Foam board finishing options for waterfall

[Crumbs]

I am building a 20' x 30' waterfall and am interested in thoughts for finishing the foam panel and Great Stuff shell. I am considering coating it with concrete or painting it and shading etc. Its on a big scale so epoxy or silicone and a sand coating is not really an option.

thanks in advance,

Chris

[scbadiver]

I think a concrete covering would be fine. You may also get coloring for the concrete so you wouldn't have to paint it now or later. My only thought is that it should be applied heavy/thickly as the foam will degrade over time and offer little or no support for the concrete then. My other thought is to insert plenty of natural rock into the concrete as well, for asthetics only. HTH.

Any pictures of this? I'd really like to see it! Thanks.

[Crumbs]

Thanks for the response scbadiver. I am going to take some pictures tomorrow before I get started.

Can anyone recommend a method to apply the concrete? With the brush it will likely take forever. Im also interested to find out more about the concrete paint.

[reefermike1]

a saltwater waterfall?

[Crumbs]

It is just starting off as a (fw) pond with a waterfall. I am installing it inside of a club so I will have to see how far the budget takes me as it comes along. I hope im not going to get in trouble for posting now but Im getting it started tomorrow. :mixed:

[davocean]

The pond foam has carbon injected, so it holds up better than great stuff.

[Crumbs]

Thanks for the info davocean. Ill have to look into that for next time.

Ive done quite a bit of work on it this week. Here is what it is looking like for now. Im still looking into how to finish it off and what type of cement to use. Possibly usinig epoxy cement for the first layer then continue with coloured grout. It looks much better in person and I still have to trim off the access great stuff. Ill take some closeups of the rock panels next time.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/Canadian_Marine/TheCaveWaterFallBuild001.jpg

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/Canadian_Marine/TheCaveWaterFallBuild006.jpg

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/Canadian_Marine/TheCaveWaterFallBuild005.jpg

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/Canadian_Marine/TheCaveWaterFallBuild007.jpg

[B.friend]

Looks Awesome~

[Crumbs]

Thanks B.friend. It is already looking better with the access great stuff trimmed off.

Im thinking of doing the first coating with epoxy cement for added stability then continuing with sand mixed cement. Im still scratching my head at this point. lol

[Daemonfly]

These might be of intrest:

http://www.dendroboard.com/parts-construction/topic22606.html
http://www.dendroboard.com/member-s-frogs-vivariums/topic30203.html

[Crumbs]

Thanks alot for the link Daemonfly! I recall a thread on that site about a year ago where someone build a huge rock wall much bigger then the one I am. I spent alot of time but could't dig it out. Ill post some more pics soon. I am thinking about fiberglassing some of the wider pannels since they are less secure then the thin ones. Not sure if the epoxy will eat the foam though.

[Crumbs]

So I decided to re-support the horizontal panels with the screen used for grouting bathrooms. I bent it in an L and mounted it with concrete anchors to the cement wall and screwed it to the panels. Following that I used a product called Flex Bond to coat the entire wall. Flex Bond is more adhesive then cement and is a little flexible as well. It turned out to be a great combo and secured the panels as solid as I could have hoped. Here are some pics of the second coat drying still. Im doing one more coat then shading.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/Canadian_Marine/TheCaveWaterFallBuild008.jpg

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/Canadian_Marine/TheCaveWaterFallBuild009.jpg

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/Canadian_Marine/TheCaveWaterFallBuild010.jpg

[Crumbs]

Here are some new pics if anyone is interested to see how it turned out. Its just about done and this was the water test today.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/Canadian_Marine/TheCaveWaterFallBuild011.jpg

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/Canadian_Marine/TheCaveWaterFallBuild013.jpg

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii156/Canadian_Marine/TheCaveWaterFallBuild014.jpg

[scbadiver]

very nice! Good job and thanks for sharing your project!

[cdness]

Looks cool!