CONTRETE ALCHEMY
Here's the scoop on how one reader turned a hunch into a thriving business, including a rude awakening, a concrete recipe, merchandising your product, photographs.
May/June 1982
By the Mother Earth News editors
[1] Mixing sand, cement, gravel, and water in a wheelbarrow… economically! [2] Filling the mold. [3] Watering the “green” urn to allow bonding to occur. [4] Glazing the urn… a handsome finished product. [5] Assembling a planter mold. [6] Displaying the completed planter.
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Jim White
I've never suffered from a lack of creative ideas... in fact, you might say that I've got plenty of notion. Unfortunately, my brainstorms don't often pay off. I knew my luck had changed, though, when I encountered a classified ad that began TURN CONCRETE INTO GOLD. The mere mention of the precious metal was enough to grab my interest. I read on, and discovered that the ad concerned materials and instructions to be used in making concrete lawn ornaments. "What the hey," I said to myself, and ordered the information booklet.
Now at the time, I knew little about concrete other than that it was heavy and made fine patios and driveways. But I had noticed that it was composed of sand, gravel, cement, and water. Sand—I figured—could be gathered free along riverbeds . . . gravel could be easily (and inexpensively) bought from local outlets . . . and cement ran only about $7.00 for a 94-pound bag of Portland's finest. Water was as close as the backyard hose, and . . . well, it looked as though I might be able to start out in business without spending much money at all!
A RUDE AWAKENING
However, when my key to a fortune—a 77-page publication—arrived a short time later, I was rudely awakened. I'd been thinking of marketing handsome figurines, but the molds needed to produce ornamental statuary were more expensive than I'd dreamed they could be. So I decided to follow a more practical route by starting with such useful objects as flower planters (which required less costly molds).
After studying the booklet, I chose two designs: a discreet Grecian urn, about 12" high, that required a four-piece mold (listing for $100) and a hexagonal stepping stone that could be poured in a two-part hinged mold ($115). To this $215 investment, I added $14 for two quarts of a specially formulated paint to cover the interior surfaces of the molds. (This proved to be a worthwhile expense: The paint protects the forms from constant contact with the abrasive concrete mix . . . and with proper care—which includes cleaning and oiling after each use—I believe the lifetime of my molds can be extended indefinitely.)
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