DIY Concrete Stepping Stones That Look Natural
Introduction: DIY Concrete Stepping Stones That Look Natural
Make natural looking DIY concrete stepping stones or pavers. Color the concrete and mold it into the shape of real fieldstones or flagstones.
Finally, the DIY Concrete Stepping Stones are finished. It’s a project I wanted to do last year because when we moved into this rental home, we quickly decided that we wouldn’t use the front door to go in and out of the house. Why?
Because the existing path from the driveway to the door was 6” deep with pebbles. To walk on it, I kid you not, was like walking in quicksand or even like walking in deep water. Someone didn’t have their thinking cap on when they made that path. ;0)
So I decided I’d make stepping stones that would look like real fieldstone, using concrete of course. It’s a cheaper alternative to the real thing and for me, required less prep work with the ground because the concrete is self-leveling. You’ll still have to level the top, but it may not be necessary for you to do anything to level the ground beforehand.
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*I make lots of things using concrete! For in-depth information on making concrete crafts and understanding the mixes, check out Making Cement & Concrete Crafts- What I Learned From My Cement Tests.
And another big outdoor project was my Vertical Cinder Block Wall Planters.
Supplies
* *Sand Topping Mix – I used (7) 60lb bags- see Materials Details below
* Fabric pegs/stakes
* Vinyl furniture strapping or vertical vinyl blind slats
* Large mixing bin or wheelbarrow
* Trowel
* Hoe
* Black, red and blue colorant
* Yellow or blue tape
* Safety Mask
* Coarse paintbrush – 1″ or 2″Disposable cups or bowls
* Plastic bags
* Rubber gloves or durable nitrile gloves
* Work glovesSealer- optional but recommended
* Wheelbarrow -if you have one (for carrying the concrete to the stone location)
You’ll need to figure out how much mix you will need for your concrete stepping stones project. I used Quikrete’s online calculator before the project, but it didn’t end up being accurate, so the calculator is probably worth skipping.
To simplify my quantities, I figured I had the equivalent of 9 large stepping stones. Technically I had 5 large ones, but if I combined the small ones together, I could see that they would have made 9 large ones. By “large”, I mean approximately 3’ x 2’ and they were approximately 2” thick.
Each stone used a little less than a full bag, and I think the existing pebbles that were already in the ground took up some of the space so I needed slightly less than you may need so at the same size, it’s safe to calculate 1 bag per large 3’ x 2’ stepping stone.
Step 1: Determine How Many Stones You'll Make
So how do you know how many stones you will need for your chosen path location? First I sketched out how I wanted them to look. Then I was able to get a pretty good idea by using ropes as temporary molds. I placed pieces of rope onto the path and wrapped the rope into the shapes and sizes I planned my stones to be. These basically acted as templates.
This method made it easy to see that I would have a mix of 5 large stones and several small stones – again, which if combined, would make 9 large stones. If you purchase the bags of concrete mix through a big box store, they are returnable, so I recommend buying 1 more bag than you think you’ll need.
For my reusable concrete mold, I used vinyl chair strapping. These straps are what are the replacement straps used to repair those vinyl strap outdoor chairs. There may be a cheaper alternative, such as vertical vinyl slats. I know <PERSON> made a video on concrete stepping stones and she used vertical vinyl curtain slats. It was her video where I learned the plastic bag trick for giving the stones their natural texture. You can find her Stepping Stones video here. 353