Cement water hole?

[blurose]

I don't want to hijack your thread, but I've got a bit of a funny story about this subject. When my dad bought his property years ago there was an old "duck" pond in one corner of the yard. For years this was nothing but a big mud hole that collected rain water in the winter, turned to kneedeep mud in the spring and dried up to nothing in the summer. He had geese free ranging around that whole time. Finally, about 9 years ago he got the idea to make that pond more permanent, i.e. keep the water in it. So, he bought an expensive liner, excavated the pond area, placed the liner, layered it over with concrete and filled it up with a hose after the concrete cured. Since he went to all this expense and trouble to do all of this, the geese want nothing to do with the pond anymore.

 

[Renee']

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May we see some pics and possibly some instructions?

 

[Crazy4cochins]

Sorry I am soo slow at getting back on here.
Supplies needed.
Giant rubabrb or eleaphant ear leaf ( anything thats big) and has a great veining detail.
bag of quik crete (Not with rocks !!)
troghl or small hand shovel
Bucket to mix concrete
Water bucket.
pieces of thin cotton fabric(used to cover concrete to even out temp while curing.
So this is how I did it.
step 1. make a big mound of sand on a table or ground. or whever you have that animals and kids aren't going to mess with it for a few days.
Step2. Put the leaf over the top(now the rubarb leaves that are really big have a huge stem on the back, if you lay it on your mound and the stem sticks up and out you take a pair of scissors and cut at an angle towards the inside to make it as flat as you can or you'll end up with a hole in the bottom of your B-Bath. You can then patch the back with another piece of leaf if needed.
Step 3. Layer the cement about 1/25 inch thick all the way out to the edges. then we used wire pieces cut in various lengths to lay on the top of the b-bath as reinforcements,
Step 4. place a thicker layer of concrete over the wire.(maike sure it has a flat spot on the top so it can set on the ground (or if you want a deeper bowl shape you can always dig a hole in the dirt to place it in .)
Make sure you have enough concrete around the edges so it's should be like 1/25 at edges and 3/4 at the middle.
Step 6. after you are satisfied with the thickness let set for about an hour then we took a damp cloth and covered for about 1.5 days then took it off and flip your b-bath.
CAREFUL it can be delicate around the edges. Soo then you will peel the leaf out , if iut stciks wait a few days till it dries more.
Then after it is cleaned out and dry for another day it's ready to paint.
I used acrylic paints and sealed with concrete sealer.
Once you get the hang of it I know you'll will want to make a million of them.
Here is one I made.
We also have some that have the sand as edging around the leaf. so if you want more pics just pm me.Also you can look it up on -you tube

 

[Violet22]

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Wow! Those sound really neat!

I might have to look into doing something like that!

 

[Violet22]

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Sound...........guess I should have kept reading and saw the pics before I posted! Those look awesome, thanks for the pics and instructions!

 

[Crazy4cochins]

in case I forgot to say I use concrete sealer all over the front and back once I am done piating it. We get snow in the winter and it needs that protection .
Also here is a giant one I haven't painted yet it has a much more bowl shape