Making my own Concrete landscaping blocks?

Question

I am wanting to make my own concrete landscaping blocks out of quickcrete....does anyone have suggestions on .
what to make the molds out of ? What if I used a heavy duty wax coated cardboard? Would that work?

Answer 1

If you want to use them for paving stones here is the easy way to do that. You can cut steel sheet metal into strips about 3-4" wide from a sheet about 6' long. That gives you a strip that you can join the two ends together on to make a ring of metal for a mold over a foot in diameter. Joint the ends with a self tapping screw. Then bend the rings into irregular stone shapes. Brush the inside of the mold shape with motor oil so concrete will not stick to it. Put them on the ground where you will want the the concrete stones to be with a few inches of space between them. Pour in concrete mixture (and include concrete dyes if you wish) to the top and brush finish the top after a few hours. Wait a few days and then take out the retaining screw to free the concrete from the molds. Repeat the process with the ring molds (maybe changing the shape a little) until the area has enough blocks in it.

If you want to make a retaining wall or other part that needs uniform blocks you would be better off just buying them and save yourself the labor. I agree with the answers above about the sweat that would go into making uniformly-shaped blocks. I would also add that after you make them you need to drag them over to where they are needed. Save your effort for paving stones where you can be creative.

Answer 2

Unless you have a lot of time and extra concrete on your hands, it would be better to buy. To make concrete into anything you have to realize that when it is first molded it will expand and bend the forms or expand up, leaving a not so flat surface or edge. Then over time, concrete will shrink some. You will also find that it will take quite some time (a week or so) for the concrete to dry sufficiently to be able to move them.

Answer 3

To make round concrete blocks, you could use an ice-cream pail for a mould.

Answer 4

I think they sell plastic molds at Lowes.

Answer 5

they cost like $1.50

maybe if you live someplace where people earn like $10 a day, maybe make em then

here in new england, it foolish to make concrete block

Answer 6

Anything plastic. Concrete will not stick to plastic.