How to make Patio Blocks quick and easy from concrete // DIY
Patio blocks or stones are super easy to make! They are great if you want some décor, or if you have a odd shape or size you can't buy in store. Check them out and make some for yourself!
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Thanks for the information. Very helpful. I like the sand base on a sheet of plastic or tarp idea. Saves wood and will be much easier to release.
Anytime, glad you found it useful.
Great project. Concrete can be labor intensive and fun. I’ve done several jobs around the house. But didn’t make a video. Thanks for making this video. Letting the novice see how easy it can be. 👏🏽
Thanks! It is fun but yeah, lots of actual labor which I think is glossed over a lot of the time.
better spending time doing things you love rather than on things that bore you!!
Simply brilliant , I have a real hoch poch stone patio thrown down 25 years ago when I was very busy working and “living a life” I will lift it and use your method to make nice flat even slabs more suitable now we are retired and have the time to do things right …the old stone would then be good for recycling…I love KZhead for guys like you inspiring us to “ get up and do something “ ( ourselves! ! ) Good Luck Peter P
Thats awesome, thanks so much! I'm really glad you like them and happy I could help out! Good luck on yours!
🤔😍👌🙏💯🍃
Appreciate it!
Great video thank you for posting it. I’m going to be doing the same thing but making 1’squares 2”thick for landscaping pavers ontop of landscaping rocks to then eventually put plant pots on them. Going to make a frame like yours but with cross boards to make three or four pavers at a time on one jig.
No problem, glad I could help! Awesome good luck on your project! Love to see it when its done, shoot me an email
Everybody complaining about the busted STORE BOUGHT pavers, yeesh. LOL. 😆Love the project! Perfect for making custom size/shape pavers. 👍
Omh yeah....they are really taking the wrong thing from the video. Thanks tho, glad you liked it!
Okay, this is INSANE!!! Soooo perfect!! I mean, i have to change some cracked old rocks around the pool area and i was thinking that cost me tons of money to do it. Your idea is just great for someone who wants to save some $ but also want to make a beatiful and customized project. Well done! :)
Nice! Well I'm happy I could help, sounds like it'll work out great! Good luck on yours!
Love the quick and straight to the point video. Well done. Thanks.
Thank you, glad you like it
Thanks for the how to honey! This will be great when I build our porch!
Anytime! Happy to help, and good luck on the porch!
Thank you! I'm going to try this at home! First time for concrete for me. Thanks for making such a clear and easy to understand video!
Anytime, glad I could help! Good luck on yours
Congratulations! your method is wiser than others on youtube
Love the way you explained it and made it so simple. Plus you could use that ball of cement you had at the end of pouring as a sphere to adorn your garden as well. This was a great video.❤❤
FINALLY. Clear and not 100 steps lol. Looks great. I’m making some 12x36 ones soon and this was a great video! Thank you! 🎉
That's awesome! Keep me posted on your progress, good luck!
@@JessedoesDIY hey stupid question, I’ve never done anything with concrete. Just use quickCrete or do I want a brand that doesn’t dry too fast? What brand did u use for this? Also just a bag of play sand works?
No prob. So I used quikrete 5000 on this. You can really use any bag, but this 5000 and 6000 mix of theirs sets up faster then the regular stuff. It doesn't get hard too fast to work with, but it sets up in about 8-10 hours as opposed to 24 hours. This way at the 24 hour mark or so you can demould and lay the stones, gently of course. The regular stuff you'll demould after 24 hours and wait another day to move them yet. And yup, any type of sand will do, nothing special. Hope that helps, good luck on yours! Keep me posted
@@JessedoesDIY sweet thanks SO much for replying!
Anytime!
Probably never be able to do other than at my own place so I'm glad I got to watch others doing it on KZhead
Me too, thanks for watching
Looks good 👍🏻
Thanks!
Thank you so much, now I have some idea about making a few cap stone blocks for my swimming pool.
Anytime! Sounds like a plans, good luck
Looks good but u need reinforcement inside to prevent cracking on settling/uneven base.
Thanks for idea! It was Genius! Never even thought that!
No problem!
Gracias..saludos desde Perú
So cool! Love this technique
Thanks so much! Glad you like it
Keep going! Looks like you have a few to replace.
That I do, yup
Best 👌 video so far! I enjoyed it
That's awesome, glad you liked it!
Really learnt alot here.. Thinking of offering a basic patio block customized service as my retirement plan...my partner has been a mason for 45 years...
Thanks, I'm glad you found it useful! If that's the case, I'd also check out my other recent video on making exposed aggregate patio blocks, it pretty neat. I hope it all goes well for you
Tap your forms around the edges after you have the concrete to height Another suggestion for textured finished is pour it upside down on some textured wooden boards or mats or stamp a pattern on it. Just a case of using your imagination and items that you have kicking around 🙂
Absolutely
There is always one.
Excellent idea!
A lot of work! I can't imagine making 30 or 50 of these pieces :O But thanks for the idea and implementation. Good work :)
I mean, it isn't a lot of work to just make a couple. I wouldn't make more than that, just for random spots or shapes. Glad you liked it
Man those look really good
Thanks!
You are really perfect thanks a lot
thats pretty good, I would only try to add some colour to the concrete to match the existing blocks
Thanks. You totally can if you want but once these fully dried out after a couple weeks they lightened up and matched
Thanks, easy to follow . Well explained.
Thank you
Thank you for sharing!
Anytime! Happy to help
I'm from Brazil! it helped me a lot, thanks
Awesome! I'm glad I could help! 🇨🇦
Nice! I live in south Africa so I don't get the same products as you do...... Are you using a premix fast drying concrete? If so what are the cement ,sand and stone/ grittone ratios?
Thanks! It was a poor mix but not fast setting, just basic concrete. To mix your own use the 3-2-1-.5 method. 3 parts aggregate, 2 parts sand, 1 part cement, .5 parts water. Adjust as needed. Hope that helps!
cool, nice video , thanks
Great job!
Thanks!
this is so satisfying!
Thanks
Good to see you had your European open toed safety boots on!! Great video.
Always lol. Thanks
Great vid. Thanks for sharing.
Appreciate it, glad you liked it
Beautiful job, Jesse. Those new ones look better than the existing.
Thanks! Most of the old ones I got for free so I can't really complain
I love your method. I just subscribed
Awesome, thanks. Welcome to the crew
This is excellent content. Thanks.
Anytime, glad you like it
awesome; nice and simple explanation
Thanks!
Looking great those slabs. You definitely have more cracked ones to replace though
Thanks. Yeah, I broke that one cutting wood on it lol I have a dedicated block now that's super thick and reinforced for cutting on
Hi, your video is really good and easy to follow. with 20Kg bag of concrete, quick dry, have grave already, how may paver 60*60*4cm i can make? do i need steal bar inside?
Thanks, glad you like it. I have a concrete calculator in the description, or you can Google it. Fill in all your info and it'll tell you all you need to know about how many and how much. Reinforcement bar will always help prevent cracking and is always great
Looks great
Thanks!
Those look great 🙂
Thanks!
Looks great!
Thanks!
Grate! Vibration table will help you aviod of bubbles
nice job
Thanks
Nice work :)
Thanks!
What brand of concrete is the blue bag? I’ve tried this with sakrete and have no luck getting that good of a finish. Always hitting small rocks during edging… any advice would be awesome!
Quikrete is all I buy because I have the most access to it. Good luck
ive seen a lot of tutorial, this one is the easiest and beginner friendly.
Thanks, glad you liked it!
Thanks for this! Does the sand just wipe off the bottom, or does it get absorbed and become part of the paver?
No prob! Some of the sand will stick to it and that's fine, but most of it will just wipe off
Thank you sir ur amazing
Anytime! Thanks
Brilliant !
Thanks
nice. one thing tho if add rebars or mesh of some source it will be solid and last longer ... as you can see in the old slap its cracked for severals reasons ,one of of them bien lack of rebars or mesh
Absolutely. Some of the old stones were cracked when I got them as I got them for free, and a couple I smashed by cutting wood on them lol. I've since made a thick, reinforced slab to cut wood on
@@JessedoesDIY cool! I am a handyman . I love concrete work , wood work , deco and much more … problem in uk very hard to have space for a garage or work station etc .
Nice. Yeah I could see that. We have more space here than anything for a shop, but they are so insanely expensive here I can't afford one
Parabéns gostei bastante.
Is look nice good idea
Thanks!
I have a planter that I want to remove all plants and fill in with paver. I plan to put small concrete benches on top. Do I need to put rocks underneath?
You need some kind of a base. Typically you'd dig down a bit and place a couple inches of sand down before adding the pavers, at a minimum
Excellent
Thank you
Another great project. I would like to build a pad for my garbage cans.
Thanks very much! I actually have a great concrete pad video I posted just recently that would be perfect
Very nice job!! Is it possible to make then 1.625" thick rather than 2"? Can a quick dry concrete mix be used? I wasn't sure when you said do the edges after 1.5 hours.... is that after the initial edging which was after 30 minutes?
Thanks. If you go and thinner than this they risk cracking very easily, and the faster it dries, the more likely it is to crack. And yes, I did the edges twice, once as a initial pass, and the second later to smooth it out. Lessens the risk of damage to the edges
My partner and I have been making dozens of life-size Bigfoot footprints using a similar technique. I like to see that you can do something professional like this as well. I think this is probably cheaper than buying 2'x4' premade pavers at HomeDepot. Unless you factor in your time... then it's no contest. I see this as something I'd do if I wanted a paver size that isn't available. Nice work 👍
Thanks. That's exactly why I make them, when you need sizes you can't buy
Great video. I was thinking they are too thin and have no iron bars inside. The iron rods don't have to be too thick either. For the corners may be alright but towards the end of the video I see some cracked stepping pieces. To smooth it out I find it better to use some foam or Styrofoam to rub gently over it , as necessary, before it is too dry. You might also sprinkle little water on it for that.
Thanks. Yeah I didn't add because they are a decorative corner stone that won't be abused. The cracked stones I got for free from a friend a few years ago for the firepit, and one I smashed myself by accident.
@@JessedoesDIY they would be nice all done like them, but don't forget the rebars
There is always one.
Because if the length, I personally would have tossed in some repurposed wire coat hanger pieces for some added strength.
In the sand you could imprint some pebbles or other wood texture and have a more interesting one.. Only I always wonder what to add to the sand to make it the same as for foundry moulds.. ash, bentonite?
The sand is on the bottom, adding things to it would be pointless. These stones were made face up
@@JessedoesDIY After all, it's enough to make a mistake, it's not that difficult and do it differently :)
Красавчик крутая идея молодец
Thank you so much. I am going to do a small short 70lb one! For strongman training. Wish me luck
No problem! Oh wow, nice. Well good luck with the project and training! Depending on what you do with it, I may add some reinforcement to give it more strength
@@JessedoesDIY any suggestion on how to reinforce it? We are going to lap it and shoulder it
You can use some mesh and cut it with tin snips or rebar but you'll need a way to cut it like an angle grinder. Both reinforcement methods are in the concrete aisle
Awesome Job..... you could add dye to color your blocks to add depth to the project
Absolutely! Thanks
what colour would look good? black? dark grey? i will put white pebbles around this blocks.
Charcoal is always my go to! But it can be pricey to make a bunch of blocks, at least in my area
Nice!
Thanks
Hey man, nice job! Thank you for posting. I have a quick question: What if I wanted to do something like this but the blocks would have to support pedestrian weight or maybe even weight of a car? Should I then use thicker blocks or add rebar?
Thanks! Well if you make the blocks with a 1x3 form it'll be thick enough for pedestrian no problem. Reinforcement will never hurt but I'd use a wire mesh made for house parging, it's thinner for this thin stone. A vehicle is another story, that will need rebar and be about 3.5-4.5" thick and dried for at least 3 weeks.
Not sure if you did that one stone that was cracked but not good advertisement
Haha I got a few stones from a friend for free a few years ago and I broke it myself by dropping another stone on it accidentally
Very nice
Thanks
Delicious
Thanks
What are the mix you use?
I made pavers using a cut 55gal barrel, and they were 2-3” thick and never cracked.
Nice!
Cuantas palmeras da con 1 saco de cemento de 25kl?
É p balcão.? Não é preciso ferro?
Is it cheaper to make these or buy paver bricks at Home Depot? Also, do you know about how much weight they will take, and would putting some kind of screen inside it act to hold it together? Nice simple explanation, thanks.
I think the point here is that he made custom-sized pavers for the area he needed, so in this case there is no paver option to buy at HD. With regards to how much weight they could handle, that depends on the concrete mix you use (use a higher PSI rated mix if you’re expecting a lot of weight over them later). One thing he didn’t do is put some kind of wire mesh in them, when I did mine I used chicken wire after pouring half the concrete on each form, that helps to keep them from cracking.
They are close to the same price in this case, not much difference. But yeah, going this route you can make a custom size for yourself and even dye it if you want. These ones I made are pretty light duty but can easily support a few hundred pounds. If you add a fine mesh or something to it for reinforcement it'll be even more resistant to cracking. Thanks, I'm glad you liked it
@@JessedoesDIY Oh, I forget to ask, what kind of concrete or cement do you use? Can you use portland cement? I wonder did you actually price out what it costs per square foot. I have about 100 square feet portion of my front yard that I can not do anything else with and I think I just need to cover it with pavers, but pavers cost so much, and I don't want to actually cover it over completely with concrete. This would be a good solution if it is less expensive, and still better and more custom even if it was the same price.
I used Quikrete bagged mix that I had on hand, but just the basic yellow bag quikrete will work just fine. You can't do cement only, it'll crumble apart. Concrete is a mix of things and it needs that to be durable. I did not price it out, but I do know that the what a bag covers and it ends up being about the same price as buying a stone. Like I said in the video, I made these because I needed to fill that specific spot, but it costs the same amount to just but a stone in store. If you're just covering a spot, it's up to you how you want to do it
These look great. Just a question: Would these work on a driveway without cracking as is, or would they need to be reinforced?
Thanks. Anything for driveway use should be about 4" thick and reinforced to resist the weight
ok haven't played with this stuff before - what did the 1/4 inch of sand do at the beginning ?
No prob. It just prevents the concrete from sticking to anything, the plastic included. It also gives the bottom of the stone a bit of a textured bottom so it gross the ground better and prevents it from moving a bit. And since sand is an ingredient in concrete, it doesn't hurt anything
How do u mix the mota
before making form you have to work out size required as a unique size you said. those would be better custom size just a few seconds and a measuring tape.
Thanks ,could mind you tell us about its width and lenth in meter sir please .
I can't remember exactly, I think It was about 25 cm wide, 80-90 cm long, and about 5 cm thick
What concrete mix did you use do i have to add rocks to the mix or does it come in the bag
I just used the yellow bagged quikrete concrete mix. Concrete already has stones in it. People often confuse cement and concrete but cement is 1 ingredient in concrete, along with the aggregate
I'm wanting to make bigger pavers, at least 600mm^2 would you recommend using rebar or some sort of reinforcing inside?
I'd use a bit yeah, even just dome wire mesh. Especially if they'll see some use and foot traffic
Hi Jesse, which size of the box should i use to make normal patio? 1x3? 2v3? I need to make a 700sq feet
That's going to be a ton of work, you'd be better off to buy some if you need that many, but the bigger the better as long as you can lift it
please use persian in transelate too ,thank you 😊🤗
Fun little video. Got a question: Why do you show so many broken tiles in your patio? It might be a good time to go over this on a next video, ground prep, tamp plate, gravel, and in the form gravel and or wire reinforcement or thickness of tiles to try tp prevent the cracks. No, I'm not being critical, just thinking ahead and knowing the topic from my extensive past work in construction and landscaping, the presence of cracks indicates a (preventable) problem, that is, if you want to avoid cracks or traffic depressions on your nice flat patio.
Thanks. I show it as it is, not worried when something isn't perfect because most peoples yard aren't perfect. Especially in my extreme Canadian climate, things don't last as long. But in this case it's broken because some were already cracked as I got them for free from a friend, and others were broken by me when I smashed a giant log onto it
If you think your to late, wet the brush. I saw diamond mesh did you reinforce your molds with the mesh? Nice job.
Good point, I should have, but after a few passes it actually looked good. I didn't on these lightweight stones but I have another video for a different style that I did, I reinforced that one
Great work than you
Thanks
No need for rebar or wire mesh for strength?
You can add it, for sure. But for my needs I don't. Any stones you buy in store don't have reinforcement so these should be about as strong as those
Can we reinforce them by placing a steel wire mesh in between the concrete mixture.
Oh absolutely
good jesse
Thanks
On the bottom of your form you had spread ome sand?
Just to prevent the concrete from sticking to the plastic. Sand won't harm the concrete
This guy is good
Thanks
What type of sand do you recommend to use?
Just basic washed and screened sand. I just bought a 5 gallon bucket of it from a landscaping supply
What happened to the dirt you put underneath the slab you made??
It was sand, and nothing. Just shoveled it back into a bucket. It prevents it from sticking to the plastic, and because sand is an ingredient in concrete it doesn't hurt anything
I’m new to these things so please bear with me. Is there some sort of ingredients or ratio of the materials used?
No prob. I used pre bagged concrete and just bucket of regular playground sand from a local landscape supply for the bottom. The concrete is already pre mixed in the bag and just needs water according to the instructions on the bag, or until it gets to the right consistency. If you're mixing your own concrete you'll use the 3-2-1-.5 method. 3 parts small rock, 2 parts fine sand, 1 part cement and .5 parts water
can you do it directly on the grass?
Not recommended. Too soft under it, it'll be prone to cracking. Plus things might try to grow through it and because organics don't agree with concrete, you don't want to pour on them and embed them in it
i want to make a large area. how can i do it without get rid of the grass?can i put some plastic as base?@@JessedoesDIY
If you want to do a large area you may want to pour a concrete pad down, I have a video for that as well. But unfortunately there is no cutting corners like that, it'll break and crack without a proper base down first, simply covering the grass won't work
Mist the slab with water and re-trial it with enough pressure to bring the butter back up and then re-broom it. Works every time.
I didn't see where you have damp the forms with water?
What happened to the dirt at the bottom of the molds? Was that just a spacer as a way to use less concrete mix?
The sand? It helps seal the bottom of the mould so the concrete and water doesn't flow under the form, and because sand is 1 of the ingredients in concrete it doesn't hurt anything. After that, you can do whatever with the sand
@JessedoesDIY Ok thank you. I wasn't sure if the sand absorbs into the concrete.
No problem. Good luck on yours
nice
Nice