A backyard garden seems bare if all you can see is soil and plants, why not accentuate your little piece of heaven by doing a bit of DIY concrete work? You could put in a concrete walkway, some flower boxes would be nice, or better yet why not make your own brick and concrete fire pit or grill? The possibilities are endless, all you need to find now are some affordable concrete tools for sale and you are on your way to greatly improving the look of your garden.
Prior to what most beginners at DIY concrete projects might believe, working with concrete includes more than just laying down the form then pouring and smoothing out the concrete. If you want your project to look great and not become an eyesore in your garden you need to employ a few tools for working the concrete to bring out its beauty. If you are unaware of what the different types of concrete tools here are some of the more important ones that you should get:
Concrete Hand Tools
If you are working on a small concrete project like a small pathway or an outdoor grill you do not need to use any heavy machinery to mix and pour the concrete. For small projects all you need are simple concrete hand tools to prepare and apply the concrete. You will need the basics like an aluminum shovel to mix and work the concrete, a hand trowel to apply and smooth out the concrete surface and you might also want to invest in a good hand edger to give your projects nice looking edges.
Concrete Finishing Tools
When you remove the molds off from your concrete casting you will find that the surface is not what you might call pretty. There will be a lot of rough spots, some air pockets and there will also be some cracks and pieces falling off. Leaving your project like this is just poor workmanship on your part which is why you need to use concrete finishing tools to at least make your project look a bit decent. Hand trowels of different sizes can help you apply plaster over all of the imperfections making them look a whole lot better than before.
Concrete Scoring Tools
Scoring a concrete surface once it has dried and cured properly will allow you to put a beautiful stain on it that will make the surface look like it contains a number of different tiles when in fact it is only one large slab of concrete. Scoring looks great on concrete pathways, patios and terraces. Concrete scoring tools that you can use to get this effect include a diamond-bladed cut-off wheel and/or a handheld grinder with a concrete cutting blade.
These tools can also be used as concrete cutting tools. When you want to repair that pothole in your driveway you do not have to tear apart the whole thing and repave it all. You can just use concrete cutting tools to isolate the place you want to repair and leave the rest of the driveway alone.
These tools are a bit expensive so if you are short on cash but would still want to go on with your project you can either look for used concrete tools for sale or just rent them.
Concrete Engraving Tools
A bare concrete surface is boring, and also a bit on the ugly side, so to add a tinge of design and class to your concrete projects you may want to consider doing some engraving on them. You can use ready-made patterns and use a heavy duty sandblaster to bring out the design. You can also use pneumatic grinders to create beautiful concentric circles, grid lines, and other designs on your concrete floors. Or if you are quite artistic and can work quite well with your hands you can use a handheld concrete engraver to create detailed works of art.
Now that you know about the tools that you can use to work with concrete now you would want to know where to get them, and if you have tight purse strings where to get them cheap, you will find that there are actually lots of places where you can get great quality and affordable concrete tools for sale. Of course the place you can easily get them is over the internet.
When you do a quick search in search engines for concrete tools for sale NZ you will get a long list of websites that offer these tools, but before you give out your credit card number you need to do a couple of things to make sure that you are getting the best deals.
- If you are not planning on using them for a living, looking for concrete tools for sale used will be the best way you can save on money. Look carefully at the pictures of the tools and check if you can find any visible wear and tear on them. The trouble with buying things over the internet is that you cannot inspect the tools personally, look for sellers that provide lots of close-up pictures of the tools so you can have a good idea of their actual condition.
- Some of the bigger concrete tools for sale like the sandblasters and concrete engravers are expensive, upwards of a thousand dollars even for a secondhand set, so instead of buying them look for people you can rent them from. Renting tools is a lot better than spending thousands of dollars on machines that you will be using sparingly in the next couple of years.
- Look for brand name tools, these are sure to last so even if you buy them secondhand they will still work great. These tools are better simply because a lot more work is put into making them than in the cheaper brand new tools from unknown makers.
Just like with other DIY projects, your success in working with concrete will depend on your tools and skill. So look for the best concrete tools for sale that you can afford and start working!