# Making my own concrete (or mortar) edger pieces



## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

I stucco'd my house, but bought all my stucco in advance, and now have waaay more bags than I needed (like 40 more 80lbs bags). 

I started thinking that I could make edges for all my flower beds/around my driveway, etc. I figured I could make something cool here, and paint to match my stucco.

I want to pour them in place, not make them in a mold and then put in place. 


The actual cutting holes/putting wood in for the sides of the edgers seems simple enough, but any tips on how to make an attractive top to the edgers? I know I can't free-hand trowel a finish that would stay uniform, so I was thinking maybe using crown molding or something to form the tops. Any ideas or tips would be highly appreciated!


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## tigerbalm2424 (Feb 28, 2007)

I just used simple wood and masonite forming and then poured and hand troweled. Took about 1.5 hours from start to finish of pouring/troweling. Forms took WAY too long because I was picky. :laughing:


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Very nice! It looks like your rear wood form was raised higher than the front, is that accurate?


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

oh, and how deep underground do they go?


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## tigerbalm2424 (Feb 28, 2007)

joeyboy said:


> oh, and how deep underground do they go?


Correct, the back piece was raised higher than the front. I intended to do a "mowers edge" type shape but ended up just rounding off the top slightly. The troweling was very quick and easy. Cost was only about $20 in concrete and used from extra boards/masonite I found laying aorund. I think the depth was about 3 inches underground, way overkill, but thats just how the forms ended up when I was ready to pour!


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Well, awesome job man, thanks again for the info!

One last question - how did you keep the forms in place? I imagine you just used a flat board on the front, and one on the back. I was thinking that I'd attach stakes to teh boards, so that I could mallet them into the ground at the perfect height. Did you just put the boards in place or did you affix them somehow?


The pics are great, I'll def post some when I'm done (I'm renovating so much stuff right now on my first house that I don't want to start doing too many pics until I'm done, since everything's kind of 'under construction' simultaneously lol).


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## tigerbalm2424 (Feb 28, 2007)

joeyboy said:


> Well, awesome job man, thanks again for the info!
> 
> One last question - how did you keep the forms in place? I imagine you just used a flat board on the front, and one on the back. I was thinking that I'd attach stakes to teh boards, so that I could mallet them into the ground at the perfect height. Did you just put the boards in place or did you affix them somehow?
> 
> ...


I took a 2X6(because I have millions laying around) and cut it into strips just like stakes(1X1X10"), pounded the stakes into the ground where I wanted the curve to go and then screwed the stakes to the form boards. I did this on ALL the boards I used for forming. All the straight section is done in 2X6 boards and the curve forms were masonite for bending purposes. The only annoying part was getting the two forms spaced evenly between. I did 4.5 inches in between. I didnt put any stress cracks in the concrete while it was drying (because I was lazy) so I have two stress cracks in the concrete. Cant notice them unless your a foot away for closer. :wink:


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

I don't think a pre-packaged stucco mix would be the right product for a curb. Something with small rock would be a little better.

Also cut a few control joints into the edging where it fits the design. The you will control where the cracks will be and they will look more finished. - Especially important if you have frost.


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

concretemasonry said:


> I don't think a pre-packaged stucco mix would be the right product for a curb. Something with small rock would be a little better.
> 
> Also cut a few control joints into the edging where it fits the design. The you will control where the cracks will be and they will look more finished. - Especially important if you have frost.


Do you think it would be beneficial for me to buy some medium/coarse aggregate to mix into my stucco? Any particular ratios? I'm only doing this project because I have sooo many (40) bags of stucco leftover, so I wanted to put it to use.


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

http://www.diychatroom.com/showthread.php?p=53445&posted=1#post53445

Thanks for the pics and info tigerbalm!!! Mine are quasi-done, that thread I linked is the pics. I have a bunch more sections to do (which will be harder as most of them are arches and not straight lines.. arches with corners  )

I'll post more pics once I do the arch sections, and once they're really finished (painted, grass in place, landscape beds full with mulch, etc)


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## tigerbalm2424 (Feb 28, 2007)

Very nice job!:thumbsup:


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## joeyboy (Apr 10, 2007)

Thanks man! It only took 2 'practice' runs on smaller areas (which were smashed apart shortly after being made) to get a feel for it. Still really worried about doing the large arch ones, it'll be interesting to see how well those come out. They're large arches, *and* they're on a pretty steep slope. I've got a lot of planning to do before pouring those, I'm thinking thin wood that's flexible or sheet metal. And doing them in small sections, otherwise the slope will kill the shape.


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