Cement castings, DIY Moulds

Cement casting, DIY Moulds

Originally I did these moulds as a solution for the window sills ledges. 

Which originally had wood ledges. This proved to a be super easy solution.

I made 17 different variations of window moulds differing in lengths and orientation plus duplicates so we did could let them cure and work on other windows we probably had 200+- windows.

The largest mould was 9 feet long picture window in the lobby.

End result was durable and beautiful, no termites will munch on these!

The moulds where fastened to the brick anchors etc,

lots of mould release vaseline worked and was cheaper.

Most important! sealed openings with plumbers putty.

I did some research on the best cement blend ended up with;

1 part cement

2 parts sand

2 parts gravel

we also added chopped fiberglass don't remember amount

and a wire mesh frame 

I used a modified angle grinder with an offset counter balance as a vibrator

to make sure cement filled all voids

I did my homework B-) 

On this window sill casting I cemented a marble slab on top to create a ledge below the mailboxes








Looks nice!

 Seeking a base molding to marry the brick with the tile floors throughout the buildings lobby, floor landings, and halls. I made these cement moldingsCasting 3 basic types, a left and right mitered, a 30" piece with left and right ends and a 20" with flat ends. Must have casted well over 400 pieces. Cemented in place with mortar and cut as needed with a diamond wet saw. The piece in the pictures show the end cut.

Base of steel columns got the mould treatment also.

DIY sheetrock lift

Sheet rock lift DIY

Being hands on project manager on such a large project

allowed me to do lots of ideas that popped into my head, to solve practical

problems, design and production timing cost issues. 

At the beginning we where using T's made from 2x4's, typical practice for small jobs. To slow and cumbersome since we where installing 2 layers of material soundboard and sheetrock.

So I came up with this lift. Made completely from scraps on the job and a broken chair think I took wheels off a dolly. I didn't know that you could rent one or purchase a similar device, found out years after i finished entire project. 

Just as well it was more interesting as a DIY.

Here are some short video clips.

Kept the cog for one of them, and repurposed the rest of the lumber.

Thought it looked kinda neat. 

I will be posting plans for them if your interested, soon.

trebuchet anyone?