Artificial stone today is one of the best decorative materials, which is actively used for decoration both indoors and outdoors. It is used in various design projects. Artificial stone has less weight than natural blocks, it is simply mounted and serves as a real decoration of the interior. It can be made with your own hands. How to make artificial stones will be discussed later.
Material Features
What material to make artificial stone from? There are many options! This is determined by the installation location of such blocks. Also, the decorative effect, which the finish should have, depends on the choice of material. In most cases, concrete or gypsum is used to create the artificial stone. Cement mortar is suitable for creating facade-type blocks. This material is not afraid of exposure to water, adverse weather conditions.
Plaster artificial stones are installed indoors. This material does not like moisture. But he has many useful qualities. Gypsum absorbs moisture and, if necessary, gives it back to the environment. Therefore, it maintains the right indoor climate.
Gypsum is plastic, from which you can easily create any shape. The author’s imagination is unlimited here.
Considering how to make an artificial stone from concrete, it should be noted that various fillers are added to this material. It can be gravel or sand, stone chips or other components. This determines the surface pattern of the decorative material.
To set the artificial stone to the desired shade, various pigments are used. They can be dry or diluted in water. You can apply several shades, but in this case they need to be selected correctly.
To make an artificial stone from alabaster, cement, gypsum or other materials, you will need to buy or make a special shape with your own hands. With its help, as many blocks are produced as will be needed for wall decoration. Do not save by acquiring a plastic mold. Best if it is made of silicone. This form can also be done with your own hands. The silicone mold will be durable, will make as many artificial stones as needed.
Mold making
How to make silicone mold for artificial stone? This procedure does not take much time and does not require significant costs. Of course, the form can also be purchased at a specialized store, but it is much more interesting to create a matrix yourself. In this case, the finish will be original.
It is recommended to make a mold for artificial stone with your own hands, if there was no suitable material for wall decoration on sale. In some cases, the shade, dimensions, and the configuration of decorative elements are not suitable. If you buy artificial stone expensive, you can buy just a few of these boulders or blocks. Based on them, a matrix form is made. This allows you to significantly save money on finishing.
Another reason why you should make a mold for artificial stone with your own hands is a wide variety of objects taken as a basis. It can even be a natural stone, which will have an original texture. In this case, the finish will look stylish, unusual and interesting. Such artificial stones cannot be found in stores.
Another design option is not even stone, but natural wood with an original texture. To make the picture more expressive, it is pre-deepened.
The form can be complex or single. It’s easier to make the second option. This form does not require a lot of silicone. If you create a complex matrix, you will need to first make a dimensional formwork. In this case, more silicone is required. But in the process of creating artificial stone, complex forms are more convenient. They allow you to significantly speed up the production process of blocks.
The formwork is made of boards, a box or a cardboard box. It should be 10-15 mm wider and 25-30 mm above the sample taken as the basis for the production of stone. In some cases, even juice boxes are used to make small fragments. They can be fastened together, creating a complex matrix.
To make the form, you need to prepare ordinary silicone or polyurethane. Also, a special two-component compound is suitable for these purposes.
Form creation
How to make an artificial stone at home? First you need to prepare a matrix form. To do this, buy silicone in tubes or buckets. Its quantity is determined by the size of the future workpiece.
When the formwork is prepared, its walls will need to be greased with a greasy composition. It may even be a solidol. Next, the original element is placed inside the form. As such an object, natural or artificial stone, tile, wood, etc. can be used. Further, the surfaces of the original block or boulder will need to be greased with a greasy composition. Otherwise, silicone will stick to such a surface.
If gypsum artificial stone is used as the initial sample, it will need to be coated with 3 layers of varnish before pouring. Each of them should dry well before applying the next.
Considering the procedure of how to make an artificial stone at home, it should be noted that in the course of work, a brush and a spatula will be required. With their help, silicone will be applied to the workpiece. You also need to prepare a soap solution in which you need to moisten the tools.
If the silicone was sold in a tube, it is cut and completely covered with this material, the initial sample in the formwork. It is distributed using a brush dipped in soapy water. It is important to achieve a tight fit of silicone to the surface of the stone. No air pockets should form here, air bubbles should remain. Therefore, the material must not only be smoothed with a brush, but tamped.
When the mold is filled to the brim, the silicone surface is leveled with a spatula. It is also pre-wetted in soapy water. Further, the material solidifies within the period specified by the manufacturer. It is impossible to remove the formwork immediately. The better silicone solidifies, the stronger the mold will be.
It should be noted that the polymerization process is directed downward from the surface. The curing rate of silicone in this case is approximately 2 mm per day. Therefore, based on the size of the formwork, it is possible to calculate how long it will take to harden. Sometimes this takes several days, but in some cases this process takes weeks.
When this process is completed, the formwork is removed. It is washed with grease and wiped dry. Further, it can be used for its intended purpose.
Compound Matrix
How to make an artificial stone yourself? It should be noted that its durability depends on the selected material for the matrix. Instead of silicone, you can use a special compound. These are two-component compositions that are used to create forms. In this case, the matrix will be much stronger and more durable. Silicone molds wear out faster.
Compounds are most often made from polyurethane. They are designed to create sculptures, plaster molds and other similar products. The hardening of the material, unlike silicone, occurs very quickly. Literally in a day you will be able to create a matrix that will allow you to make a large number of blanks for decorative surface finishes.
This is possible due to the addition of a hardener to the liquid composition. This reagent interacts with the base material. The reaction does not need the presence of oxygen. Therefore, the hardening process takes no more than a day.
Talking about how to make an artificial stone at home, it should be noted that when using a professional compound, you will also need to buy a release agent. It is intended for use with two-component polyurethane formulations.
Regardless of the type of material used for the manufacture of artificial stone, the surface of the workpiece and formwork is coated with a release agent. To do this, use a brush.
Preparing to make gypsum stone
It will be interesting and useful for people who are interested in how to make an artificial stone themselves to learn that such blanks are created more often from gypsum than from cement. With proper processing, such blocks can in some cases be used for facade work. Plaster is easier to give the desired shade. At the same time, an artificial stone made of this material has good adhesion. Therefore, such blanks are held on the wall surface much better.
To make a stone from gypsum, you need to prepare a number of materials and tools. You will need a matrix made of a compound or silicone, a drill with a mixer nozzle, a plastic bucket for mixing the solution. You also need a pallet on which tiles, brushes and a spatula will dry. As a material used for the manufacture of stone, white gypsum is required.
The filler will be river sand, which should be washed thoroughly, does not contain impurities. You will also need PVA glue and citric acid, a composition of turpentine with wax. Dry pigment will give the workpiece the desired shade. Also, during operation, water of room temperature will be required.
Studying the subtleties of technology with which you can make an artificial boulder stone with your own hands, it should be noted that it is important to pay attention to the preparation of the working area. A table should be located here, the surface of which must be checked with a level. It should be perfectly horizontal. If the table has a slope, the plates will be of different thicknesses.
If you need to make a large number of decorative stones at one time, shelving for drying will be required. The horizontalness of their surface is also necessarily checked by level. Also need free space for mixing the solution.
Making gypsum stone
There are several rules that should be followed if you want to make an artificial stone correctly. On the wall, such a finish will look spectacular. To make the mass homogeneous, you need to add gypsum to the water, and not vice versa.
It is worth considering that gypsum, like alabaster, sets very quickly. Therefore, you need to act promptly. To extend the pour time of the solution, citric acid is added to it in a proportion of 0.6-0.8 g of the component per 1 kg of gypsum. In this case, the gypsum composition will remain liquid for 1.5 hours. You will need to pre-dissolve citric acid in warm water and add it to the mixture.
Gypsum solution is prepared in an amount corresponding to the size of the form. The solution will be stronger if sand is added to it. Its fraction should be no more than 1 mm. The appearance of the final product depends on the size of the sand.
The composition is kneaded in a bucket. It should have a consistency of thick sour cream. Typically, 1 g of gypsum requires 100 g of sand. The plasticizer in the mixture is PVA glue. It also keeps the solution flowing for a long time.
Considering how to make artificial stones with your own hands, it should be noted that gypsum is mixed with water in a ratio of 1.5: 1. Citric acid dissolved in warm water also enters this amount of liquid. First, water is added to the bucket, and a coloring pigment is added to it. Next, gypsum is added here, stirring it with a mixer. Sand is added to the solution and again everything is mixed.
The form must be treated with a mixture of wax with turpentine. The solution is poured into it, rammed. The composition should not remain air bubbles. The surface is leveled with a spatula so that it is perfectly even. Walls and partitions need to be cleaned of a high-quality solution.
Cement stone
How to make artificial stone from cement? From this material it is possible to make not only material for cladding, but also for the decoration of paths, sidewalks. Tools in this case will be required the same as for the manufacture of gypsum stones. But others will need to be prepared.
To make a decorative stone, cement of the M200-M400 brand is required. Sifted river sand is also needed. PVA is used as a plasticizer, although in this case, you can do without it. Coloring pigments will also be required.
You will also need to prepare a workplace, the table of which should be flat, without distortions. If you create, for example, cobblestones for an alpine hill from a cement mortar, you can do without a matrix form at all. But the composition of the solution remains unchanged.
You will need to mix cement and sand in a ratio of 1: 3. The ingredients in dry form are thoroughly mixed, and then poured water here in small portions. Next, the composition is mixed using a mixer. You can make the composition more plastic by adding PVA glue to it. For 1 liter of cement-sand mixture it will take about 50 g.
Then the coloring pigment is added. It is difficult to guess the exact proportion, so you need to add it in small portions. So it turns out to create the desired shade.
Creating a stone using a mold
How to make artificial stones with your own hands? To do this, create a mold of silicone. It should not be too deep. The prepared solution is poured into the matrix, shaking it so that the cement is evenly distributed in it, rammed. Further, over the entire surface of the mold, a wide spatula is used. Partitions must be cleaned of the solution, and the surface itself must be carefully leveled. The walls serve as original beacons.
If the form is deep, you will first need to fill it with only half. Next, a reinforcing mesh is laid. Another layer is poured on top, which also aligns.
When the cement becomes plastic, it dries a little, a large grid is drawn on its surface. This is necessary for high-quality adhesion of artificial stone to the base. After a day, you need to remove the stones from the mold. To do this, a plywood sheet is applied to the back side, the matrix is turned over. Next, the form must be carefully removed. Plywood is transferred to the shelf. The cement mortar must dry thoroughly. This process lasts about 3 weeks.
To pour another portion of cement into the same matrix, you will need to wash the mold with soap and water.
When the cement dries, it is cleaned of small particles of cement, dust, covered with a layer of paint.
Boulder stone
There is another technique for making artificial stones with your own hands. Boulders are actively used in landscape design. In addition to cement mortar, you will also need a 10-15 cm thick foam, fiberglass mesh, polyethylene, sponge, foam adhesive. You will also need to prepare sandpaper with medium and coarse abrasive, acrylic paints, atmospheric varnish.
First, blocks of stone of the required shape are prepared from the foam. They are glued together, forming an approximate configuration of the stone. The foam is wrapped on top with a reinforcing mesh and a solution is applied. Brush strokes are done randomly to make it easier to shape. The solution layer should be 15-20 mm thick.
The stone is left for 30 minutes. Then crush a plastic bag and process the surface of the boulder. You can perform a similar action with a sponge. When the solution dries, it is turned over and the bottom is also treated with the solution. Cement is left to ripen for 15-20 days.
Another option
It is possible to make artificial gypsum board stone with your own hands. In this case, the masonry will not be so voluminous, but it will be possible to create a certain decorative effect. It will be necessary to prepare the foundation. It is painted in a shade resembling a masonry mortar.
A drywall that resembles a brick is applied to drywall. She is circled in pencil, and then the workpiece is cut. Such fake bricks will need to be cut enough for finishing. They are painted, and then with glue mounted on a flat surface of the wall. Paint can be of various shades. They can be natural. In the children's room, colorful, vibrant plasterboard bricks look original.