My Wife Pamela finished part of the path she is making from the guest room towards the observatory. Turned out amazing, 1st time for her doing
something like this. She bought a book about it on amazon.
We would like to find some black and white rectangular rocks to do a condor.
She was able to do about 3 feet a day. Pebbles are laid in a mix of fine sand and concrete then misted several times for the mixture to set and
harden. Lots of work but worth it in the end!
Diver - 2-25-2012 at 02:38 PM
Very artistic for a first try !
With all that work, you might want to consider a Chattahoochee sealer to help it last longer.DENNIS - 2-25-2012 at 03:24 PM
That is excellent. I'd have to think twice before walking on it.shari - 2-25-2012 at 03:38 PM
Wow...that is tryly inspirational! did you make a video of her making it...I would love some pointers on how to do it...do you guys have a phone up
there or magic jack...U2U me!David K - 2-25-2012 at 03:39 PM
Awesome (stellar)!DianaT - 2-25-2012 at 03:46 PM
That is BEAUTIFUL and very interesting. Great job.Bob H - 2-25-2012 at 03:47 PM
Shari, I'd get the book Bob provided a link to. 1st step is to create a fine gravel bed and compact it. 2nd step was 4 parts fine sifted sand to one
part cement. This you spread over the compacted sand, you push the pebbles into the dry mix.
Next layout your designs (fish, lizard whatever) beside the area you want to do, that way you just transfer it stone by stone where you want it. And
then start to infill. 3 feet a day is tops don't try to do too much at once!
Then you mist it several times, and keep wetting the area down for about a week after its done.
The grout (whatever colour you want) she 1st tried to do wet like in a piping bag, big pain in the culo to clean!! It worked way better to sprinkle in
dry, use a paintbrush to get your depth of grout to where you want it. And use the same misting to wet the grout to get it to set. Wayyy easier and
faster this way!
I'll u2u our number Shari
cheers
Mike
[Edited on 2-25-2012 by astrobaja]oladulce - 2-26-2012 at 08:09 AM
That's been one of my Baja dream project books for many moons. But the author's technique of laying the pebbles on their sides in the mortar/sand
requires a huge supply of rocks that are not only flat-topped, but also have at least one semi-flat side which it looks like Pamela was able to
achieve.
I've collected a modest supply of round, semi-flat, smooth red rocks from the hills around here that are the right size but in my practice mosaics the
edges were too round to walk on comfortably and they won't work laid on their sides on a pathway. I don't have access to those lovely black "Mexican
beach pebbles" here, but may import some.
I'm going to try laying the rocks flat in concrete or mortar (the Mexican way) so I can use up my stash of pebbles.
Great job Pamela.shari - 2-26-2012 at 08:37 AM
wow...that is quite a process! thanks for explaining it. I think it would be cool in an outdoor shower area.astrobaja - 2-26-2012 at 08:57 AM
Oladulce: you're right it does take an awful lot of stones! And don't get them too small otherwise it becomes tremendously tedious!!
Shari: Thats a great idea for an outdoor shower area, plus its not too big a project for the first time. The rocks feel good on your bare feet kinda
like a acupressure massage :>
Pretty proud of my Girl!DENNIS - 2-26-2012 at 10:37 AM
Arn't there beaches around San Quintin that have millions of tons of these rocks? We talked about that before and I supposed it wouldn't be cool to be
removing them for home projects, but was over-ruled by those saying the abundance of material could stand the small loss.astrobaja - 2-26-2012 at 04:16 PM
I dunno Dennis, I heard that on the mainland this sort of activity(harvesting of beach rocks) is not legal because if unchecked it does cause
significant beach erosion.
The demand here in Baja seems to be from NOB since most are trucked to Tecate and then north to places like KRC rock.
I'm sure it will be regulated here one day too.....Mexitron - 2-26-2012 at 05:20 PM
Really nice job, especially for a first time!
I did an inlaid stream/walk last year with the Mexican pebbles, unfortunately I had to grout it more than your walk due to the client's issues with
high heels. Before grouting:
After grouting:
Its still not too bad but I love the look of your walk.BajaBlanca - 2-26-2012 at 05:33 PM
those both are VERY interesting walkways .... what an art ! congrats on jobs well done and thanks for sharing the how of it getting done.BajaRat - 2-26-2012 at 06:06 PM
Mex, unreal pattern and use around the tree.
Astro, don't u freeze up there? are you covering it at night to cure stronger?shari - 2-26-2012 at 06:36 PM
Mexitron...that looks neat around the trees....are those rocks just laid in the dirt then? is it Ok for the tree?Mexitron - 2-26-2012 at 07:23 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by shari
Mexitron...that looks neat around the trees....are those rocks just laid in the dirt then? is it Ok for the tree?
Trees are fine---the pebbles were actually around them already, but were just haphazardly dumped there...astrobaja - 2-26-2012 at 08:06 PM
Mexitron, my Wife and I were totally enamored with your creative idea of that stream! Totally cool!
Pamela wants to do a condor like the kind that is pictured in her uncles book on the Baja cave paintings, but we need to find long flat rectangular
black and white rocks to do the wings right.
Bajarat, our weather the last few weeks was pretty warm (for here this time of year) so its cured pretty well by now, although next couple nights will
be below freezing.
Mikeoladulce - 2-27-2012 at 09:22 AM
Dang Mexitron, that's it exactly. Now, if I could take a pile of rocks and turn it in to that...Bajamatic - 2-27-2012 at 10:24 AM
both of those are sweet. Nice work!bledito - 7-23-2014 at 07:58 PM
can you use these beach rock in baja sur? what about clearing a path to the water is that allowed as well?elgatoloco - 7-23-2014 at 08:27 PM
Really nice stuff you guys! Wish I had the time / patience / ambition to do that. maybe when I retire. motoged - 7-23-2014 at 10:50 PM
Front step in Troncones...
Mexitron - 7-24-2014 at 10:23 AM
Nice, clean design.astrobaja - 8-13-2014 at 03:41 PM
Hi all,
Nice to see some cool other designs here! My Wife, Pamela has updated our blog to expand on how she did her designs. This latest work has been
centered around our spiral herb garden:
