How to make concrete paving slabs for the garden with the appearance of paving stones

To organize a path in the garden, it is optimal to lay it out with tiles or stones so that you can walk on a clean, hard surface in any weather. If you want to save a lot, then it is better to cast such tiles yourself. We offer a way to make it not boring gray, but with beautiful decor.

Materials:

Cement;
sand;
small crushed stone;
pebbles;
wooden blocks with a cross section of 50-70 mm;
self-tapping screws;
varnish for concrete.

Concrete tile manufacturing process

To cast tiles, you need to assemble one or more square shapes using self-tapping screws from scraps of timber. It is optimal that its depth is at least 50 mm.

The form must be laid on a flat surface, with a film underneath it, and filled with thick concrete. To prepare it, add 3 sand and 3-4 crushed stone to 1 part of cement. Minimum water is needed.

In a separate container, you need to soak selected large pebbles in water. If this is not done, it will draw moisture out of the concrete.

Then the soaked pebbles are randomly laid out on the mold with the flat side up.

Now you have to press the pebbles into the concrete with a trowel.It is required that it is not visible at all, but there is no need to bury the stones to the very bottom. The concrete is smoothed to perfection so that only cement and sand appear on top, and all large particles sink below.

Leave the smoothed concrete in the mold to set for 2 hours. Then we take a medium-hard brush and a garden hose and begin to carefully wash the surface of the tile. The water will be cloudy right away, but will gradually wash away the cement and become clear. Actively working with a brush and adding water, you need to expose the surface of the pebbles.

Since the concrete is smoothed, crushed stone will also appear in the top layer, which is very beautiful. Now leaves the mold with the tiles until the next day.

A day later, the form is disassembled.

The surface of the tile is cleaned of dust with a soft brush. It is then coated with a protective concrete varnish. It will give it the effect of a wet stone, and most importantly, it will protect the pores from absorbing water, which will protect it from cracking in winter.

Having calculated how much concrete needs to be mixed per one fill of the form, you can spend 15-20 minutes a day to make one such tile at a time. In a couple of weeks we will be able to produce enough material to lay out a walking track. If you plan to lay the tiles tightly, then you can collect many forms and fill them in the required quantity in a couple of days.