Artificial rocks can be a powerful and beautiful addition to your landscaping and are often a lot lower maintenance than using actual stone.
The trick is that if you want artificial rocks in your landscaping, you either need to make them yourself or find a contractor that knows how to do it for you.
Here’s the step-by-step process to create your own artificial rocks so you can get started on your own, and don’t have to go through the hassle of getting a contractor when you’d rather be working on your landscaping!
3 Steps To Create Artificial Rocks
The good news is that making artificial rocks isn’t as difficult as you might expect, as long as you have the right tools! We’d recommend using an applicator spray gun at least for the final texturing for your rocks. That way you can get a fast, even, application on the rocks.
Here’s how to make it happen!
Step 1: Build A Frame
The first step is to decide on the shape and size of your artificial rocks, and then to build a simple frame you can build out with concrete. Depending on the needs of your landscape, you can build a more complex frame to create a waterfall with multiple levels, stairs leading to a different part of the landscape, or a simple rock wall to transition between levels of the landscape.
The more complex your finished design, the more complex and detailed the frame should be. Make sure you have a plan before you get started.
Step 2: Make Sure You Have A Solid Structure
The next step is to add in the bulk of the concrete that forms the actual structure of your artificial rocks. Don’t worry too much about getting the texture of this concrete right. Instead, pay attention to the shape and structure, especially if you need your artificial rocks to be weight-bearing. Stairs, waterfalls, and structural elements all need to be solid to be safe.
Step 3: Apply The Texture Layer
Once you have the basic shapes of the artificial rocks built, the next step is spraying on your finishing texture. Feel free to customize the spray texture with a trowel, brushes, and other tools to create cracks, rock grain, and other elements of natural rock.
Optional Step: Painting and Customization
A lot of artificial rocks already look good enough on their own without an additional painting step. However, if you have some paint and want to take your artificial rocks to the next level, adding a little color and creating deeper shadows and brighter highlights can help your rocks stand out.
Ready To Start An Artificial Rock Project?
Having the right tools for any job will make it go faster, get done easier, and generally gives you better results.
While concrete artificial rocks can be created by hand, having an applicator spray gun makes the job a lot simpler, and helps create the perfect artificial rock texture.
Our concrete spray guns give you the accuracy and control you need to create the perfect artificial rock texture. Not to mention that the changeable nozzles that make it simple to customize and change the texture of different rocks, or get the precision you need to lay down structural concrete.
