Cast Stone : Information on the Material and its Handling
1. Material Cast Stone
Our cast stone ornaments are hand-made; piece by piece. This and their high quality look and feel clearly separates them from mass-produced items made of concrete and plaster. Our cast stone material, also called reconstituted stone, consists of fine-grained sand in the same colour as Portland sandstone and specially developed binding agents. Both components get moistened, mixed and then carefully pressed into moulds by hand. This laborious method ensures that no air remains in the material that could later cause holes on the surface or inside the work piece during the curing process. The high quality touch and look of the surface of our ornaments resembles to natural Portland sandstone. The moulds for most of our ornaments were taken from original pieces from the 18th and 19th century.
2. Frost proof / Patina
All our ornaments are frost proof. Vases, planters and jardinières can stay outside all year round even with soil and plants remaining in place.
Just like on natural stone our ornaments will develop the sought-after patina with mosses and lichens on their surface. Over time, this makes them as decorative and valuable as historic stone ornaments. Many of our naturally aged English Garden Ornaments have been sold at Sotheby's and Christie's for much higher prices than they have previously been purchased for. Depending on the location of the ornaments (humidity, surrounding plants, etc.) the development of patina can take about a year or two. Impatient fellows can push the process by treating the ornament with a mixture of yoghurt or buttermilk and soil. But please keep in mind that this is a rather messy treatment that should therefore not be used on large or architectural ornaments.
3. Colours
Our standard colour is „Portland White“ as pictured in most of our product photos. Upon request you can have the ornaments in these other colours: „Bath Yellow“, "Cotswold" and "Terracotta". The colour of Architectural Ornaments can be adapted to specific design needs.
4. Assembly
Ornaments that consist of several pieces should be joined with cement or a two-component adhesive as it can be found at hardware stores. This ensures that the individual pieces stay in their position - and it is also a safety precaution.
5. Lime Bloom / Hairline Cracks
Depending on the location sometimes reconstituted stone can show white deposits, also known as lime bloom. This is a temporary occurrence and will gradually disappear as the ornament weathers. It can be removed with a stone cleaning agent from your hardware store. Such deposits are natural and are therefore not a reason for rejection. The same is true for hairline cracks that can occur during the aging process of ornaments. Hairline cracks have no influence on the stability and durability of ornaments.
6. Directions for Repair and Touch-up Jobs
6.1. Small damaged spots, broken-off edges, etc.
We can provide you with repair material which is a mixture of sand and binding agents. If these two components come separately, mix them in the relation 3:1 (three parts of sand with one part of binding agent). To prepare the mix add some water so that the mixture becomes just moist; it should not be liquid!
Next, wet the spot on the ornament that needs to get repaired with water; apply the moist repair mix to the spot with your fingers and a putty-knife; you can now model the repair material to fill a hole or to restore edges, etc. After that gently moisten the repaired spot with a sponge and let it dry out. The repaired spot will disappear when weathering.
6.2. Larger broken-off pieces
Use a two-component adhesive, apply the mix to the surface of the broken-off piece but be sure to spare the outside edges of the piece otherwise excessive adhesive will spill out from the gap, which could not be removed once hardened. Press the piece to the ornament and let it harden; ideally keep up the pressure until the adhesive has hardened. Remaining gaps can be filled with the sand repair mix (see above) after the adhesive has hardened.
6.3. Filling cracks
If possible, carefully open the crack with a screw driver to a width of ca. 2-3 mm; wet the crack and insert the repair mix (see above 6.1). Then smoothen the surface with a moist sponge. Weathering will make the repaired spot invisible after a while.Next page: Material Information Teak Furniture.