| If you've ever walked or driven by a home with | | | | suppression and superior durability. Used in |
| beautiful stone brick and rock facades, statuary, | | | | landscaping, stone lasts practically forever and lets |
| walkways and other decor detailing, you probably | | | | you create spectacular effects. |
| wondered how anyone could afford such exquisite | | | | The key to it all is molds for stone Those |
| materials and workmanship. You can indeed pay a | | | | concrete molds are made of industrial ABS plastic |
| fortune for stone and even stone veneers, but | | | | that lasts for hundreds of pours if you use and |
| you don't have to. That's because you can make | | | | maintain it properly. Depending on the type of |
| your own stone at home with cast concrete | | | | stone a mold may make a few large stones or a |
| molds! In fact, a lot of the stone you see on | | | | bunch of smaller ones. Each will be different, just |
| homes is cultured stone though you couldn't tell it | | | | like natural stone Man-made stone from molds is |
| from looking at it. | | | | usually a couple of inches thick and generally |
| You can make stone stone veneer, bricks, | | | | weighs a lot less than thicker real stone Thinner |
| pavers, cobbles, steppingstones and floor tile using | | | | pours are used for stone veneers. There is no |
| concrete stone molds into which you pour own | | | | need for a kiln or anything like that; concrete |
| ready-to-mix concrete, cement or plaster. The | | | | cures all by itself within anywhere from 15 |
| craft molds then give the concrete the shape, | | | | minutes to a day, depending on the concrete mix, |
| size and texture of whatever stone you want to | | | | weather and the kind and size of the mold. |
| make. Special cement colors and cement sealers | | | | There is a very large selection of molds for just |
| are applied to get the coloring and surface | | | | about any type of stone and stone material |
| treatment of a specific stone It is actually the | | | | imaginable. You can even make things like Celtic |
| sealers that can create anything from a flat | | | | designs, wall plaques, or other decorative additions. |
| "stone" finish all the way to an ultra-glazed high | | | | When it comes to making man-made stone there |
| gloss. | | | | is no limit to your imagination. |
| Concrete is an incredibly flexible building material | | | | You can order kits from companies that specialize |
| that makes it all possible. It allows you to create a | | | | on decorative concrete and cement molds. The |
| huge variety of different manufactured stone | | | | kits usually include the molds, mold release to get |
| materials at a small fraction of what you'd pay at | | | | the finished stones out easier, cement color, |
| a stone yard. The look is almost indistinguishable | | | | some sort of fortifier to add durability, and sealer. |
| from the real thing because the master molds are | | | | Some cast concrete companies offer packages |
| taken from real fieldstone, limestone, ledgestone, | | | | that include DVD-based training materials. This |
| river rocks and many other types and kinds of | | | | comes in handy as, like with everything else, |
| stone. | | | | there is learning curve and you need some |
| Stone can be used for walls, fireplaces, siding, | | | | practice to get everything right. |
| trim, walks, patios, tile and numerous other | | | | Using cast concrete molds to make your own |
| applications. It looks terrific and adds value to any | | | | stone is an increasingly popular hobby that's not |
| property. Used in walls or as siding, man-made | | | | only fun, but it can greatly add to the look and |
| stone offers fire resistance, great insulation, sound | | | | value of your home. |