That would DEFINITELY work! Go for it! Does the terracotta have a glaze on it? If so, you can mimic that shine with an epoxy resin coating. Looks very ceramic! Have any pictures?

Marly

DesertFlower-

How much snow did you get over the weekend? It looked like the Denver area got a load from down here in New Mexico.

If your terracotta isn't glazed, be sure to dampen the pot before you put on your tufa coat so the terracotta doesn't wick away too much moisture from the tufa.

I think there might be temperature issues with curing if you can't bring your planters inside or you might have to wait until it warms up to do add the facade.

Jo

I have done this with smaller terracotta pots and I have to say, "don't do it." Why you ask? Well, because terracotta and hypertufa are both porous and hold water, but they don't expand at the same rates. What ends up happening is the terracotta pot soaks up water and expands faster cracking the hypertufa exterior. I have been making hypertufa pots for several years now and the only ones that aren't wintering well are the ones with terracotta pots in them.

Like you, I also have several large Italian rolled rimmed terracotta pots, 3ft high or so. What I do with mine to keep them from cracking is to completely emtpy them out in the fall, turn them upside down on a wooden palette and cover them with a blue tarp until spring. It is a two person job, but I've had these pots for nearly 10 years now and they are still as beautiful as when I bought them.

Hope this helps you, I just don't want the cracking problem to worsen, because that's not what your intention is.

Wylee