Homemade stepping stone molds

In today’s post, I will explain in detail, how to make a mold. And then how to cast your pieces in your homemade stepping stone molds. This can be quite an easy project. Unless you make them with complex colors or outrageous surfaces.

To Start.

First, you will need a very level surface to work on. It is best if it’s a bench at a good working height, around 30-32” high is good. Now you need to decide how thick you would like your stepping stone to be and what sizes you need. I wouldn’t attempt circular ones on your first attempts as making a perfect circular mold takes a lot more skill and different tools.

I/We promote transparency. This post or site may contain affiliate links. This means only if you make a purchase through these links, not just by clicking, I/we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

Once you have decided on your thickness, it is time to find a suitable material to make the sides of the molds. Wood is fine, and something you can buy off the shelf and your local Home Depot or lumber yard would be perfect. I don’t recommend anything over 2” unless you expect some very heavy traffic of some kind.

Sourcing The Wood For Your Homemade stepping stone molds

Normal sizes for this sort of application are 16” x 16”, 18” x 18” or 24” x 24”, the 24’s tend to get a bit heavy, so a little harder to install/lay.

Around a 1 ½” is perfect for most stepping stones, and you might want to make a stone patio down the road and you could use these for that project too. So buy some 1 ½” x 1 ½” material, 1x 8ft length for each 18” x 18” mold, this will depend on your available level table or another working area. It is very advantageous to check your intended working area with a level, preferably with a laser level. If you have never used one of these laser levels before, once you do you will be hooked. A handy piece of kit for so many projects, picture hanging, shelves and tiling. There will be other things to buy so at the end I will summarise what’s needed.

So now you need to cut your wood into suitable lengths, for the 18” or the 16” dividing into 4 equal lengths would be fine.

Now you need screws, a screw gun, a tape measure, and a square and I would advise the use of a drill and a small pilot drill to stop the wood splitting, 2 ¼” screws should work fine. But it does depend on the wood to a certain degree.

Assemble your frame(s) as shown in my little sketch, with the little extra lengths like this it’s easier to add something extra if it’s needed to keep your frame square and not hinder you too much when pouring the concrete.

Double Check.

When making your homemade stepping stone molds, making sure your 2 diagonal measurements are exactly the same is very important. Use your square to start with, drill your wood in the right spot with your pilot drill, and screw your frames together, do not bury the heads of the screws too deep, otherwise, it will be a lot harder to take apart later. Now it’s time to think about and make your final decision on what you would like the surface of your homemade stepping stone to look like. It’s the bottom of your frame mold on the surface that you place it that forms the finished surface.

The Surface Of Your Homemade Stepping Stone Molds

If you want a smooth surface then laying some thick plastic sheet down first is very helpful as it lets your stepping stone come off the surface really easily when it’s dry, the negative can be that it is too smooth. If you want a ripple effect then soft thin plastic like the temporary plastic sheet for covering furniture while decorating can work well. Put the plastic down first again, place your frames then pull the plastic up here and there making folds and creases. Coating the plastic with a little cooking oil will make them very easy to take apart later and coat the frames too.

Choosing Finishes For Your Homemade Stepping Stone Molds.

If you want to get a little more creative, then buy some bags of decorative stones of different colors, or shells, use your imagination a little and experiment, don’t use any material that’s too big otherwise the cement will get under it when you pour and most of whatever it was you put in there will be lost.

 Now your chosen surface is ready, oiled up and some form of texture in place if you chose that finish, now put some bricks of similar on the corners, at least 2, to keep the frames down and you’re ready to mix and pour your concrete.

For this, you will need a 4 – 1 mix to be on the safe side and it depends on what size of bagged materials are available in your area. If they are 50Lb bags then 1 bag of cement and 4 bags of sand will make you  250Lbs of mix and if it’s a 100Lb bag of cement, just double it, get you mix ratios right is important for strength and uniform color. So buying bagged goods helps with that task.

For Each Piece

16 x 16 x 1 ½  = 32Lbs

18 x 18 x1 ½  = 40Lbs

24 x 24 x1 ½  = 70Lbs

Color.

Any final color will be dependent on your local aggregate color, white or grey cement, a good even mix and any pigments you may decide to put in the mix, if you do use color, weigh it accurately with the electronic kitchen scales.

Now mix your mud up with the way you have at your disposal not to wet place it in the molds. Tap around the edges with a hammer to help remove the air. Then screed off the top of your concrete level with your frames. Let it set up a little more and then run a trowel over them for a final finish. No trowel, then make a slow and better job of your screeding off of the frames.

You may think it’s not too important to worry about the bottom side of your homemade steppingstone molds. But it will make it far easier to install them later.

Curing.

Depending on the time of year and whether you’re inside or out, let them dry. 24 hrs is normally ok but longer would be better. When you come to taking your frames apart to get the pieces out. Try to just take the screws out from one corner, the frames will last longer this way.

Materials List.

• 1 1/2 “ Wood
• 2 ¼” screws
• Plastic sheeting thick, & thin.
• Small drill bit
• Cement
• Aggregate
• Cooking oil, pot and brush.

Tools Needed,

• Saw, hand or power.
• hammer,
• square,
• tape measure,
• pencil,
• screw gun and bit,
• drill,
• level,
• shovel,
• bucket,
• trowel and a
• straight edge for a screed,
• a laser level.

Contact.

If you would like any further information on this topic or other methods, please contact us and we will respond. We are sorry for the confirmation of your request but government rules dictate the need. Thank you for your understanding.

Author and sketch artist Rob