CONCRETE & STONEWORK
CREATING BEAUTIFUL
GARDEN ORNAMENTS
Cast stone has been a prime building
material for hundreds of years.
There are many different varieties
of cast stone but the main two
are semi dry cast and wet cast.
In both cases moulds are used to
create the relevant shape of each
component. These are mainly
architectural components but in the
case of established companies like
Chilstone a semi- dry mix has been
used for the last 66 years to create
beautiful garden ornaments such as
fountains, urns, benches.
Semi-Dry Cast
The first manufacturing method
involves compacting a semi-dry
cast stone mix into wooden or fibre
glass moulds. Chilstone use specially
selected arrogates that they blend
on site along with other materials to
produce a mix that once moulded,
closely resembles natural stone but
at a fraction of the price of natural
stone. As the name suggests there is
a small amount of moisture in the
mix and once a garden ornament
or architectural stone has been
cast, water must be added daily to
enable the stone to fully cure over
8-10 days. If this does not happen
the stone will be sent out green and
under strength.
Structural products can be made
providing reinforcement (rebar)
is used when structural items are
being made. The ability to reinforce
semi-dry cast stone is yet another
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advantage over natural stone. In
addition, channels, sockets, bars,
and lifting sockets can be cast into
the stone. These can be made to
the engineer’s specification for
components such as cills, columns,
coping, portico’s and entablatures,
these can be made in a variety of
colours from Portland, bath stone,
York stone or ragstone (see images)
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