Particularly noteworthy are the polyurethane models, which reflect the pattern in great detail. Products can be round or rectangular. The manufacture of forms for paving slabs at home is most often made of wood. This method is one of the available and simple. In this case, the formwork design is used.
As a basis, you can take not only wood, but also moisture-proof plywood. For this, strips of small thickness are used. They are cut into segments and connected together by nails. It is better to leave the mounts free running, so that when the composition dries, it is possible to remove the trims individually. Such forms are suitable for the manufacture of the simplest elements in a standard configuration.
When making paving slabs at home with your own hands, you can use plastic, which will form the basis of forms. This option is one of the budget. For these purposes, you can use containers of 5 liters. They are cut in height, which allows you to get a trough. You can apply other types of plastic molds. They are made from containers and unnecessary packaging.
Using gypsum
Quite popular material is gypsum. Using it, you can transfer any template to the material. For casting the product, you must use a gypsum mixture and an example of the cladding element that you want to produce at home. Tiles are treated with grease to prevent sticking of the mixture. The element is placed inside the formwork, for which limiters and wood can be used.
Gypsum should be diluted before pouring to prevent it from setting. To increase the strength, cement or plasticizer can be added. The liquid mass is poured in to cover the sample with a margin of 2 cm. The solution solidifies quickly, but for complete hardening it is necessary to wait a day. When you remove it from the workpiece, you will get a shape that reflects the design of the product.
Tile Business Profitability
Quite a few start-up entrepreneurs are interested in the issue of payback in the manufacture of paving slabs at home. If you carry out work on your own territory, then you do not need to take into account the cost of rent, as well as the costs of salaries for workers, because you can handle the process yourself. But the cost of electricity and water must be taken into account. The cost of one cubic meter of concrete is also important.
The example considers material from which you can get 16 m 2 of tiles. Taking into account delivery, the cost of raw materials is 110 rubles. Electricity will cost 1.3 rubles. Taxes are 1.2 rubles. This data is correct for the manufacture of one square meter of tile. The cost of manufacturing paving slabs at home will total 125 rubles. per square meter.
Tile manufacturing options
The basis of paving slabs is most often a cement-sand mixture. But there are several more options, one of which you can use for home production. For example, a slightly larger amount of sand is added to the composition to prevent leaching of the dye. But in this case, the products are less durable. Sometimes this is not so important if only a foot load is planned to be exerted on the surface.
Such a coating can be made flaky, additionally reinforced with chopped fiberglass or geotextiles. Considering the options for making paving slabs at home, you can refuse reinforcement. If you have a vibration table with damping vibrations in unnecessary directions, then you can do the “puff" yourself. In this case, the goal is to save the amount of pigment. It is added to the top layer.