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I have just built a fake wall from morter and would like some advice on seeling it to make it rock solid or just strong enough not to come apart over through were and tear from my collareds nails.
I was mybe thinking a coat of varnish or something, but wont that make it to shiny and spoil the whole effect of a natural rock look??
Any advice would be great.. Thanx
may be able to help ya! I saw your first post, but never made any fakle walls (YET) so have no answer buddy !
Hang in there someone will know! 
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Eve
First of all...what type of background did you apply your mortor too
Second...how thick did you apply it.
Third...what type of Mortor did you use.
Fourth...how many people do you think make mortar walls LOL...
If I were to do this type of work, I would first attach some type of metal or plastic lathe over the wood I wanted to apply the mortar too. Secondly, although not necessary, I may built up my mortar to at least 1/2" thick...likely two coats of 1/4" each. With my first coat, I would use two types of sand in my concrete mix...a coarse aggregate, and a fine aggregate. Let this set up over night.
Next, I would apply a fine coat...two types of sand...fine sand, and very fine sand mixed with the portland cement. This will give you a strength undercoat with a nice smoothe (although texturable) finish coat.
For sealing it, you can use most concrete type sealing products...like Thompsons for concrete. I don't believe it will take away at all from the naturalness.
John Eddington
I used styrafoam cut to shape and siliconed this to the back
wall. I then shaped and textured the styrafoam.
I then mixed 1 part fine silver sand with 2 part morter and
added water to give a nice solution to work with then as you
mentioned in your post added one layer let it set for 24 hrs
then added another. I never used mesh or nails on the styrafoam
before applying the morter as i had really cut into it to give
the morter something to stick to.
I got the idea to use morter from a website but lost the link
so i pretty much used my innitiative. Do you think the morter
is a bad choice to use for a wall?
monitor forum the other day,maybe you can e-mail him and ask for some tips?ill post a link to the thread and you can try and e-mail him through that
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see yah laterz people
jason
"the road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom for you never know what is enough until you have too much"
click me
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see yah laterz people
jason
"the road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom for you never know what is enough until you have too much"
I think if you are getting crumbling, then your ratio of cement to sand is not correct, or the mix was too dry. It hard to say. 1/2 thick should not be flaking off though. Jesper, like Jason mentioned, has turned out some awesome work in this area. I believe he puts in on in several coats, not just two. The method I have mentioned is for mixing your own mortar...not a pre-mix product, which you may have used.
John
....I just tried out some ideas the other day. I use the same basic materials I use for the fake rocks I've made...
This particular one was not very ambitious, as it is a prototype to learn more about the behavior of the mortars, and was something I just banged out in a weekend (read: not totally finished yet).
I use a styrofoam backing, and the 'thinset' mortar is applied quite a bit thinner than some have talked about (maybe 1/4" or so). There really should be no crumbling if the materials were properly mixed, mine has formed a very hard "skin" and seems pretty tight without any sort of sealer.
DC
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...cameras don't lie LOL.
DC
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Your getting quite good with those rocks.
I see no PARSLEY growing out the wall though, gee what will Johneee, make fun of now ! LMAO
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Eve
...I SAID it wasn't finished LOL.
DC
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Nice touch ! 
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Eve
...that if you look at the view which shows the whole viv, you can see that I ended the "walls" about 2" from the top of the tank, though I haven't cleaned off the mortar smears from that area yet. I replaced the lid's screen on that 40 breeder with 1/4" hardware cloth to reduce blocking of the UVB, and forsaw that the crickets would be able to squeeze through the mesh and any cracks in the fit of the lid. I was pretty much right on in anticipating that... (they and the collareds can climb the walls effortlessly) and so the plan is to clean the glass off around that 2" band and apply "bugstop" to it, similar to what I have to do with the roach colonies I have. They can climb ANYTHING!
DC
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Looks nice Don...I wish I had some time to work on some rocks. I have two nice videos, and haven't had a chance to put the knowledge to the test yet.
J
That dang COOK never SLEEPS, I see him no matter what time I flip through LMAO !!
BAM parsley it is!
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Eve
First I must say that I am not an expert. I think that the latest rocks from DC look great and I think that his advises are as good as mine.
I have tried a few other products than mortar and have found out that mortar is not the best product to use.
I can’t give you the exact name of the product I use, as it is a Danish product and probably not available in USA. The product I use now is made for setting up tiles in a bathroom. I only have to add water (and colour) and it is ready for use. The product is lighter than mortar and is much easier to work with.
I apply 3-5 thin layers and the total thickness is around ¼” or a little more. The last layer is very thin and is painted on with a brush.
Hope that this info helps you.
Jesper
nice cage. now i feel like my lizards live in the garbage dump! you are very talented for making that backdrop.
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vonnie
***One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. - A. A. Milne***
just wonderful ! I'd say you are pretty expert at this ! LOL
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Eve
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