I want to glue some crusher fines to a piece of hardybacker cement board that I am using as a base for my station. The bases will be outside year round in PA weather.
Anyone had success in this area?
Hello
Beware of the hardibacker if it is allowed to stay wet it will wick up and become brittle over time. I used some scrap pieces for a outside retaining wall that no one would see and it lasted about 2 seasons. Don’t let it rest in water and you should be OK. I have used it for roof pieces and it is good.
I just glued some aquarium gravel to the pit floor of my turntable using a tightbond glue thinned with water. I spread undiluted glue then sprinkled the gravel on top then used the diluted glue sprayed from a old cleaning solution bottle to coat the top. It dried clear and appears pretty solid. I will leave the turntable out in season but when it starts to freeze I will bring it in.
Hope this helps.
I had the same experience with the HardiBacker as a base for my buildings. Water wicked in, froze, delaminated, and the whole thing just crumbled. This is what’s left of the base of my Shade gap depot after I brought it in for rebuilding. (The Fiberock board I used for the walls also fell apart.) You’re likely to fare no better in PA than I did.
I use 1/2" blue foam now for my bases (and walls). If you wanted to glue crusher fines to that, I’d get some vinyl patching concrete, slather down a 1/8" layer on the top, then pour the crusher fines on and press them into that.
For gluing siding, etc. to the foam, you can use Liquid Nails or 3M 77 Spray Adhesive.
Later,
K
What I’ve started using as a base for my stations and other buildings is PVC board. It can be found in the “Trim” section at Lowes. It comes in various widths, from 2" to 6" by 3/4" in thickness. One has a woodgrain molded in, but most are smooth sided. It does have a tendency to warp which I’ve fixed by screwing 1/2" aluminum angle length-wise on the bottom. For a wide platform I just glue 2 or 3 pieces together with PVC Pipe Cement.
I had the same problem with the Hardibacker that I used on my turntable pit. It started crumbling from the water.
Irebuilt it with the PVC board.
PVC board is expensive so I use it sparingly as a 2" foundation strip. That way my glorified plywood boxes won’t be sitting directly on the ground. The engine bay has the plastic wood foundation and it also has a hardiboard base that has been painted mulitple times. This structure will sit on a bench and not the ground.
If you look in the same section where the hardibacker is located there should be a cement board as well. it is harder to work with (cut) but it is water proof where I believe the hardibacker is water resistant. You could try painting the hardibacker and use it as a support and not as part of the structure in case it does indeed fail.
As for glue on fines I think you need to coat a base with glue then sprinkle the fines on then give it a top coat of something. I wonder if spray adhesive would work?
I used some concrete board I got at the lumber yard. Backing for tile/etc. Smooth, none of those squares like I see on these pictures. Been outside for years and still fine. No warping or de-laminating.
I’ve use 1inch blue foam for building base. I use several coats of paint, and then weather it to suit.
It must not be hardybacker as it doesn’t have the squares, it has been outside for a year,but
it is not at grade as it is on a elevated platform that has drainage.
What I need is a glue to glue on crushers
Someone recommended tightbond glues ,any one have any success with that product?
I’ve had mixed results with Titebond. Wood-to-wood, it’s good stuff. Wood-to-anything else, fughehdabboutit. Maybe some kind of waterproof caulk or roof adhesive; I’ve used that for coal loads and things of that nature. Like the patching concrete I mentioned earlier, slather it down and press the crusher fines into it.
If your base is the really dark grey stuff with what looks like fiberglass mesh in it, that’s a different product than the Hardibacker. I’ve heard people have good luck with that, but it’s a bugger to work with. If it’s a light grey sheet called “Fiberock,” then you’re up the creek. That’s the stuff I used for my interior walls, and–despite being outdoors exposed for two winters to test how it would hold up–as soon as I put the siding on the buildings and set them back out, the walls literally fell apart, with just the styrene sheet holding the roof off the ground.
Later,
K
I’d suggest acrilic aquarium adhesive for glueing on rocks.
Thanks for the ideas I may try the concrete patching mix or Portland/hydraulic cement with the crushers embedded in it.
Dave…not sure how much stone you want to glue but I know Ken found some nice rolled roofing that has a stone grit texture to it . Perhaps that make work for you? But as suggested no Hardibacker as it just makes a mess as these guys already said.
If ya wanna glue rocks together and ya got some cash ya can try this stuff
http://celltekdirect.com/glok.html
I use it in commercial applications, good news is it is industrial glue/polymer, the bad news is it cost about $30 a gallon
Oh an if it drips on something you don’t want it to yer pretty much screwed, it will stain anything
it touches
And the other good news is it’s porous, the entire surface is swiss cheese, no standing water on the surface (well usually)
And the glue is stong enough for a car to drive on it as pictured below, the rocks stayed put on this slope, the glue has been down for 2years now
