How to Pour Concrete Edging
Concrete edging not only provides a visual finishing touch to walkways, garden borders and transitions from patios to lawns, it also serves a very practical purpose. Concrete edging acts as a small wall to contain your patio, walkway or lawn and prevents other decorative elements from washing away or moving from place. There are a few techniques that are particular to pouring edging. While edging may require very little concrete, it can be strenuous to place, as it is hand-placed and not poured into the form. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Wheelbarrow
- Garden hose
- Water
- Flat shovel
- 2-by-4 (8 inches long)
- Bucket
- Champhor (if desired)
- Nails (if needed)
- Hammer (if needed)
- Magnesium float
Instructions
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Spray a little water into the bottom of the edging form. Don't put in enough to form puddles, just enough to dampen and darken the bottom soil.
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Pour or mix your concrete in a wheelbarrow. Don't fill it to the top; halfway is good, as you do not want it to be too heavy for you to move the wheelbarrow along the edging form. Mix the concrete around in your wheelbarrow with the flat shovel. Add a little water if necessary--you want the concrete stiff but not so dry that you can clearly see the aggregate stone in it.
Using the shovel, begin to place concrete into your forms. Work in 6-foot sections. Fill the bottom of a 6-foot span with concrete, then go back to the beginning of the section and add concrete until it reaches the height of your edging. As you fill the form with concrete occasionally mix the concrete in the form with your shovel to get rid of any air pockets. -
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Use a short piece of 2-by-4 to level the top of the concrete. Hold the 2-by-4 by its edge and "bounce" it up and down on the surface of the concrete while moving from side to side of the form. This will help to level it and get rid of any remaining air pockets. Then, hold the 2-by-4 steady and move it in a sawing motion across the surface of the concrete level to the height of your edging. This will provide a rough and level finish to your edging.
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Fill a bucket with water. Using a magnesium hand float, smooth finish your edging by holding the float so the face is at a 45-degree angle and pulling it lightly along the surface of the concrete. After every pull, dip the float in the bucket of water to clean off the concrete. Do this the entire length of your edging.
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Tips & Warnings
To lessen the chance of your edging chipping and cracking, nail champhor strips along the height of your edging on the inside of both forms. A champhor strip is a kind of inexpensive trim molding. When used in a concrete form it provides an angled or round edge to the corners of the concrete, which are harder to chip when cured.
Don't add too much water to your concrete, even if it does appear to make it easier to work with and easier to finish. Concrete with too much water loses its ability to form a bond and the finished edging will be weak, powdery and prone to breaking easily.
