Making artificial marble from concrete with your own hands. How to make marble from concrete with your own hands. Composition and characteristics of marble preparation

Marble, which has excellent decorative properties, has always been valued in construction. But due to the high cost of the material, not everyone can afford to use it to decorate premises. Therefore, an artificial material imitating stone was developed as an alternative. It was called artificial marble.

Description and types of material

Artificial marble is a material that is used primarily in plumbing, in the manufacture of linear and facing materials. It is used to make window sills, bathtubs, countertops, steps, decorative fountains and sculptures. It is used for finishing offices and administrative premises.

The term “artificial marble” refers not only to cast marble, which is an imitation of natural stone. There are other varieties of it that are widely used in construction, industry and interior decoration.

Types of artificial marble:

injection molding;
touchstone (or gypsum);
ground (or crushed);
flexible (or liquid).

Liteva

The most popular is cast marble - a composite material based on hardened polyester resin and mineral filler. The filler can be marble chips, quartz sand, etc.

Depending on what resins and fillers are chosen, the material can be made as an imitation of natural marble, jasper, granite, malachite, or onyx.

This is what cast artificial marble looks like in the photo

Oselkovy

Touchstone marble is a colored mass of gypsum, sealed with adhesive water, which is applied to the base and brought to a mirror shine by polishing and grinding. It can be tinted to match various materials, such as lapis lazuli, malachite, and different types of marble.

The main material for the production of semolina marble is gypsum. Special substances are added to it that slow down the setting of gypsum. The most commonly used glue is diluted in water.

The advantages of gypsum marble are low weight and high strength. With its help, you can build lightweight structures. The use of this material in residential areas helps improve the microclimate: it absorbs excess moisture or releases it if the room is too dry.

Photo of Oselkov marble

Ground (microcalcite)

Ground or crushed marble is a finely dispersed filler of mineral origin. It is a white or gray powdery substance. It is made by grinding white marble.

This material is characterized by strength, low chemical activity, resistance to ultraviolet rays. It has a bright white color and practically does not absorb moisture. Most often it is used for the production of plastic products, paints and varnishes, abrasive cleaning products, paper, linoleum, etc.

Liquid

This type of marble is one of the newest finishing materials. It consists of marble chips and acrylic polymers.

Liquid marble is very flexible, lightweight and environmentally friendly. It can be easily cut with scissors or a knife and glued to walls instead of wallpaper. Using this material, you can get a perfectly flat, seamless surface. Therefore, it is often used for cladding irregularly shaped structures, such as arches, columns, and spherical objects.

Application of liquid marble

Production of cast artificial marble

The technology for manufacturing the material is quite simple and will only require special equipment, premises, time and financial resources.

Equipment

To produce cast marble, a small set of equipment is used:

filling molds (matrices);
gelcoat sprayer;
mixer for stirring the composition;
brushes for greasing molds.

Molds for marble production are made on the basis of polyurethane rubber. High-quality matrices, which are characterized by strength and are not prone to severe deformation, are very expensive. However, their cost pays off in full, since production is highly profitable.

Composition of raw materials

To make the material, acrylic or polyester resin and marble chips are mixed in a ratio of 4:1. For bonding, you can also use cement mortar, building gypsum, lime mortar with the addition of cement. But most often it is resins that are used, since they provide high strength to the material.

The filler function is sometimes performed by decorative materials (colored sand, pebbles, colored quartz). In this case, the finished products are not an analogue of natural stone, but a fundamentally new type of finishing materials.

To achieve the required color, mineral pigments are introduced into the mixture. The material is made in different colors, with inclusions and streaks. For this purpose, a special technique for mixing pigments is used. Pigments not only color the material, but also make it more resistant to external influences. The outer protective layer of gelcoat gives the coating a glossy shine.

Production technology

The technology for manufacturing the material is very simple and not labor-intensive. It involves preparing the matrix, mixing the polyester resin and filler, pouring the resulting mixture into the matrix and curing it.

The artificial marble casting process can be divided into the following stages:

The molds are polished and a material is applied to prevent adhesion.
Gelcoat is applied to the molds. For this purpose, a special installation or cup sprayer is used.
The gelcoat is curing.
A mixture of polyester resin, filler, pigments and hardener is prepared.
The mixture is poured into molds.
The molds are vibrated to remove air from the mixture.
The material is curing.
The products are removed from the molds.
Further processing of the material is carried out (in some cases).

In the video, the production of cast marble and sinks from it:

DIY cast marble

It is quite possible to make artificial cast marble yourself. You just need to purchase all the components of the material, molds for pouring and follow the instructions.

To make cast marble you will need:

polyurethane casting mold;
film;
mixer;
brush.

In production, the filler is CaMg(CO3)2, and the hardener is Butanox M-50. At home, pebbles and cement can be used instead of these substances.

Materials for making artificial marble:

sand (river) – 2 parts;
cement – 1 part;
water – 0.2 parts;
pebbles (as filler) – 25% of the total volume;
pigment – 1% by weight of cement;
plasticizer – 1% by weight of cement;
gelcoat

Sequence of production of cast marble:

A dry and clean mold is coated with gelcoat and allowed to dry.
Mix sand, pebbles and cement. Add a plasticizer, coloring pigment and water (80%) to the mixture, mix with a mixer to obtain a plastic mass (about 30 seconds). Then add the rest of the water and stir the mixture again until smooth.
The mixture is poured into a mold, excess is removed from the edges, covered with film and left to harden for 10 hours.
The material is removed from the mold and left in the open air for some time.

In this simple way, you can obtain a material that can be used in its original form or subjected to further processing to give the desired shape.

The technology for self-production of artificial cast marble is shown in the video below:

Pros and cons, reviews

Although the composition of artificial marble is fundamentally different from its natural counterpart, it has the same technical properties. Moreover, the level of strength and wear resistance of artificially produced material is several times higher than that of natural material.

The main advantages of artificial marble:

has a high level of mechanical strength and is not afraid of impacts;
is durable and has a long service life;
almost does not conduct heat and electricity, has a high level of fire safety. Therefore, it can be used to decorate heating radiators, electric stoves, etc.;
the material does not heat up, does not delaminate, is not afraid of acids, alkalis, solvents, does not absorb fat, and does not leave stains on it. Due to this practicality, it is often used to decorate kitchens and bathrooms, and finish floors in residential, industrial and public spaces;
does not emit harmful substances, is environmentally friendly;
Thanks to the external gelcoat coating, it looks aesthetically pleasing and can be used for decorative purposes.

It combines the hardness of natural stone and ease of processing. Unlike natural marble, artificial material provides a greater degree of comfort and is always warm to the touch.

Among the disadvantages of artificial stone, many note that it cannot be considered a complete analogue of natural material. It feels more like plastic, and the top coating looks like polyurethane.

In addition, the gel coating often cracks over time. As a result, the material becomes discolored and destroyed.

Average cost of artificial marble

The marble manufacturing process involves minimal investment and very high profitability. Initially, costs are incurred for the purchase of equipment, raw materials, rent of premises and production of matrices. In the future, the cost of products is determined mainly by the cost of raw materials.

The production cost is estimated at approximately $5 per 1 sq. m. m., while the market price reaches $30 per 1 sq. m. m. or even higher.

Various are considered as beautiful, strong and durable as products made from real natural stone. After all, its production has been improved over the course of 30 years and achieved high results.

And the interior of the premises can be given a respectable look by using marble for decoration. It is believed that the owner of an apartment or company who resorts to such a technique has good taste and high status. But natural stone is quite expensive, and its artificial counterpart can be made from concrete. To do this, you will need to use the simplest ingredients, including water, cement and sand.

Preparation

Before you make marble from concrete, you need to do some preparation. To do this, you should ensure that you have:

pigment;
cement;
sand;
plasticizer.

The latter is a substance that improves the characteristics of the material. To make marble you will need molds. For this you can use those made on the basis of polymers. If you cannot find any, then you can use plastic forms. But for the solution you will need cement grade M 500. When choosing a pigment, you can give preference to oil paint. It is presented in many shades.

Types of concrete for marble

The production of artificial marble from concrete may involve the use of different types of mixture. The latter is a composition of aggregate, binder and water. Mixing the components can also be done in a concrete mixer if the amount of work is quite impressive. Taking into account different criteria, it is possible to classify the concrete mixture for marble by density.

You can get heavy, very heavy, light and very light material. In the first case, we are talking about grades in the range M 100-M 600. Lightweight concrete will correspond to the following grades: M 35-M 400; very heavy and very light concrete for marble corresponds to grades M 100-M 200 and M 25-M 200. In order to prepare a product with high strength, it is better to prefer concrete grades M 400 or M 500. The density of the concrete mixture will vary from 1800 up to 2500 kg/m2.

Materials and tools

If you decide to make marble yourself, you should ensure that you have special tools and materials. For this you will need:

polyethylene film;
water;
Oil paint;
fine sand.

When preparing paint, you must take into account the shade of the material that you will end up with. The filler can be gravel or small pebbles. M 400 grade material is sometimes used as cement. For mixing, you should prepare a container and a drill. The latter should have a mixer attachment.

Composition and characteristics of marble preparation

If you decide to make marble from concrete, then it is best to ensure that you have a vibrating table, which you can rent. For the solution you will need two parts sand and part cement. The ingredients are mixed until smooth, and then the pigment is added. It can leave stains characteristic of marble.

You can experiment by adding paints of different shades. After filling, the form is shaken, and if there is a vibrating table, it is placed on it. By the way, you can make a vibration table yourself. It can also be useful for making paving slabs. The last stage of making marble from concrete is the most labor-intensive.

It involves grinding. After the molds have dried, the products must be processed. This creates quite a lot of dust, so you should take care of several buckets of water in advance. An alternative solution is to connect a hose with good water pressure.

Technology requirements

Concrete marble can turn out no worse than natural stone. However, technology must be followed. Even window sills can be made from marble, but for this you need to find plastic trays. You can complete the forms yourself. To do this, the plastic panels are fastened together. Using the same technology, polymer concrete can also be produced, but instead of cement in this case, binders in the form of thermoactive resins will be used. Among them:

furan;
phenolic;
epoxy.

When making polymer concrete, a larger amount of filler is added to the ingredients than when making conventional concrete mortar.

Concrete marble technology may look slightly different. As a proportion, you can use the standard ratio of one to three. The filler in this case will be calcium carbonate or other neutral fillers. If you decide to prepare polymer concrete, then the solution is combined in proportions of one to four. The fillers will be coarse-grained materials. For these purposes, you can use crushed gravel or coarse sand. The materials for this are:

quartz;
limestone;
sandstone;
dolomite.

When making artificial marble from concrete, it is not enough to prepare the solution correctly. It is important to follow other stages of the technology. For example, after pouring the mixture into molds, the surface is covered with plastic film. In order to achieve higher strength of the material, it is reinforced with wire.

As soon as the mixture is poured into molds, a reinforcement cage must be placed inside. After the mixture has hardened, the products are removed from the mold and sanded. To do this, you can use diamond discs in the form of cups or a grinder. After performing this operation, the surface should be smooth, thereby resembling natural marble.

For reference

If you decide to make concrete marble with your own hands, you must remember that the products are quite durable, and they can only be processed with a diamond tool. An effective method for this is cutting reinforced concrete with diamond wheels and diamond drilling holes in the concrete.

More about technology

You know the composition of concrete marble if you read the article. It is also important to take an interest in the features of the technology. In the process of such production, it is possible to obtain artificial marble, which is also called colored or decorative concrete, as well as systrum. However, these are just different variations of names that are combined into one technology.

It has absorbed all the advantages of the semi-dry forming technique and the vibration casting technique. This allows you to make a material that will be identical to natural marble. The components are the most affordable and simple. In general, decorative concrete is ordinary, but white shades of cement are added to it, which gives the products a noble appearance.

Sometimes the production of marble from concrete involves the use of special fillers, including marble chips. It can have a variety of shades and colors. This approach is combined with subsequent processing. The surface must be polished to achieve the effect of real marble. In addition, the final stage allows the structure of the aggregate to be attractively revealed.

How and in what volume to add water?

After the dry ingredients have been combined, you can add them to the water. Combine it with the components in a ratio of one to two. First, pour in 80% of the liquid and mix everything well. Then a plasticizer is added, which increases the strength of the product.

This component will make up 1% of the total mass. Afterwards the mixture is mixed well and left for 10 minutes. During this time, the composition becomes plastic and viscous. Only after this can you pour in the remaining water.

Finally

In order to achieve the effect of natural marble, the cured product must be sanded and polished using appropriate tools. The surface is smooth and pleasant to the touch. Besides, she is very beautiful. Now all that remains is to install the marble in its place. However, before this, the surface is prepared: it is cleaned and freed from foreign objects. This is correct if the material is glued to a rough base. If dust is present, adhesion performance may be reduced.

The use of natural marble in decorative works is quite popular, but not everyone can afford such pleasure. Artificial marble can be a worthy alternative to natural stone, especially since making it yourself is accessible to any self-taught craftsman.

From this spectacular and inexpensive finishing material you can get a wide variety of household items: sinks and sinks, window sills and countertops, bathtubs and steps and much, much more.

Properties of artificial marble

Artificial marble is alloy of acrylic resins and various mineral fillers. The main ingredient of this alloy is polyester resin– characterized by high strength and good wear resistance.

Fillers added to artificial marble - multi-colored mineral chips and pigment dyes - allow you to create exactly the same stains on the man-made material as on natural stone. And the hardeners present in the alloy give this patterned beauty durability.

When using simpler technologies for the production of artificial marble, fillers can be cement-concrete mixtures, fine quartz crushed stone, pebbles, tinted sand.

Artificial marble is an excellent dielectric, it is not flammable, so it can be used without restrictions for any decorative work. The homogeneous structure does not allow it to delaminate.

Artificial marble is known for its anti-corrosion, resistance to chemical solvents and alkaline environments. This allows it to be classified as a hygienic material from which kitchen and bathroom utensils can be safely made.

Do-it-yourself artificial marble production technologies

The technologies for making artificial marble yourself are quite simple. Anyone can master this simple task, the main thing is to prepare the appropriate mold for casting.

Production of artificial marble with concrete filler

This method is the most simple and accessible. It is distinguished by elementary manufacturing technology and low cost.

1. Coat the inner surface of the matrix (mold) with gelcoat. It should be noted that types of gelcoat differ in the environment of use and color. In this case, a moisture-resistant gelcoat is suitable.
Wait until it dries completely and only then fill the form with filler - gypsum or concrete mortar. Add clay or slaked lime as a plasticizer.
Now we begin to prepare the filler for the main layer of the product. You will need to thoroughly mix cement and sand in a 1:2 ratio. Then add pebbles or crushed stone as a filler along with a plasticizer. Again you need to mix thoroughly (best in a mixer) until a homogeneous consistency is formed.
Finally, pigment dye should be added unevenly into different sectors of the form - this creates a pattern characteristic of marble with specks and veins.
The matrix, set strictly horizontally, should be filled with small doses of liquid artificial marble. It should fill all the voids of the form. If there is excess solution, it should be removed with a spatula. The filling must be covered with plastic wrap.
Now you need to let the solution dry. In natural conditions, this may take, depending on the thickness of the artificial marble, a day or even more. The temperature should be positive.
The dried slab, removed from the mold, should be treated with a grinding machine and a transparent polish.

Production of artificial marble based on polyester resins

This technology will require large material costs, but the result will be distinguished by an excellent appearance of the external surface. The resulting product will be light and durable, resistant to chemical and physical influences.

The solution for artificial marble can be prepared in two ways:

used to produce polymer concrete polyester resin (20%) and bulk filler (80%) is added to it; any mineral or sand crushed into crumbs is most often used as a filler;
polyester resin can be replace with a mixture of AST-T and butacryl in a ratio of 50 x 50 and add 50% quartz sand or crushed stone to it. Acrylic-based pigment dyes are used to add color to marble.

Manufacturing process steps:

The solution that fills the form is leveled with a spatula. Sometimes a chipboard board is used as an additional filler: it should be cut 50 mm smaller than the contour of the matrix and pressed into the mass. The excess that appears after the board is immersed must be leveled along the inner sides of the casting.
After drying, the hardened product is removed from the mold.
The finished product is ground, drilled, or other machining methods.

Making artificial marble from gypsum

Making marble on a gypsum basis with your own hands is quite simple. This does not require any special material costs.

Pour dry plaster into a container with water, then add wood glue and resin dissolved in a hot turpentine bath. All ingredients must be mixed thoroughly. After this, acrylic or pigment dyes are dipped into the mixture to produce veins and streaks.

If you need to get milky artificial marble, then you should add to the solution: 200 grams of white gumax, 1 kilogram of industrial alcohol and 50 grams of dry gypsum. If the final product is to be coffee or brown in color, orange humilax is added to the mixture. Black marble is made using aniline dye.

Stages of the production process:

The liquid mixture should be poured into a polyurethane or plastic mold. To get rid of excess water and achieve quick setting of the solution, it must be sprinkled with dry plaster.
Since plaster dries quickly, the finished product is removed from the mold after 8-10 hours.
To make the outer layer of marble waterproof, it would not hurt to treat it with potassium silicate. To do this, the ingot is thickly coated on both sides with a brush or completely immersed in the bath.
The dried surface is polished either with soft felt or a similar abrasive agent while adding polish of the required shade. The treatment continues until an almost mirror-like surface is achieved.

Video: how to make marble with your own hands?

Despite the obvious advantages of natural materials, they are expensive, for this reason many people pay attention to artificial marble. There are various ways to make it yourself; the simplest technology available at home is casting in molds.

A tabletop made of cast marble is durable, moisture-proof and perfectly imitates real stone. The only difficulty is the correct selection of parameters, since a thin product will have increased fragility, and a thick product, despite its modest size of one meter, will have a lot of weight. Any color can be selected for the material - snow-white, blue, gray, black with piercing veins, giving it a granular-crystalline structure.

What are the characteristics of the material?

High-quality cast marble is obtained by mixing polyester resin with pigment mineral dyes and hardeners. A simpler manufacturing method involves using a cement-concrete mixture with the addition of large or small quartz crushed stone, pebbles, and tinted sand. To master the mixing technique and obtain the desired color, texture with stains and stains, you will first need to practice and try to prepare cast marble in small volumes.

Artificial stone not only perfectly reproduces the appearance of natural material, but also has such positive characteristics as:

resistance to heat and open fire;
high dielectric properties, since it is not a conductor of electric current;
resistance to treatment with any detergents, except those containing abrasive substances;
high hygienic and environmental characteristics.

This is largely facilitated by the homogeneous structure, which does not delaminate over a long period of operation, and the outer surface treated with gelcoat has good decorative and protective functions.

Manufacturing technology using concrete filler

The method is very simple, affordable and requires minimal investment, so it is widely popular. Tabletops and cutting boards made using this technology have high strength and environmental characteristics.

To make them, you will need a mold made of plastic, polyurethane, gypsum, or other suitable material. If there are no special complaints about the matrix, then you can make it yourself from any metal corners, wooden blocks, using a glass blank as the bottom. The basic requirements for the design are that the surface must be perfectly smooth, dry, and, for ease of removal of the finished product, also detachable.

Having prepared the mold, the inside is coated with gelcoat - a special gel-like substance that differs in color, as well as in the medium of use, so you should choose a moisture-resistant option. When it is completely dry, the matrix can be filled with a solution made from concrete or gypsum. If necessary, to increase fluidity and normalize hydration processes, slaked lime and clay are used as a plasticizer.

The mixture is prepared in a mixer from sand and cement in a 2:1 ratio, using crushed stone and pebbles as filler. When a homogeneous mass is obtained, pigment dye begins to be added to the container in different portions and continues mixing until veins and spots form.

After this, the prepared mixture is poured in small portions into a mold placed in a horizontal plane. At this stage, it is important that the mass evenly fills all the voids, so it is added slightly more than the required volume. Wait a little until it spreads and remove the excess with a spatula.

Finally, the filling is covered with plastic wrap and left to dry in natural conditions at above-zero temperatures for at least 24 hours. In some cases, depending on the thickness of the workpiece, the time increases. After removing the dried slab from the mold, it is treated with a grinding machine, then with a transparent polish, which forms a durable and elastic film on the surface.

Polymer-based cast marble

In terms of money, this option will cost a little more, but the finished product is durable, lightweight, resistant to physical and chemical influences, and its texture perfectly imitates natural material.

The production of polymer concrete for pouring into molds can be carried out in several ways:

Made from polyester resin, one part of which is mixed with 4-5 parts of filler. Quartz sand, another neutral colored mineral, crushed into fine crumbs, is well suited for these purposes.
Using a two-component mixture of AST-T with butacryl (self-hardening plastic). The powder and liquid included in its composition are diluted in a 1:1 ratio and, depending on the volume obtained, the same amount of crushed stone and quartz sand is added. Painting in the desired color is done with acrylic-based pigments.

Having prepared the solution, fill the mold with it, and level the surface with a spatula. Then, applying force, they are compacted using a special blank. It can be cut from a chipboard board, the dimensions of which should be smaller than the contour of the matrix. The product is left to dry. Next, it is removed from the mold and subjected to further processing - cut, ground, polished, the necessary holes are prepared, or other types of work are carried out.

Gypsum based material

Gypsum is an affordable, easy-to-work material, so making artificial marble from it at home will not require much expense or effort. First, prepare a container and pour water into it, in which dry plaster with wood glue and resin dissolved in a heated turpentine bath are mixed. All components are thoroughly mixed and, without stopping the process, they begin to gradually add acrylic dyes and pigment, trying to obtain stains and veins.

To give artificial marble a milky color, white gumax, rubber-based glue and latex are added. But if brown shades or a coffee tone are needed, then orange humilax is added. A pronounced black polish can be obtained using aniline dye.

The prepared mass is poured into a mold made of plastic or polyurethane. To speed up the setting process and remove excess water from the mixture, additionally sprinkle dry plaster on top. Usually after 8–10 hours the product is removed and left to dry completely.

You can give the front surface waterproof characteristics by treating it with potassium silicate, for which the workpiece is lightly immersed in a bath of solution or applied with a brush. When the base is dry, they pass over it with soft felt, then add polish of the desired shade, and polish until the ideal result is obtained.

How to care for artificial marble?

Although the artificial material created by yourself is highly durable and resistant to various influences, it requires special care. By following the tips of specialists, you can significantly extend its service life. According to them:

Do not use cleaning products that contain drying oil or silicone;
sponges, brushes, and other coarse-bristled products are not suitable for cleaning as they can damage the top protective layer of marble;
the surface should be wiped with a soft cloth, using only gel-based products instead of abrasives, and for regular cleaning - regular soap;
To maintain the original glossy shine of the product, it must be wiped with a composition made from liquid soap dissolved in water, and then with a clean towel.

Artificial marble is a wonderful and affordable decoration for your home – kitchen, bathroom and other rooms. By approaching its manufacture with all responsibility, and then properly caring for it and protecting it from adverse influences, it will be possible, while maintaining an attractive appearance, to extend its service life.

Marble began to be used for finishing rooms and external walls of buildings in ancient times. But this is far from accessible material to everyone. The price of natural marble starts from 20 thousand rubles per square meter. A more economical replacement is artificial marble - made from concrete and other materials. Artificial stone is 4 times cheaper than natural stone if purchased in stores. But with certain skills you can make it yourself.

Characteristics of artificial stone

Not only marble made from concrete is called artificial stone, but also ceramic granite. The production technology of these materials is almost identical. But they are used in different ways.

Ceramic granite is considered harder and more resistant to mechanical damage, so it is more often than marble used for coatings in areas with intense pedestrian traffic: floors in shopping centers, supermarkets, subways, and transport centers. In residential premises, porcelain tiles are used to cover the walls and floors of hallways, kitchens, and bathrooms.

Marble is less durable, but thanks to the dyes it has a beautiful pattern. Its scope of application is tabletops and bar counters, railings of fences and stairs, decorative elements, plumbing components, window sills and artificial columns.

Custom concrete marble can come in almost any shape, color and pattern. These parameters depend solely on the imagination and solvency of the buyer.

Natural marble is in many ways inferior to its artificial counterpart. A tabletop made of natural material will weigh 3-4 times more than one of a similar shape and size - made of synthetic material.

The color palette of natural stone is limited, while artificial marble can be painted in any shade and can even be made to glow.

Manufacturing techniques

Several marble production technologies are used on an industrial scale. The composition of the mixtures depends on the chosen method. The most popular are casting and gypsum methods and the production of marble from concrete. Technologies for the production of artificial marble in both cases have much in common.

Casting method

Marble using the casting method is made from quartz sand or waste from the production of natural stone - marble chips. Polyester resins give the mixture integrity, and with the help of pigment the product can be given any shade. Cast marble has the following characteristics:

In addition to the main components of the mixture, a number of tools, preparations and special equipment are used in the production of cast marble. These include:

molds for filling;
anti-adhesive composition for mold processing;
vibrating table;
equipment for polishing finished marble structures;
gelcoat

Anti-adhesive mixtures are used to treat the molds after removing the hardened stone.

The composition of such preparations includes paraffin or silicone dissolved in kerosene, white spirit or gasoline.

It is necessary to choose the composition based on the desired appearance of the stone.

To obtain a matte surface, a silicone mixture is suitable, while a wax anti-adhesive composition gives the final product a gloss, the surface becomes a little greasy.

The procedure for making cast marble is as follows:

Gelcoat is a polymer resin that is given a desired shade using dyes. He performs several functions: protects the surface from damage, “closes” the pores of the product and colors it. The gelcoat is applied with a brush or spray in several layers. After the topcoat has dried (for gelcoat this is approximately 2-3 hours), the product is ready for use.

Gypsum marble

An alternative to stone made from natural chips is gypsum marble. Production using this recipe is much cheaper. Base mixture contains the following components:

First, plaster, glue and water are mixed, then resin is added, and everything is mixed using a mixer. Then are added components for coloring:

black color is produced by aniline dye;
a coffee shade can be obtained by using orange humilax (200 g) and 1 liter of industrial alcohol per 50 kg of gypsum;
For snow-white marble, white humilax is used.

The mixture is poured into a mold and dried for 10 hours at room temperature. After complete hardening, the artificial “gypsum” marble is removed, treated with potassium silicate, dried and polished with felt.

Gypsum marble is the lightest type of artificial stone, but also one of the most fragile. On its basis, decorative elements are usually made that are not subject to significant loads.

Concrete based

To manufacture a single product, it is not necessary to contact third-party manufacturers. If there are a number of readily available ingredients, anyone can create an artificial stone. You can make marble from concrete with your own hands. In addition to cement, marble contains sand, plasticizer and water. This greatly reduces the cost of artificial stone compared to the casting method. There are also certain requirements for such simple components.

For the production of marble from concrete they use the following materials and equipment:

Production begins with careful sifting of sand. This will help get rid of excess impurities. The first to mix the basic components is cement and sand. The ratio of these components in the composition may vary depending on the scope of application of the final product.

For parts that will be subject to a large amount of mechanical damage in the future - curbs, external cladding, paving slabs - you need to mix cement and sand in a ratio of 1:3.
If you plan to make a countertop, ceiling or staircase element, or window sill from artificial marble, then the proportions should be 1:2.
For decorative elements, cement and sand are mixed in a 1:1 ratio.

The mixture is then diluted with water. The volume of water is calculated based on the volume of the dry mixture: the recommended proportion is 1 part water to 2 parts of the mixture. First add about three-quarters of the water and mix. Then a plasticizer is added to the mixture at the rate of 1-2% by weight of cement and mixed.

For the best distribution of the plasticizer, the mixture is left for 10-15 minutes, and then the remaining water is poured in and mixed again.

The last component is dye. To achieve the desired shade, one or more pigments can be added. It is usually recommended to use pigment at a rate of 1% of the weight of the cement (rather than the entire mixture), but the effectiveness of dyes varies, so this ratio may not give the desired result. The most popular dyes and their The recommended dosages are as follows:

titanium oxide gives the mixture a white color (or white streaks and streaks), the recommended dosage is from 2 to 4%;
minium - red-orange pigment - 5%;
chromium oxide colors the composition green and is added in a volume of 3−5% of the weight of cement;
The recommended amount for ocher is 5%, as a result the marble is painted in shades from light yellow to brown.

Special pigments for concrete are also produced. When determining their dosage, you must follow the manufacturer's instructions.

After adding the dye, the composition should not be thoroughly mixed, since marble has an uneven color distribution.

The finished mixture is poured in parts into a mold treated with anti-adhesive agents, paying special attention to the recesses. If the planned product is large, part of the composition is poured into the mold, mesh or wire is laid, and only then the rest of the liquid base is added. Typically, countertops and massive slabs, borders, and volumetric decorative elements require reinforcement. After pouring, the mold is covered with film and left until completely hardened.

Artificial marble hardens for a long time; this will take at least 7-12 days. The finished stone is removed from the mold, polished if necessary and coated with a final protective layer of resin (gelcoat).

Nuances of operation

With proper finishing treatment of artificial marble of any origin, products made from it will last for years. One of the ways to increase the durability of the stone is surface painting and coating with water-acrylic varnish.

This is especially true for stone used in exterior decoration, since water-acrylic varnish is not affected by sunlight.

As a result, the marble decorative element will not change its color and will not become covered with unpleasant yellow spots for 10-15 years.

When installing the product, avoid over-tightening fasteners. A marble slab installed skewed or with strong pressure on the corners may not withstand the load and burst. When facing rooms with high humidity, it is necessary to monitor the condition of the plumbing, to prevent leaks and stone from being dug.

Falling heavy objects with sharp corners can damage the marble. Do not cut food directly on the countertop; use cutting boards.

The surface should be cleaned using only liquid cleaning agents. Compositions with abrasives destroy the protective coating of artificial stone, causing micro-scratches in which food debris, dust and other contaminants accumulate. Hard brushes and metal meshes should be abandoned, giving preference to soft fabrics.