Creating Paths In The Country From Home-made Tiles

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Experience in creating paths in the country from home-made tiles

Oh, these roads and paths … When we took the site - it was a real forest with trees up to 30 meters high. After grubbing, it turned out that there was no earth, only one clay, and the holes from the roots were immediately filled with water. After leveling the plot, we got a thin clay area. She did not dry out even in hot weather. After the rain they walked in rubber boots and barely pulled out their legs. The first paths were made like gats in a swamp: thick pine branches were chopped into meter-long pieces, tied with ropes and fixed with stakes.

In the article "A 20-Year Path" (see Flora Price No. 4-5 2006), the features of our site were described in detail, and why we had to re-plan it. I also wanted to make a gift for my own feet so that:

• do not drown in a clay mess after rains, especially in spring and autumn;
• wear rubber shoes less often, even in wet weather;
• carry less dirt into the house (then, as a hostess, I had to clean and wash).

Beautiful, comfortable and well-planned paths are also a decoration of a garden, any site!

Putting it on six hundred square meters makes you wonder how to make it visually larger. I noticed that straight paths, especially immediately from the gate, make the area easy to see and seem to be smaller, and even a slight bend - increases the space. The effect of widening or narrowing space is created by both the width of the tracks and how far they are viewed.

Many people think that concrete and cement work is the lot of men. We have a lot of gardening, and while walking the dog, I repeatedly watched others doing concrete work. Several wheelbarrows of sand, cement and gravel were kneaded in containers knocked out of boards. All this was mixed with shovels, and then the solution was carried in buckets into the formwork both for the foundations and for the paths. Very hard work: sweat flows like hail, swollen veins, red faces … I introduced my husband in a similar situation, and I was scared - this would ruin my health!

But the planned redevelopment of the site included:

• production of new greenhouses on a concrete base with brickwork;
• construction of a warm shower room on a strip foundation;
• creating the basis for the porch:
• organization of tracks.

The first batch was done in a bucket, mixed with a trowel. It was uncomfortable, my hands ached. An old galvanized baby bath was found in one of the gardening dumpsters. A small hoe was adapted for mixing (a large lever and it is convenient to pass along the contours of the container). We reached the optimal amount of mixed ingredients:

• a bucket of sand, a bucket of gravel and half a bucket of cement - for concrete work;
• a bucket of sand and a third of a bucket of cement - for grout, both for casting tiles and for brickwork.

First, mix the components of the solution in dry form, then gradually add water until a homogeneous mass is obtained. It turned out that I can do it too, not a very strong woman who cannot work obliquely. It takes longer to put the concrete mixture into the formwork with a trowel, but you don't get tired, like a shovel, and the quality is no worse.

We use plastic molds for the manufacture of tiles. They are sold in hardware stores. We lubricate the form with used machine oil and carefully spread the cement mortar into it with a trowel. One batch (a bucket of sand and 1/3 of a bucket of cement) is two tiles. We bought 10 forms. Depending on how I feel and the weather, I make 1 to 3 casts of 10 tiles per week. From 170 to 200 tiles are obtained per season. We buy 10 bags of cement in June. They are enough for a season not only for tiles, but also for other works. For example, in 2005, 196 tiles were cast, two-level concrete steps were made into the utility block, and minor repairs were carried out.

Casting features:

1. After filling the forms with cement mortar, they need to be shaken (it's hard for me to do this), therefore, standing on my knees, I raise the form 3-5 cm from the ground and, as it were, drop it. I do this 2-3 times.
2. I put it to dry on any flat surface (on the ground or on already laid out paths). If there is a danger of heavy rain, I cover the forms with scraps of old roofing material.
3. After two days, I gently turn the mold over and leave it to dry for 7-10 days.
4. I do not stack the finished tiles on top of each other, but put them on the edge along the perimeter of the house foundation.

When there is an accumulation of ready-made tiles of up to 30-40 pieces (dried for at least two weeks), I start laying them on a sandy pillow of 8-10 cm by planning. I do not have special devices (for example, a vibrator), therefore, putting tiles on the leveled sand, I stand on it and jump up a few times. If the level of the tiles is higher or lower than those laid earlier, I remove it and adjust the height using sand. After finishing the laying, I fill the seams with sand. Everything!

The first tiles were laid in 2001. Now their seams are already overgrown with grass. I regularly cut it with a trimmer, it turns out beautifully, and the tiles are well worth it.

The main paths (workers), on which we walk a lot and use a loaded wheelbarrow, are laid out with a width of two tiles, the rest - in one. We have one straight working path, and then only 2/3 of its length: from home to a warm shower room, all the rest have one or another curvature or are made at different angles, for example, a kaleidoscope bed.

Three paved areas have already appeared on the site:

1 - recreation area in a small forest. There, in hot weather, we rest, have lunch and meet guests;

2 - near a warm shower room. After washing, it is good to relax in the setting sun, surrounded by flowers with a view of the kaleidoscope garden and the house in flowering plants;

3 - in the niche of the house and utility block. This irregularly shaped area is part of an artificial pond with an alpine slide and a stone hop pot. We need such a platform for performing minor repairs, sowing seeds for seedlings, etc.

Landscaping work has not yet been completed. The general solution, drawn in the winter of 1998-99, is no longer only visible, but also makes us happy, since it has become convenient to live on the site, it looks functional and beautiful! We will be happy if our experience in transforming the site will help other gardeners and summer residents.