The-Artistic-Garden's Blog

How Much Can I Charge for My Homemade Hypertufa Garden Art Items?

I get asked this question on a pretty regular basis. and just the other day I received another private email asking me about this, so I thought I’d put the question and my reply here for everyone to learn from.

I received a really nice email from Steve, an enthusiastic hypertufa newbie:

Hi Claudia: My wife and I just this evening began a hypertufa project that we saw in a local newspaper a few months ago. It was fun working together to make a small trough! I started to browse the Internet looking for more hypertufa info, and found your website. What a goldmine of information!!!

I went ahead and purchased your Hypertufa How-To Manual eBook, and can’t wait to start reading it.

We are pretty enthused about the hollow spheres we saw on your site. Every May, our city has a city-wide garage sale. For a few years, we have been selling assorted glass products, and have many customers who return to us each year. We think we’d like to add some hypertufa items, like the hollow spheres, to what we sell. How much do you think we can sell them for?

We look forward to your reply, and learning the many tips and ideas from your eBook to make this fun and successful (wait – that is redundant!). Thanks for setting up your website, and for offering the benefit of your experience through the book!!! Steve.

My reply:

Hello Steve:
Wow … what a nice way to start my day … thank you so much for taking the time to email me with your kind compliments. I do try awfully hard to provide thorough, clearly explained information on my websites and in the eBook. I needed a pat on my back this morning.

Your idea to sell ‘tufa spheres most probably will be a big hit, as long as you have lots of gardeners who visit the garage sale (of course). Just remember that you need to give any hypertufa or concrete object at least 30-days cure time before you can sell it in good conscience … not only do you want it to be good and “dry” (cured) but the issue of it being safe to plant flowers or other plants in is also an issue. You will find more info on this in the eBook. Also, if you live in a cold climate, the cure times might take longer, depending upon the time of year you make the items.

As I just told another crafter the other day about making some extra income via selling hypertufa garden art items you’ll need to keep in mind you need a dedicated work area (I would NOT advise you setting up a large scale project like this in your kitchen or basement, for instance) AND you need a spot to let the items cure for at least 30 days. Plus, being able to hose them off versus having to dip them in water baths is also a consideration if you start to get into larger items. In your case, I don’t know how large you want to make your spheres!

Even simple troughs/planters (rectangular or even round) would probably sell well for you, too. I have a friend who paid $35 for a very rough, unspectacular looking round hypertufa planter! (I was surprised she forked over that much $$ for it, to be honest, as she is one of the most frugal people I know! lol) It wasn’t very large and I know the cost of materials and time it took for the crafter to make it weren’t that much. (Note: I am sure you realize that larger spheres are going to be somewhat labor intensive.)

As far as price points, I guess it’s the old adage of “what will the market bear”? Obviously size, simplicity or ornateness of an object and consumer demand for that particular item all comes into play. I’d say shop around at garden centers; see what kind of pots and containers they sell and the prices for those, then try and calculate your material costs, time involved and mark-up desired and see if it is a reasonable price. Then try and sell it! If people grab up your pieces left and right … perhaps a slight price increase will pose no problem for you.

And as it always is with selling something, you’ve got to educate the person who might not otherwise have a clue about the advantages of having a hypertufa planter. If you’re at a street fair or farmers market setting, you’ll be able to give sales pitches to people as they are walking by. Grab their attention! Be friendly and work the crowd.

I wish you and your wife lots of fun and the best of luck in pursuing this project!

How to Calculate Amount of Portland Cement and
Other Ingredients for Garden Art Projects

I received an email the other day from Tess asking me:

Hi! We are going to try to make a 4 ft diameter millstone garden fountain out of hypertufa. I believe your recipe for the Hypertufa Recipe With Fiber Mesh for Added Strength is the way to go. Any idea how much of the ingredients we will need to get to accomplish this? Will this hold up with constant water and hard winters?

Thanks in advance, Tess

My reply:

Hi Tess:
About the quantity needed – here’s a nifty free concrete calculator on another website that you can use: concrete calculator.

In the “Round Footing” section, I filled in 4-feet 0-inches X 6-inches high and I got 9.4 80-lb bags required. So you fill in the calculator and see what result you get and then buy at least that much Portland cement. Then buy the rest of the ingredient(s) you want to use in proportion to the cement. **Better to have more on hand than needed – you can always return a bag of cement if it is unopened.

However, why are you making it in hypertufa, rather than a “pure” concrete recipe??? The peat moss will decompose over time, especially being that it will be in direct contact with water 24/7. Do you want small pits and crevices in your millstone, or do you want it to be more authentic looking like smooth stone? Don’t use a hypertufa recipe if you want a smoother stone.

Yes – your finished project, whether ‘tufa or ‘crete, *should* hold up to freezes and thaws for many many years, that is IF you concocted the recipe correctly and IF you allowed it to cure properly. I suggest you try your hand at a smaller project with the recipe you decide to use first … give it a month to cure and at least see if it holds together properly, etc. Then tackle the big millstone project. Better safe than sorry and wasting LOTS of product.

Best of luck with this project!

D-I-Y Hypertufa Flagstone Project Questions

I received an email from a sweet lady named P.J. asking me about how doable a “large” DIY hypertufa flagstone project might be and I think lots of you can benefit from her questions and my answers. So here goes:

Hi Claudia,

I love your website and blog and I have been reading all your info about hypertufa but I have a few questions. I want to make a patio in my yard and I would like to use the flagstone or slate mold. I am a widow and I will be doing this myself.

I guess my question is can I do it myself? I know the regular stones are too heavy for me to lift by myself and thought that the hypertufa stones would be lighter. I live down in Southern Florida where we do not usually get any freezing so I don’t think that I have to worry about the cracking of the stone. How long will they last with people walking over them?

Would your e-book on hypertufa address making the patio stones? I love the look of slate or flagstones and I will be doing the work myself. I am quite handy at repairing & fixing things so I know I could do it if it will not be too heavy.

Thank you,
P.J.

My reply:

Hi P.J.:
Thank you for contacting me and for the kind compliment about my site.

To answer your questions, yes I am sure you can tackle a project making hypertufa flagstones if you are at least a mildly active person.

There isn’t anything that is going to be horribly difficult in the process, but I guess the biggest thing to consider is the weight of the bags of Portland cement and sand you’ll be having to take out of your vehicle and transport to your working area.

The bags are normally between 40lbs – 80lbs. Can you wrestle 80lbs of dead weight?? (It’s not as easy for me as it used to be, I must admit.)

Next, though you won’t have the need to mix up huge batches at one time – as I am going to guess you’ll only have a few molds that can be used at a time – be aware that the mixing up and blending can put a strain on one’s back. Lots of crafters will mix up everything in a wheel barrow to keep from having to bend way down to mix up everything. Or many folks rent a small concrete mixer – it all depends upon how many flagstones you’re going to have to make, to determine if the cost of the mixer rental is worth it.

Yes, the ‘tufa stones will be lighter, and over time the peat moss will decompose leaving a more natural looking stone – that is unless you want super smooth stones (with minimal texture) like real slate. Then I’d use a pure concrete recipe. No peat moss (which means you can’t call the recipe a hypertufa recipe).

As I teach on my website (and in my eBook) … IF the recipe ratios are correct; IF the mixing and application method is correct; and IF you allow the object to cure properly, then you ought to have stones that will last almost indefinitely. But I always advise that you do some test runs – and I think especially so for this project. Make a small batch; record the exact ratios; the curing time, etc. If you have success (or failure) with your test run, then you know you are either good to go with your project … or if you’ve had a failure … then it’s back to the drawing board!

I caution you to NOT attempt this project without first getting a real hands-on feel of what working with concrete and such is like. It can be a temperamental animal … but not so bad because thousands of people are successful all the time once they get the hang of ingredient ratios and proper curing methods. After all, hypertufa making is NOT rocket science!

Yes … my Hypertufa How-To eBook does go into much more depth on the subject of hypertufa, however I can tell you that for the project you are wanting to do, you’ll find everything you need to know for free on my site. (How is that for being honest and not trying to sell you my eBook?)

Your main decision is what recipe to use. I would suggest one that includes a bonding agent which will help add more strength. I don’t suggest using reinforcing fibers in your recipe for a variety of reasons – mostly to make the project easier for you. However … even one of the basic hypertufa recipes most likely will do fine, too. But make a test batch first!

To review all the hypertufa pages on my site, you can easily see all the pages listed under the “Hypertufa” sub-heading on my website’s directory page. Check out the different recipes and projects – I do have one for flagstones – and I know you’ll find one that will fill the bill for you.

Oh … I had another crafter who wanted to tackle a “make homemade flagstones for the patio” project tell me she bought nice flagstone molds on eBay. I think the the cost was around $100, but a deal when you consider how much you’ll save in the long run if you DIY and of course because the molds are reusable.

Does this information help? I hope so. Keep me posted. Good luck with your hypertufa flagstone project!

Claudia

A Frustrated Hypertufa Trough Maker Seeks Helpful Advice

I received an email this week asking me:

A friend and I tried one of your basic hypertufa recipes without adding the fiber mesh. Our results are very crumbly. I think we goofed by not using it, right? Where does one find fiber mesh? NewLearner

—————
My reply:
Hi NewLearner:

I hate to say it, but I don’t believe the lack of fiber mesh in your basic recipe was the cause for a crumbly failure. Sounds like the amount of water you used and/or wrong proportions of ingredients was your problem.

You didn’t tell me the “basic” ingredients you used, nor the ratios. Too much or too little water is often the cause of failed hypertufa recipes. Sometimes too much of one of the dry ingredients can be the culprit. Since I wasn’t there to observe you mixing up the recipe, I can’t be more specific in figuring out the cause.

I suggest you (re)read this article: Hypertufa Recipe Mixing Guidelines.

About where to find the fiber mesh – you can check with commercial concrete companies if you cannot find it in retail stores that have a good assortment of concrete products. Fiber mesh can sometimes be hard to find in certain areas of the country. I also suggest you Google “fiber mesh for concrete” and many results will come up and you’ll find online sources.

Also read the blog post I wrote on just this subject: locating silica fume and poly fibers. I believe you’ll find it quite informative and helpful.

Remember … hypertufa “success” often takes a couple failed attempts. Really. Portland cement can be temperamental to work with. Most crafters really have to get the hang of the correct water ratio in relation to the portland cement, along with following proper curing methods. Keep trying your hand at small projects (less wasted materials) until you believe “you’ve GOT IT!”