How to make a sidewalk tile at home?

Every owner who wants hisThe property looked beautiful and was functional, trying to do many things with its own hands. Especially if he is a creative person. From this article you can learn how to make paving tiles with your own hands.

Where is the product used?

In principle, the scope of such materialwide enough. Most often, you can see such products in the private areas of houses, cottages, bathhouses or other structures. It is also possible to lay such tiles in gardens, squares, parks and other public places. Naturally, in the latter case, the finished material is purchased.

Before you begin to understand how to do it yourselfto make paving slabs, you need to figure out whether to do this, what advantages the finished product has, what you need to prepare for work. First of all, it must be said that the manufacturing process is not complicated and does not require expensive equipment.

Material advantages

Before you can do paving tiles with your own hands, you should consider its advantages. Among them are the following:

- The originality of the elements.In the manufacturing process you can play with colors and fillers. Thus, you will create just such a design and shape of tiles that you want. Naturally, you should be careful here, because the technical characteristics of the product depend on the proportions of the ingredients.

- Low cost.Naturally, before you make paving slabs with your own hands, you need to choose the necessary materials that are required to have high quality. You should not "buy" on cheap cement.

- Relative strength (although you should not stack these elements where the car will drive).

- Manufacturing products on the spot.

- No need for expensive equipment. However, if you decide to open your own business, then without a couple of machines you can not do.

- Ecological cleanliness.

- Resistance to rapid wear and durability (if all stages of manufacturing are performed correctly).

- Minimal trauma.

Now we will consider the question of how to make paving tiles with our own hands.

What materials will be required?

Naturally, all ingredients must be of the highest quality. So, for the work you need to prepare:

1. Cement (only brand M-500 is required, since this type of material allows the mixture to be made, which after solidification will be very strong).

2. Sand.

3. Water.

4. Small pebbles.

5. Kohler (one or more).

6. Plasticizer (sold in a hardware store).

All ingredients must be free from impurities (garbage, leaves, grass). Also, before you do your own paving tiles, collect all the necessary materials and necessary tools.

Required equipment

So in order for the manufacturing processpassed relatively quickly, you need to take care in advance of all the technical devices that will help speed up the work. So, you will need:

- Concrete mixer. If there are several, this is good. In this case, the process will go faster.

- Molding vibrating table. It can also be built independently. Although this machine is optional.

- A set of forms. It is better if there are several dozen of them.

- Tables or racks to be installedas smooth as possible. Otherwise, the mixture in the forms may harden incorrectly, with a skew. Naturally, such elements will already be considered defective, as they cannot be laid flat.

- Tool for pulling finished products from containers.

Since almost every person can make paving tiles with his own hands, the technology of work should be considered.

Features of the choice of form

This question is not difficult.Most often for home production of the presented material used plastic forms. They may have different sizes. In addition, our construction market represents a huge selection of types of such forms. That is, you have the opportunity to make a very original tile, which no one else will have. Naturally, such a container should be strong enough so that it can be used more than once.

Before you make the paving tile yourself,you need to decide on the shape of the containers: square, round or some other. If you do not want to buy such material in the store, you can use ordinary plastic food containers. However, they will not last long.

Features of the preparation of the solution

Before you make the paving tile yourself,it is necessary to find out in what proportions it is necessary to mix the ingredients so that the elements will later turn out to be of high quality and durable. You will need such amount of materials for one batch:

Stir it carefully. And in order for there to be no air in the solution, it will need to be processed on a vibrating table.

Instruction for manufacturing

Now consider the question of, in fact, how to make paving slabs yourself. The whole process involves the implementation of several stages that can not change their sequence:

1. Preparation of the solution. All ingredients must be mixed thoroughly. This can provide a forced action mixer. Although gravity works no worse.

2Form filling as well as vibratory compaction of the mixture. This should be done carefully. Filling is made with a usual shovel. For compaction you will need a vibrating table. His vibrations should not be too strong. That is, make sure that the solution in the form is distributed evenly. Such a seal will make the elements as strong as possible and prevent their separation. When loading concrete, consider its level. In all forms, it must be the same. To do this, you can simply make a mark on the inside of the tank.

3. Aging and drying of elements.Since you want to make paving tiles at home quickly, many manufacturers can break production technology. The quality of the elements suffers from this. Therefore, it is necessary to withstand the time allotted for the aging of concrete and its drying. So, after compaction, the forms with the mixture should “rest” on a flat surface for at least two days. To ripening went well, and the cement is not cracked due to loss of moisture, the container should be well wrapped with plastic wrap.

4. Removal of finished products from the forms.Now you understand how to make paving slabs at home, the composition of the mixture is also known to you. However, it is necessary to consider the question of how to properly remove the finished elements from the forms so that they do not break and crack. To do this, it is better to put them in a bath of water, the temperature of which will be no more than 70 degrees.

5. Storage of products. In order for the concrete to quietly dry further, it is necessary to cover the tile with a shrink film.

After all these actions, the product is practicallyready for installation. Naturally, he should be given time to build strength. It is better to leave the material alone for a few weeks. Now you understand how to make paving tiles at home.

What is “plastic bottle tiles”?

The problem of recycling today isvery relevant. However, a method of using plastic bottles was invented, which involves reducing the degree of environmental pollution. They learned how to make tiles for sidewalks. Moreover, this process can take place both at home and at work.

Перед тем как сделать тротуарную плитку из plastic bottles should consider the features of this procedure. Its advantage is the low cost of the product, as well as the absence of problems with the amount of raw materials.

The manufacture of such material is divided into the following steps:

- Grinding of raw materials.

- Melting plastic in a special heating apparatus and mixing it with raw sand and pigment.

- Pouring the resulting solution into molds and pressing.

- cool tiles.

It should be noted that such a product is characterized by durability, high strength and resistance to abrasion, external beauty, a variety of forms, speed of production.

Helpful Tips

Make paving tiles with their own hands is not verytoo difficult. However, the process has some nuances. For example, if you want to significantly save color, then you can use the technique of layer-by-layer casting. Naturally, in this case, you need two concrete mixers. Layers are stacked alternately, and the colorless should be inside. The thickness of each is 1-2 cm.

If you have defective pieces of tile, then itscan be broken and applied again in solution. New forms can be treated with a special substance, so that later the concrete moves away from the walls better. After applying the plastic, rinse with a weak solution of hydrochloric acid. Forms for work can be independently made using silicone or wood. Naturally, these elements will need to be well bonded before work.

Note that plasticizer contributes tostrength of elements, as well as their resistance to temperature changes. However, do not add too much. For the manufacture of the presented building material can be used not only concrete.

Now you know how to make paving slabs at home. Good luck!