Mmathis
TurtleMommy
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2011
- Messages
- 13,928
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- Location
- NW Louisiana -- zone 8b
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- 8b
- Country
Two years ago, we dug our pond. We have clay soil. There is no such thing as SMOOTHING this stuff, and when I would be working on the walls, big clumps would fall out. Those of you with clay soil know that it's almost impossible to add-back to clay surfaces....... Making "patches" with the native soil -- worthless.
We just finished a major pond repair [1. dug out a collapsed wall and replaced it with a footer and cinder block wall, and 2. dug out the previous dirt rock ledge -- entire perimeter -- and replaced that with a cinderblock collar]. Toward the end, mainly working with the rock ledge collar areas, I was again having trouble with the darn soil. Just about the time you get a section of ledge the way you want it, either part of it collapses or the section next to it does.....and it comes out in hunks.....
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Mud-crete isn't new, but I came up with a neat way to incorporate it as a "PATCH."
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
Portland cement [in a separate container -- you won't mix it directly into the mud]
your native soil
sand
water
something to mix it in
gloves
What you do is make a nice thick paste of your dirt and water, add a little sand -- be sure to pull out all the twigs, roots, leaves. I put mine in a 5 gal. bucket and just added water and let it sit for a little while. Then mash & stir it around until mixed. You can use as little or as much as you want. Since you aren't going to add the PC to your mud, you don't have to worry about curing. If your mud dries out, add more water. [get your kids to help -- my 19 y/o son really got into it, LOL!]
Pre-moisten the area you are going to patch -- it works better if you add moist to moist -- otherwise your patch won't adhere well.
Grab a handful of mud and form it into a giant mud-meatball. You want it pretty moist, so if it crumbles, dip it in the water & mash it up a little.
Then drop the "meatball" into your container of Portland and roll it around untill it's well coated.
Then just mash & knead the "meatball" until you have mixed in well. If it dries on you, add a drop or 2 of water [or dip it again].
Then stick it where you want your patch and mash it in. Add to it if necessary. I not only filled holes in the pond walls, evened out and filled in the ledge edges, but used it to fill in lots of places where edges didn't meet well, made nice transitions on inside corners, and even made a few small slopes.
Sure, it's not for construction purposes, but for patching those troublesome spots, it works great!
We just finished a major pond repair [1. dug out a collapsed wall and replaced it with a footer and cinder block wall, and 2. dug out the previous dirt rock ledge -- entire perimeter -- and replaced that with a cinderblock collar]. Toward the end, mainly working with the rock ledge collar areas, I was again having trouble with the darn soil. Just about the time you get a section of ledge the way you want it, either part of it collapses or the section next to it does.....and it comes out in hunks.....
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Mud-crete isn't new, but I came up with a neat way to incorporate it as a "PATCH."
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
Portland cement [in a separate container -- you won't mix it directly into the mud]
your native soil
sand
water
something to mix it in
gloves
What you do is make a nice thick paste of your dirt and water, add a little sand -- be sure to pull out all the twigs, roots, leaves. I put mine in a 5 gal. bucket and just added water and let it sit for a little while. Then mash & stir it around until mixed. You can use as little or as much as you want. Since you aren't going to add the PC to your mud, you don't have to worry about curing. If your mud dries out, add more water. [get your kids to help -- my 19 y/o son really got into it, LOL!]
Pre-moisten the area you are going to patch -- it works better if you add moist to moist -- otherwise your patch won't adhere well.
Grab a handful of mud and form it into a giant mud-meatball. You want it pretty moist, so if it crumbles, dip it in the water & mash it up a little.
Then drop the "meatball" into your container of Portland and roll it around untill it's well coated.
Then just mash & knead the "meatball" until you have mixed in well. If it dries on you, add a drop or 2 of water [or dip it again].
Then stick it where you want your patch and mash it in. Add to it if necessary. I not only filled holes in the pond walls, evened out and filled in the ledge edges, but used it to fill in lots of places where edges didn't meet well, made nice transitions on inside corners, and even made a few small slopes.
Sure, it's not for construction purposes, but for patching those troublesome spots, it works great!
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