NEED HELP!

this is my new pond I'm building and I'm at a standstill
My idea was to carve the strafoam into rock/waterfall shape and coat it with cement
Kinda a mock rock type of application
My DH says the cement will not stick to the styrafoam
I was going to put a liner in the area that the water would flow on......
coat that with cement too
I was going to use that stuff with the fiberglass strands in it

Now if that won't work I'm wondering if I should just carve it into the basic shape I want it and then lay rocks on top of the styrafoam so that the styrafoam is only a base......
and use cemet to bind them together

any other ideas?
My original plan was to use Bondo but the guy that owns the body shop here says it will dissolve the styrofoam

NEED HELP AND OPINIONS

here's another picture

I would cover them with chicken wire or cattle fencing maybe using a bit of wood slats to hold it up off the styrofoam a bit. That way the cement could go all the way around the wire fencing and you can use the styro for your basic shaping.

Now tell me where you got that huge styro? LOL

actually cement will stick i used stucco for the very same type of project styrofoam blocks cut to look like rocks then i just stuccoed it its tricky at first but it sticks and stays! :)

I'm worried that using the chicken wire would ruin my artistic attempts at shaping the stone....LOL

The styafoam was something my neighbor came home with to build a raft(don't know where he got it)
It sat there for years till he bought a pontoon boat and removed everything off it and they use that for a raft
He gave it to me cause I'm a packrat
Then Chuck said he was gunna use it for target paractice with his bow(and he did) till I thought of this project

Also the peacocks LOVE pecking at it

Here's a website called Chuck's Planted Aquarium Pages http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/46g_construct.htm I found his project quite interesting and maybe it will help you out.
Lana

EPOXY!!!!!!!

Going back to good old days as a student tinkering with sculpture and allsorts, as a long time ponder and ambler of fossil bearing quarries develops a quite good eye for creating natural 'effects' :::sigh:::

Anyway, a technique I quite liked, for making boulders, rocks, slabs anywhooo...

1) Make a sandpit, maybe 6" deep, or whatever depth of rock is preferred, with any fine sand.

2) Level the sand bed, roll it if you can so it's fairly compacted

3) Rake, carve, shape whatever stone shape, configuration within the sand to make a shape to cast cement into... When you have the rough shape of the rock defined, damp the sand area, brush smooth any rough bits...

4) Line the desired shape with thin plastic film, yah, you know where this is going...

5) Take a hard mix of concrete, with a high proportion of cement to sand, less than one to ten parts sand, plastic consistency, thick enough to spread...

6) Pour, Splat and spread the cement over the desired shape, careful not to prod marks into the plastic, make it an inch or two thick over the rock 'shape' (...You could first sprinkle grit, pebbles small shells, rugged plant shapes like ferns before you pour the cement to add to the surface instant fossil texture 'effects')

7) As the concrete sets, it will settle and make all sorts of organic natural shapes where the plastic bends into cavities of the mould you created...

8) When definitely set, hopefully the fake rock is sturdy enough without being too heavy to move... Take it to a shady spot to fully harden, rub dirt all over to encourage mosses and a natural look to develop over time. If you are into gardening and have a mulch bin, the mulch fluids would be good to accelerate the aged look

Even if you botch up a cast or two to begin with, you can always relegate the duff pieces to quieter corners and overdo the ageing treatment...

The plastic (polythene) layer rather takes a life of its own, when concrete settles it into a cast shape, organic and ambiguous, with a knack for adding surface textures, and surface 'ageing' it can really become more rock like, than, real rock...

Regards, andy

Adavisus... clarification on that cement mixture. You are saying take one part sand to 10 parts dry cement? Thats very "cementations", but i spose it might work. I know enough about masonry to be dangerous. The only problem I might see is not enough "agregate" for the cement to bind to. I would think to add some lime to the mixture for better bonding. Any ideas on that???.... Tom

Crestedchik,
There's a product you can buy at Home Depot in either the cement section or the tile section called Concrete Bonding Adhesive. It's a lot like elmers glue, in fact, I think it may be exactly like elmer's glue. Anyway, you can add this to concrete to help it adhere to things, like other old concrete, or maybe styrofoam! What I think I'd try is making a slurry with mortar mix (cement and sand with lime, buy it already mixed in the bag), a little water, and some of this product (Or elmer's glue). Using a paint brush, I'd paint some of the bonding material directly onto the styrofoam, then brush the slurry onto the same area before it dries. What I'm thinking is that if this works, then you have a base to which you can add more concrete, thereby saving your nice shapes! If you try it, let us know how it works.
I'm like Tom: I know just enough about working with concrete and cement to be dangerous. But I've built lots of walls with concrete and finished them using this technique and they look great. I'm thinking it will work.

So you use the bonding agent by its self first and then add some to the mortar mix?

When you make your mortar slurry, you will use part water and part bonding agent to do the mixing. The more bonding agent you use, the thicker the mix is likely to be, but there's no actual rule to how much you add. You want the slurry to be about the consistancy of cake batter or a little bit runnier. Use only enough liquid to make your slurry runny enough to paint on. Too much water will cause it to be weaker after it cures. Before you brush the mix onto your styrofoam, you paint some bonding agent full strength directly onto the styrofoam. Use a big paintbrush. Then, let it get 'tacky', but not dry, and use the same brush to paint your slurry onto the same area. You don't want the bonding agent to dry completely before brushing on your slurry, so do a small area at a time until you are familiar with the materials.
This will start to set up and then you can paint another layer of slurry onto the first before the first layer is totally dry. If you wait until the first layer is totally dry, you'll have to paint more full strength bonding agent onto your structure before painting on more slurry.
Do several layers in order to have a good base to work from. Then, just like you do with hypertufa, I'd spray it lightly with water and cover it with plastic - like a big garbage bag or tarp. Let it cure and keep it moist during the curing process. Keeping it moist will help the mortar create a good hard bond.
I was thinking that if you did this, you would then be able to add more cement to the structure and it would stick. Using the bonding agent as an additive to your concrete mixture, and painting it onto the structure full strength as you add concrete will make the new concrete stick to the old and form a tight bond.

Anna said she used stucco to do the same thing and it worked for her. The mortar mix is a little like stucco but I think has less lime, or something. I use the mortar mix to finish my garden walls (made with recycled concrete) because it makes a nice smooth finish like stucco. I always use the bonding agent in the mixture, and paint it on the wall itself before adding the mortar mix, which I trowel on and then smooth. The bonding agent makes a huge difference in getting the slurry to stick to old concrete or vertical surfaces. Before I 'discovered' it, I was getting mighty frustrated trying to finish my garden walls.

Here's one of my walls before I planted sedums on top of it. The mosaic keeps an area free for sitting. The finish on the wall is mortar mix with the bonding agent and water.

Hope this helps. I've never used this to cover styrofoam, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. YOu could always test it on a smaller piece before taking the plunge. The bonding agent is a little pricey, about 18$ a gallon, but it is well worth it.

Can I "glue" retaining wall blocks together this way?

Yes, you can, if you are talking about the cement retaining wall blocks. Just use a little bonding agent in your mortar, then brush some bonding agent on each block before you put them together with mortar.
Once they are mortared together, you can either leave them that way, or do a smooth or textured coating on the outside. Using the bonding agent on your wall will help your finish stick to the vertical surface.

Thanks!