Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Concrete question?

Has anyone ever made anything out of concrete or sack-crete? I mean something like a bird bath or a dog water bowl,maybe even a water trough for livestock. Will regular concrete hold water or should it be treated?How do you mould it?How long should it set to cure. Should it be reenforced with steel?HELP...PLEASE...

What do you mean by "hold water?" Concrete is pourous. You must treat it regularly if you want it to hold up, but it will hold water to a degree without treatment. Don't expect untreated concrete to last forever that way. Freeze and thaw will take its toll. That's why swimming pools are painted with that blue paint and drained every fall. My mother-in-law sprays her bird baths and concrete lawn ornaments with Thompsons every year. Concrete dries until it eventually crumbles. Old concrete is not as strong as it once was. It takes weeks for concrete to fully cure to the point of maximum strength. Permeablity actually increases with the cure, however. So dry, cured concrete will soak up more whater than new, wet concrete. At least that's what my step father used to say, and he drove a concrete mixer for 40 years. A lot will depend on your mix too. Too much sand and you get more permeable concrete and reduced strength. There is an optimum mix for every application. Oh, and I am not impressed with the recent practice of adding fiberglass to the mix. My front sidewalk has to be replaced after only a year, and it had that hairy stuff all through it. I think the addition of fiberglass makes the concrete more pourous and therefore more suseptable (sp?) to ice damage.

I want it to hold water for livestock.I need something heavy that wild hogs cant turn over,and having no experance in concerte, I thought I'd ask,thanks.

Bart185,

Yes you can use concrete, but there are much better things to use. My friend just made one out of a big tire and I mean a big tire! He used a chain saw to cut it out and according to him and the agg. dept in the county he lives in thinks its a super idea. The tire was given to him by a company I buy a lot of tires from for our equipment but I would say about anyone of them would give you one that deals in them. You will probably have to take one that isn't salvagable. Not sure how he cut it out for the cattle but if you want I can contact him a find out. Maybe some of the other guys have seen these made out of big tires (earth moving equip. type) that might be able to help. As far as the concrete you might check the quickcrete web site and they might be able to answer your question. About all I ever done with concrete was work my butt off!

you sure can make a water trough out of concrete, just add an accrylic or latex additive to the mix, Accryl 60 or Aquabond are among the few that will work. I would use plywood for the forma and most definately use rebar vertically and horizontally set at least 2" from the face of the form, both inside and outside. I don't think the use of a sealer would be healthy for your live stock, the concrete will hold water hell they make barges with it.
Chopped strand fiberglass will not replace steel rebar in full thivkness applications better for lightweight GFRC panel applications also needs to have akali protective coating so it doesn't breakdown. good luck