Rank amateur - simple project - clueless

21 years ago

Hey everybody,

I've never done tufa before, maybe you can help with this.

I'm making a big water garden. 13,000 gallons. In the water garden books I see a Japanese style edging with wooden posts at varying heights mortered into the side. I would like to do this, only with concrete or hypertufa instead of wood. I don't want the wood to rot since it will be mortered to my liner.

I plan on using 4" pvc as the mold. What materials should I use that would be durable in water?

I would like the color to be wood like. What readily available colors would work best?

Is there any way to put a wood grain on the top of the posts to make this more realistic?

Thanks for any help you could give.

Carrie

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Comments (4)

tango88
21 years ago
CW --- Can you scan & post the pic so we will be able to better suggest some approaches?
rockhewer
21 years ago
Hi CW, Staining might be your best option for coloring, it's much easier to control. For the wood grain, do you want a smooth or rough pattern/finish?
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cweathersby
Original Author
21 years ago
Let me see if I can find a scanner. I'm at work and we're not that high tech.
Maybe I can describe it better than I did. You know the round fence posts? They cut these off at varying heights in between 1 foot and 8 inches and then mortar these posts at the edging of the water feature. They aren't laid long ways, like you see with railroad ties edging flower beds, but ends up.
For the wood grain- I don't know about what kind of pattern. I guess I don't know the difference between the two. These "posts" would be seen at a distance of at least 10 feet.
rockhewer
21 years ago
What I meant was do you want a finish that looks like natural bark or peeled and smooth. You answered that with saying "fence posts". You might just be able to faux finish the posts with the stain to get your grain effect or you will have to etch the pattern in at the proper stage in the curing process by hand on each post.