Home-made concrete brick specials

[Gibbo84]

Hello,

I'm building something of an extravagant shed at the moment. Somehow I managed to get planning permission to build a shed with a pitched roof, 2 dormer windows and a brick chimney stack.

I quite fancied a row of brick specials to dress my block work (along with stucco and stone). Brick specials are quite expensive and you don't get the variety of the bricks available from the Victorian period.
Reclamation yards have lots of nice bricks but not always in the quantity you need.

So....I decided I would make my own. I bought one nice brick and a litre of silicone rubber. I painted the brick with a gloss to help with the de-moulding and built a wooden frame. Voila, one brick mould for me to fill with yellow concrete. The results seem quite good and now I can make lots of bricks which have character.

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• Gibbo84
• 27 Aug 2014
• 1

The brick on the left is the original. The mould is just behind.

It seems so easy yet no where else on the web can I find concrete brick specials. Lots of websites with architectural stone but no concrete brick specials as such. Surely this is cheaper alternative to making fancy bricks with clay. Is this a gap in the market or does no one want fancy concrete bricks? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Ian

 

[geraldthehamster]

Will be very interested to see the development of this project.

Cheers
Richard

 

[Gibbo84]

Sure!

The project is well under way. I also did something similar for the window sills because I didn't want the plain flat sills you buy in the shops.

I made a box from wood, lined it with some architrave and filled it up with yellow concrete for a sandstone look. I'm quite pleased with the results.

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• Gibbo84
• 28 Aug 2014
• 1

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• Gibbo84
• 28 Aug 2014
• 1

I'll gladly post more pics as I make progress.
I'm currently researching how best to plumb in my wood burning stove......

 

[geraldthehamster]

I made a box from wood, lined it with some architrave and filled it up with yellow concrete for a sandstone look. I'm quite pleased with the results.

Interesting reverse of the architrave moulding. Did you need to use anything as a release agent?

I'm currently researching how best to plumb in my wood burning stove......

Safely, I would hope There's some guidance in Part J of the building regs:

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/approveddocuments/partj/

I don't *think* you need building control approval for a stove in a shed; the key things are going to be separation from combustible materials, and adequate ventilation. But I'm sure you know this.

At the mention of wood burning stoves, one poster usually now pastes a large, cautionary message with lots of useful links, and another will give you his opinion that stoves aren't very green. However, people may be on holiday...

Cheers
Richard

 

[Gibbo84]

I didn't use a release agent.
What I did do was varnish the wood before hand and seal the gaps between the wood with silicone sealant.

According to the planning portal my shed is not covered by building regs so I intend to fit the stove myself.
I've had an open fireplace and a stove fitted in my living and dinning room. Whilst I did most of the work myself to save costs, the final things were signed of by HETAS so I'm well researched on the rules about vents , combustible materials etc.

The reason I want a stove is because I won this beautiful little French stove on ebay for £100 and I have no where else to put it!

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• Gibbo84
• 28 Aug 2014
• 2

I wasn't going to mention my stove for the very reason of nay sayers, doom mongers and other knowledgeable folk that haunt diy forums.

One popular scenario I see quite often is when someone asks a questions about foundations for a shed and they get responses about building regs, planning permission, approved builders, by laws, scare stories etc. All very helpful I'm sure but completely off topic and probably scare the newbie DIYer off completely. Talking of talking off topic, I'll stop here

 

[jellycat]

Gibbo 84 - are you a professional builder or a DIY-er?

 

[Gibbo84]

I'm enthusiastic DIY-er. There isn't much I won't do.

I've an office job which pays the bills and let's me DIY.
I'd love to do something practical for a living, only, I don't fancy the drop in salary as to switch career I'd have to start from the bottom.

 

[jellycat]

Shame. Am looking for a builder in the Cardiff area!

 

[jellycat]

That stove is lovely, BTW!

 

[ziden]

Shame. Am looking for a builder in the Cardiff area!

Hmmm . . . so am I

 

[leeco]

That's quality.

Get some buff or yellow dye in your concrete mix.

 

[ziden]

Get some buff or yellow dye in your concrete mix.

Trouble with dye is consistency from batch to batch.

I recently wanted a buff colour for patio mortar laying indian sandstone. After tinkering with dye I found a perfect solution which also guaranteed consistency.

I used white 'architectural quality' cement together with building sand from Wickes. I say specifically Wickes because their sand is a golden yellow colour not the usual brown shades you get elsewhere. This combined with the white cement gives a perfect buff - well, it was perfect for me.

Purely incidental to above, honest guv, but I know a guy in the Cardiff area with a lot of spare white cement because he over ordered for his patio job.

 

[leeco]

I use dye quite a lot and buy it from here.

http://www.thermovacplastics.co.uk/products/pigment/22

I have never had any consistency problems.

 

[ziden]

Sorry, my post may have been misleading.

I didn't mean the dye itself would be inconsistent, more the mixing ratio has to be precise (logged??) each batch you mix or it could lead to colouring inconsistencies in the finished product.

 

[leeco]

Sorry, my post may have been misleading.

I didn't mean the dye itself would be inconsistent, more the mixing ratio has to be precise (logged??) each batch you mix or it could lead to colouring inconsistencies in the finished product.

I get what you mean.

I have been making my own paving using moulds and pigment and I use builders buckets to get the same mix over and over again.

So far so good.

I made a thread last year on here about it here if you want to look.

//www.diynot.com/forums/garden/redoing-the-garden.370685/

I need to update the thread as I have got quite far with the job now.

In fact I have gone a little crazy with the patio.