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Fruit and veg shops use the same foam boxes too, so there's another source of usually free foam :)
 
Which sealer do you actually use? I had trouble finding something non toxic etc and ended up with ceramic pond sealer! Do you have a brand name/type you could pass on?
Cheers
 
Bondall is the brand, pondtite is the product. Designed for ponds so totally non toxic when dry. Read the instructions, you do more than one layer. The clear is easy to apply and cleanup is with water, too easy all round, they also do colored sealers but it's a lot thicker and a solid colour which doesn't look natural
 
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Things you will need:

- Acrylic water based paint.
- Styrofoam.
- Acrylic water based concrete/grout/rock sealer. (Non toxic, with no vapours)
- General builders cement mixed with sand
- Backing board. (To which wall be attached to/Formed from).
- PVA glue.
- Liquid nails.
- Stanley knife.
- Vacum cleaner.

Tit4n- whats a rough estimate of how much that stuff costs?
cheers alex
 
I love this thread i've herd of a few ways but this way looks cheaper and easy, I will have to try it
Thanks jason.
 
Things you will need:

- Acrylic water based paint.
- Styrofoam.
- Acrylic water based concrete/grout/rock sealer. (Non toxic, with no vapours)
- General builders cement mixed with sand
- Backing board. (To which wall be attached to/Formed from).
- PVA glue.
- Liquid nails.
- Stanley knife.
- Vacum cleaner.

Tit4n- whats a rough estimate of how much that stuff costs?
cheers alex

id like to know this too tit4n
 
I buy my paints from a cheap shop $2 to $3 each.
Foam wherever you can find it. I visit Harvey Norman stores and ask nicely.
Grout/ rock sealer I, and many others use, is called Pondtite. I bought a very large tub of it from Bunnings for $50. This will do a LOT of rock walls, but obviously smaller tubs and tins will be cheaper.
I use the 5kg bag of sand cement from Bunnings and it cost me $6. Did one large rock wall with 3 coats and touch-ups. I mixed in PVA glue to give
it strength. $4 from Bunnings for a 250ml bottle.
Backing board I used was just a piece of peg board I got free from a dump shop. A 4mm sheet of ply also does the trick and shouldn't be more than $10.
Liquid nails in a small tube was $7. Was enough to glue the foam to the back board and the larger pieces of foam. For the smaller pieces I used
Selleys Glue which was a 'fixes anything to just about anything' in a mostly yellow tube for $9. Did a lot of gluing on a large rock wall and had some left.
Stanley knives range in price depending on how fancy you want one to be. Paid $10 for one with spare blade storage in the handle and the first blade is still going strong after 2 rock walls worth of carving. Cheap isn't necessarily crappy.
Bought everything from Bunnings as you've probably already guessed.
I also spent about $25 on brushes (one for applying pondtite and several smaller for drybrush painting with acrylics). I also found a roll of masking tape and some newspaper to be invaluable as the cement gets EVERYWHERE lol.

Best of luck if you try to make your own. It's soooo much fun! :D
 
I buy my paints from a cheap shop $2 to $3 each.
Foam wherever you can find it. I visit Harvey Norman stores and ask nicely.
Grout/ rock sealer I, and many others use, is called Pondtite. I bought a very large tub of it from Bunnings for $50. This will do a LOT of rock walls, but obviously smaller tubs and tins will be cheaper.
I use the 5kg bag of sand cement from Bunnings and it cost me $6. Did one large rock wall with 3 coats and touch-ups. I mixed in PVA glue to give
it strength. $4 from Bunnings for a 250ml bottle.
Backing board I used was just a piece of peg board I got free from a dump shop. A 4mm sheet of ply also does the trick and shouldn't be more than $10.
Liquid nails in a small tube was $7. Was enough to glue the foam to the back board and the larger pieces of foam. For the smaller pieces I used
Selleys Glue which was a 'fixes anything to just about anything' in a mostly yellow tube for $9. Did a lot of gluing on a large rock wall and had some left.
Stanley knives range in price depending on how fancy you want one to be. Paid $10 for one with spare blade storage in the handle and the first blade is still going strong after 2 rock walls worth of carving. Cheap isn't necessarily crappy.
Bought everything from Bunnings as you've probably already guessed.
I also spent about $25 on brushes (one for applying pondtite and several smaller for drybrush painting with acrylics). I also found a roll of masking tape and some newspaper to be invaluable as the cement gets EVERYWHERE lol.

Best of luck if you try to make your own. It's soooo much fun! :D

i see you use pondtite.i googled it because nothing came up in the bunnings website,it sounds similar to bond create made by bondall, but tht pondtite is made to be used around water.i have bondcrete an was wondering if tht can be used.it says "non toxic" and is an excellent adhesive and sealer.i use it to seal and sometimes stick 2gether hebel blocks after I carve them
 
This is excellent! I've always been scared to make my own backgrounds as I've never known the process, this will save me a fortune! Thank you so much.
 
For sealing I'd recommend using something that states suitable for ponds. Bondcrete doesn't state that. Just because it states non toxic it doesn't mean it's safe when waterlogged - it sounds silly I know. But if you're planning on using it as a water bowl/ waterfall / swimming pond why take the chance?
 
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This is excellent! I've always been scared to make my own backgrounds as I've never known the process, this will save me a fortune! Thank you so much.

Don't be scared, get all the info and dive in. We're here if you need a hand :)
 
Jande, I wouldn't say pva/bondall adds strength, it doesn't, it's merely used for ensuring good adhesion on the first few coats of grout/ render.
You can pick up acrylic render from bunnings cheaper than sand/cement 20kg for $14 (as of 14 days ago) it's not as crumbly but still gets everywhere :)
 
For sealing I'd recommend using something that states suitable for ponds. Bond tote doesn't state that. Just because it states non toxic it doesn't mean it's safe when waterlogged - it sounds silly I know. But if you're planning on using it as a water bowl/ waterfall / swimming pond why take the chance?

If this was about bondcrete an the comment was for me, no it's not going to be used for anything holding water and won't be placed in water,will only be used in the render for walls around 3sides of a tank,and then as a sealing/finishing coat after walls had been painted,that's all
 
It wasn't "at you" as such, it was just that you mentioned it was non toxic so I thought I'd clarify that 'non toxic' doesn't mean that it's safe for water bowls etc :)
 
It wasn't "at you" as such, it was just that you mentioned it was non toxic so I thought I'd clarify that 'non toxic' doesn't mean that it's safe for water bowls etc :)

ok we could be going round in circles here lol.i dont know if you know what i mean.
yes bondcrete is a sealer and says its "the most versatile bonding and sealing agent available.it is not suitable for permanently wet areas.

you said " For sealing I'd recommend using something that states suitable for ponds"

i never wanted to make anything to hold water or sit in water otherwise i would of found something suitable, but for a rock wall background i dont see why i would have to use something that says suitable for ponds when its not going to hold or sit in water? bondcrete does seal very well and water runs off of it as i use it to seal my outdoor carvings i make.none have gone mouldy as no water can get in, but if i was to make 1 to sit in a pond then yes i would need to find something else. its not the same as pondtite but still seals and was pointing out that it says its non toxic.
 
ok we could be going round in circles here lol.i dont know if you know what i mean.
yes bondcrete is a sealer and says its "the most versatile bonding and sealing agent available.it is not suitable for permanently wet areas.

you said " For sealing I'd recommend using something that states suitable for ponds"

i never wanted to make anything to hold water or sit in water otherwise i would of found something suitable, but for a rock wall background i dont see why i would have to use something that says suitable for ponds when its not going to hold or sit in water? bondcrete does seal very well and water runs off of it as i use it to seal my outdoor carvings i make.none have gone mouldy as no water can get in, but if i was to make 1 to sit in a pond then yes i would need to find something else. its not the same as pondtite but still seals and was pointing out that it says its non toxic.

I think jax was just clarifying for others that bondcrete should not be used for this that hold water. You would be suprised the amount of people who don't read the instructions, warnings, etc. A lot of people would just see non toxic and think it would be safe to use on water containers. It would be perfectly fine for what you want to do.
 
I was under the impression that people use Pond Quality sealers not solely for the sealing but because pond sealers are non toxic and safe for reptiles.
 
I think jax was just clarifying for others that bondcrete should not be used for this that hold water. You would be suprised the amount of people who don't read the instructions, warnings, etc. A lot of people would just see non toxic and think it would be safe to use on water containers. It would be perfectly fine for what you want to do.

thanks. i 100% know it seals and 99.% sure it would of been safe to use inside the tank to seal the styrofoam after it had been painted but just wanted to be 100% before i use it. we have been talking about this in another thread and getting nowhere fast lol. thanks again
 
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