I haven't finished experimenting yet MB because with the pure cement on top Greg thinks if that was in the aviary and the birds managed to chew at it he thinks it would kill them.

 

Funny thing is, upon looking up ingredients the rapid set conrete has more harmful ingrecients in it than the cement does.

 

cement

 

rapid set concrete

Yeah... it was about 2inches thick, plus the bits that went down in the cracks of the pavers. How many bags??? Ummm... I think it was about 4??? I never had an issue with my birds eating it. Mine rarely seem to venture down to the ground, and to this day, it still seems undisturbed.

Once it has been wet and then set it's not dangerous, the main danger with cements is that when they dry they heat up and dehydrate the water which means that if you ingest cement dust or even have your sking in contact with wet cement for too long it will extract water from your body and dehydrate you. Once the cement has done it's setting it becomes basically inert and harmless

Hills when you mix the dolomite and cement and spread it out and then you wet it right. Well what I was wandering did it look grey like cement once dry ir did it look like sand but rock hard.

 

Yes that's right. The dolomite sand I used is grey anyway, so it just looked like dolomite but rock hard.

Edited November 29, 200816 yr by Hills

Hills is dolamite fine powder or coarse like sand'

So eveb though I put pure cement over top if the birds eat it ot nibble or chew at it it will not hurt them.

 

Here are a couple of pics of my finished project.

 

But I am still going to experiment on my aviaries because I want more of a cement look.

I will keep in contact when I start.

 

 

Looks good!

 

Dolomite sand is coarser than sand depending on how fine they crush it. Unfortunately ours is covered with straw so I can't post a picture, but it just looks like rough cemet.

 

This is the stuff:

 

 

We're just about to head out, but I'll post up some tips on how to make it look more cement like tomorrow morning

Edited November 29, 200816 yr by Hills

Looks great

Worked well, didnt it

THis is how I did the floor of our rabbit cage.

 

Spread a mix of dolomite sand and cement a couple of cm thick on the floor of the cage and tread it down. I used about a bag of cement per wheel barrow load of dolomite sand.

 

Get 2 pieces of wood that are about the length of the cage and place them parallel with the side walls but about 6 inches in from the walls. Use a level to make sure they are perfectly level with each other but slope very slightly in one direction to allow drainage. Spend a bit of time getting this right as its the most important part. See picture below if this is confusing.

 

Fill around these piece of wood with the mix of dolomite sand and cement mix. Then get a third piece of wood that is about 6 inches shorter than the width of the cage and use it to slide along the other 2 pices of wood to smooth out the dolomite mix.

 

Then stomp on every bit of dolomite to pack it down as much as possible and then refill the area with the mix and repeat the smoothing process with the 3rd piece of wood. Then stomp again and smooth again. The more times you do this the less dolomite mix you will need to level it up to the same height as the pieces of wood.

 

Once it is really firm and you can walk on it without leaving foorprints, take out the 2 pieces of wood and fill in the holes they leave and pack that down.

 

Once you've got it looking really smooth, spray it with a really fine mist so that the water doesn't disturb any of the dolomite. Leave it for a while to soak in then spray again.

 

Edited November 29, 200816 yr by Hills

That sounds like hard work Hills all the stamping :ohmygod:

Don't you mix the dolomite and cement together?

 

When I did the holding room I just mixed the sand and cement together using a rake then levelled it out then sprayed it with water did have to stamp it and it set rock hard.

C'mon, the stomping is the most fun part! :ohmygod:

 

Yeah I mixed the dolomite and cement together in the wheel barrow.

 

Sand might be different to dolomite sand as you can really pack dolomite sand down into a firm base. Sand might just settle that way on its own as its finer. I think if you left dolomite sand uncompressed you'd find it would crack really easily later on or when you water it, it would settle into an uneven surface.

 

I'm sure what you've done will do a great job!

C'mon, the stomping is the most fun part!

:ratty: :ohmygod:

 

Yeah I mixed the dolomite and cement together in the wheel barrow.

 

Sand might be different to dolomite sand as you can really pack dolomite sand down into a firm base. Sand might just settle that way on its own as its finer. I think if you left dolomite sand uncompressed you'd find it would crack really easily later on or when you water it, it would settle into an uneven surface.

 

I'm sure what you've done will do a great job!

 

I will inquire about the dolomite.

:ohmygod: Yeah that's the way!!

 

Most garden centres will have it, just make sure you say dolimite sand as dolomite rubble is the grey gravel you use in driveways.

okay Hills will do. it sounds like the dolomite gravel is like the blue steel or wjat ever it is called that is use for footpaths and roads etc :ohmygod:

IF you lay cement over a previous layer, rake the bottom layer so its rough- that way the top layer will adhere or else it will flake off after a while if layed over smooth. Also wet the ground before laying the cement- the ground sucks the moisture from the cement and thats what will cause cracks.

Most concreters will stomp the smaller areas, its just to rid of excess air that may be trapped and everything setlles better

okay Pie haven't done the aviaries yet haven't had time.

I tired this out on my aviary today sort of worked waiting for it to set 100% but Dad is not sure so he is planning on putting Melcan on the bottom of mine as well.

okay Pie haven't done the aviaries yet haven't had time. :laughter:

 

 

do you have pictures of what your averies look like?

What is your breeding room set up like?

What is Melcan?

okay Pie haven't done the aviaries yet haven't had time. :hi:

do you have pictures of what your averies look like?What is your breeding room set up like?

My Aviaries and breeding rooms are vary basic nothing flash but they do the job, I would love bigger and better but unles I get my own house it is never going to happen, I am really lucky for what I have.

Edited December 17, 200816 yr by splat

Trying my luck on one of my aviaries today the biggest, post picture tomorrow of before and after,

But gee so far a big job, cleaned aviary out then have been racking sand in have already mixed 22 bags of cement in but only half way there.

Have blisters on my hand from the rake

And it is getting too hot to finish it, the worst part will be levelling it.

More tomorrow

WOW!! 22 bags of cement!! you go girl!!! Sounds like you are moving like a rocket!! Hope your hands feel better soon.

Oops 2 bags just did the 3rd bag and I am worn out, have to level it yet.

My finger is still sore and a huge scab on top and I still have band aids on to stop me from knocking the top off but overall much better.

The worse thing is I am not allowed to get it wet. That's hard.

 

BUT as for my cheats way of cemeting the last one I did worked perfectly happy as larry, it is as hard as rock and dried just like my proper cement floor. So I am guessing this will work even better as I am using more cement and am going to try and level it better than the last one.

haha I was going to say 22 bags, you've got a massive aviary there it comes out looking great, I am sure it will