How To Secure Patio Pots to Concrete to Prevent Them from Being Stolen
Learning how to build a concrete patio can be a great benefit to your yard. These structures are considered durable and, with some imagination of landscaping, you can complement a garden, house entrance, or another area of your landscape.
Most people prefer this material as a base for bricks, but with some creativity, concrete can be reasonably attractive in and of itself.
Even though there is hard work involved, this is a suitable project for beginners because the concepts behind it (once explained in detail) are relatively simple.
You will be delighted with the results. Having a beautiful patio in the backyard opens up a world of opportunities for you in terms of outdoor activities.
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Detailed Instructions For Building A Concrete Patio
Building concrete patios requires some planning. Buy materials and tools in advance and rent an excellent automatic cement mixer.
Concrete Calculator. To be able to cover 50 square feet, 6 inches thick, you will need 25 bags (buy the pre-mixed type to expedite the design). Before you even plan the project in any detail, you should call an expert to ensure that you are not damaging any underground power lines.
Dig with a garden shovel. In the north, descend to a depth of 6 inches. Two of these inches are for a lower layer of gravel and the other four for the concrete. The gravel layer is intended to prevent your concrete patio from breaking during the freeze-thaw cycle.
Be sure to lay down a note that leans away from the house to the drain. You can determine the degree by inserting the stakes in the high end (against the house) and the lower end of the excavation, then hanging a rope between them. Place a line level on the string, which will indicate the current note. Excavate to end with a slope of about 1 inch for every 4 feet.
Build a form of wood (the lumber is beautiful because the shapes are held in place for only a short time) to keep gravel and concrete. Sink the way in the excavated area to the concrete patio. The top of the form should be flush with the floor if you want the story of your terrace to be level with the ground level.
Install the gravel by pressing it firmly. Install pieces of flat stone 2 inches high (this is an opportunity to rid your yard of some rocks) as rebar reinforcement brackets, which you should build approximately in the middle of the 4-inch thick concrete slab.
Install the reinforcing rebar to unify the slab. Make a grid by placing them every 2 feet from front to back and from left to right. Join them with spinning at the intersections.
Mix the concrete in a rented autoclavable mixer, first by adding water with a garden hose to the blender, then to the concrete and then to the sea again – until the mixture becomes uniform, shiny, medium gray.
Pour the concrete, starting at the far end of where your mixer is, building a ramp if necessary. Add fillers as you go. Pour as fast as you can. Preparation is crucial here.
Use a table (the process is also called a “leveler”) to level the concrete surface by sliding it along the top of the shape plates. Pull the table from side to side, removing excess concrete.
Cut first control joints in the concrete patio at about 3-4 feet with mason spatula (not a garden spatula). Make them two inches deep. Place a board on your forms at right angles to serve as a guide to achieving a straight cut.
Look for an aqueous layer that appears on the surface of your concrete (which is said to “bleed” when laying). Once this aqueous layer appears, wait until it disappears before proceeding.
Use a float to level any lump in the concrete yard. Sweep it in an arc movement, keeping the ledge in front of your sweep slightly raised, so that the float does not fall on the concrete surface.
Finish the control joints that you started in Step 9. Then use a jointer to make a clean groove 2.5 cm deep (or 1/4 of the total plate depth). Reuse the same card as a guide.
Finish the surface of the concrete patio with components of the design. Running a broom over the concrete patio makes it a compelling and practical model: lines that provide visual appeal and a non-slip surface.
Put the plastic on the new concrete patio. Concrete must be “cured” properly. The key to healing is not letting it dry too fast. By placing the plastic on the concrete patio, you trap the moisture inside it. Keep the vinyl for a week.
The concrete does not cure entirely for three weeks, so even after removing the plastic, do not subject the surface to excessive stress. In terms of subsequent application of a sealant (suggested), how long you should wait before applying varies according to the product (sometimes the instructions will be provided on the sealant label you have chosen).
If you expect a significant quantity of drainage to occur from your patio and that this drain will cause problems, you may want to have a drainage system installed in your yard before building a concrete patio.
Once this comprehensive drainage system is in place, you can concentrate on draining the patio itself. There are drains designed especially for courtyards, called “linear drains,” and these drains attach to the general drainage system of your yard.
Tips To Make The Project Quiet For Beginners
- Avoid skin contact with concrete, in addition to inhaling the dust. Wear gloves, knee pads, long pants, long-sleeved shirts, protective boots, goggles, face masks, etc.
- In my area, the major home improvement chains have rental departments, where there is a 24-hour rate for automatic cement mixers. This fee is cheaper than the 10-hour price offered by smaller service stores. When in doubt, buy extra concrete. You do not want to discover that you are a short sack, just as you are about to give the finishing touches to your masterpiece, and the concrete is beginning to stiffen.
- If you want to put bricks on the concrete slab and do away with the tops of the blocks leveled with the floor, dig an extra 2 1/2 inches (2 inches for the bricks and 1/2 inch for the mortar that will be applied between the bricks and concrete).
- If you find stones in your excavation, wash them and lay them aside to be incorporated into the concrete. They will occupy space and save on concrete use. It is also an excellent time to discard rocks from the garden.
- If you are digging 6 inches down, 2×6 wood makes for ideal shape plates. But as their tops will be flush with the floor, prevent debris from falling on your tarpaulin landscaping project.
Best Ways to Position Your Pots
· Give them a Good Base
Although the retro-looking pots are a little more stable than the contemporary cups, they are also more fragile. And all end up overturning when we place them directly on the ground, not to mention that they will be a little less valued since put on the earth.
The idea is to create reliable support, both to stabilize them and make them take a little height. Provide a base such as a large flat stone or a cast cement baseplate. The seat should be 20 cm wider than the pot.
Also, remember to have a height of at least 5 to 10 cm. Voles and moles love to make galleries under pots and stones, destabilizing them over time. Only a massive foundation can avoid this problem. In winter, slip small shims 5 mm thick under the pan so that the water escapes correctly.
· Link The Bamboos
Planters that host a curtain of bamboo are particularly susceptible to overturning. The tall stalks act like a sail and offer an essential hold to the wind. Against a wall, the simplest is to install a discreet guy, passing a rope between the rods and fixing it to the wall at both ends. You can also play on the eastern side of the operation by opting for a very thick rope and red color.
On the other hand, if bamboo is not leaning against a wall, it is almost essential to opt for large and long planters. Avoid very tall contemporary models that flip over for sure. Also remember to limit your bamboo height, for example to 1.80 m.
· Counterbalance
For subjects with falling branches, such as weeping beech or Japanese soft – limbed maple, only a large pot can adequately display them. In this case, the best stabilizing solution is to play on the total weight of the container, looking for the balance of the masses.
Place large pebbles opposite the drooping branches to counterbalance. Besides, they must be positioned in front of the prevailing winds and not back to the winds. You can also make hooks with a flat iron (10mm full by 4mm thick) that you can bend so you can screw it directly to the floor and effectively stow the pot once in place if you are doing it yourself.
The trick of placing stones at the bottom of the pan before planting the subject is not advisable: it reduces the volume of soil that the plant can exploit, which amounts to growing it in a smaller container.