Can I Cure Hypertufa In My Basement?
A Reader Asks About Curing Her Hypertufa Project
During Cold Winter Months
“Beaverlake” asked me:
Your DIY garden art projects website is great!! Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us newbies. I made my first hypertufa trough a few weeks ago at a workshop my garden club held. Now my head is spinning with ideas, but now it is so cold outside in the state where I live.
Can I make a hypertufa project in the basement and let it cure there during the winter?
My reply:
Hi Beaverlake:
Thanks for the kind words. I do try to offer easy to follow and thorough info on my website.To answer your questions:
1) Yes, you can make ‘tufa or concrete items in your basement but first, a little warning – please make sure when you are measuring out the Portland cement that you don’t get the dust all over the place. Cement dust is NOT a nice thing to get tracked all over the place. (Wear your dust mask and gloves too!!)
Next, you MUST have the basement/room temperature above 50 degrees minimum at all times in order that your item cures properly. Below 50 – don’t bother trying a project – it won’t cure. It will take longer to cure, too. So you’ve gotta be patient!
With a room temperature that’s between 50 – 70 degrees .. the item still will take a little longer to cure. But lots of crafters do ‘tufa projects in their basements, so I’d say go ahead if you don’t want to wait until Springtime.
Good luck!
Beaverlake wrote back:
Thanks for the information. I will start with small hollow spheres next weekend. It’s going to be a long winter. We are having our first snow storm as I type.
Thanks for the information.
