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I am all new to this landscaping stuff and bought a home with the most wonderful established yard. I would love to pull out all of the old cement edging around the beds and put in stone by that is not in the budget right now. I think that I might be able to live with the stuff if I could stain it red, the red that you see the edging in the garden area of Lowe's. Some of the beds are raised and some just have one cement block.
Has anyone ever tried staining this or any suggestions?
i spray painted my concrete blocks with flat red primer; it is kind of a rusty color. if you stain them, the stain soaks in so much, you have to keep doing it over and over again. here is a picture. [HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]
Thanks, I had not thought of just painting. I'll try a couple of blocks and see what happens. It would be nice if I could pull this off without removing all of the edging.
my neighbor has a HUGE concrete patio (at the high point, it's probably 3' high -- we have quite a slope)
but he painted the sides an earth red - by the second summer, it was starting to flake off.
yes, that's right. paint, especially a latex paint will peel off if painted on and much faster if exposed to the sun all summer and then cold winter conditions. that's why the oil spray works so well. it soaks in and there is no build-up of excess paint on the outside to flake. another good thing about the spray, if you do have a bad spot, just get out the can and spray it again. i have used latex on concrete, that was protected from the elements, in painting faux rugs. that stayed on for many, many years, even being walked on every day. the trick is not to lay it on thick.
With the edging being around the beds and me watering so much the paint method might not last at all. It would probably be best if I just waited until I have the extra cash and do stone. I'll have to do it myself and having never worked with mortar - maybe I should try a small place first and go from there. Stone just looks so nice and my yard is deserving.
Do you all have any tips in building stone walls? Mostly I would need just edging but I have two raised beds, one at the base of the spa with a 25 ft crape myrtle -- I see that as a challenge but yet the focal point of the yard. The current wall is about 2ft. I have dogs and if I don't cement the stone together some how the dogs will knock it down.
i think anyone at the HD or lowes could probably help you with that. i think, although not sure, that they have pre-mixed mortar in tubs. you could probably google it too. some of the diy shows might have something on google and we also have a forum here on dg about house and garden projects.
When my house was painted last spring, the painter also painted the raised bed in the front yard. He said he wouldn't promise anything, but it's been nearly a year and still looks good. The concrete wall blocks were a clay color, but now they are a cream color. It is latex paint, but applied with a sprayer. I told him if the paint wore off, I would repaint until I could replace the blocks.
lady, are you talking about using stone blocks(the precast kind and the big box) or actual stone. If stone, would think hard about it, as it is no small task by any stretch of the imagination. I built one last year that is about 40' long total and from 1 to 3 1/2 courses high. I don't long to repeat that anytime soon, and I'm 40 and in good shape. For painting the concrete, would suggest using an epoxy or an oil based paint, and thin it down so it can penatrate the pores in the cement(paint store should be able to help). It might not last to long, as it is getting assualted from the exterior elements, as well as the flexing of the concrete in freeze/thaw cycles. Concrete contains, usually 5% +/- air (forms microscopic voids when cured), to help prevent cracking due to the cycle. Good luck.
Lady - regarding painting your concrete...I think you were on the right track from the start. Seems to me that staining the concrete would be much better than latex paint. I think that Vadap makes a good suggestion with the oil based paints or epoxy. Maybe add a waterproof primer before the actual paint?
I even wonder if some sort of food color or organic color might even be better (staining) - makes me think of when the blackbirds doo on my patio - that dark grape color is so hard to remove! I know I haven't got all the color out. Good luck and let us know what you decided.
