He Turned Bare Backyard Soil Into a Patio With One Plastic Mold: Now the Whole Space Looks Like It Was Paved With Stone
Stone patios can start with stacks of paving pieces, but this one began with bags of concrete and a red plastic mold. Its divided openings shaped wet concrete into irregular pieces, turning a bare patch beside an existing slab into a patterned seating area.
Shared by Imgur user benuntu, the project used a Quikrete WalkMaker to form successive sections across the prepared ground. The construction photos reveal how the stone-like surface grew one mold placement at a time, with gaps separating the individual shapes.
Tan polymeric jointing sand filled those gaps at the finish, while bendable edging and a narrow gravel border outlined the patio. Two chairs and a table now occupy ground that had been exposed soil beside the lawn.
Bare Ground Left a Gap Beside the Existing Patio
Disturbed soil stretched between the lawn and the curved edge of a concrete slab, with shovels and a rake lying across the work area. String lines marked the footprint, and the red mold waited on the existing paving beside a hammer and water container.
Keeping the slab gave the new surface a fixed edge to meet. The project expanded the paved area into the adjoining ground rather than removing the concrete already there.
String Lines Defined Where the Pattern Would Go
Wood stakes and orange string outlined the cleared patch beside the outbuilding. Bags of concrete sat near the wall, while a curved stack of landscape blocks occupied one side of the work area.
Inside the marked boundary, the ground had been cleared and raked. The mold’s square footprint would establish the repeated sections, but its internal divisions would keep the finished surface from looking like a grid of square slabs.
The First Row Revealed the Stone-Like Shapes
Fresh concrete pieces formed a narrow strip beside the existing slab, mixing broad polygonal shapes with smaller sections between them. Their tops showed smoothing marks, while rougher sides remained exposed along the open joints.
Those separate edges account for much of the stone effect. Instead of scoring lines into one continuous pour, the mold formed distinct pieces with spaces around them.
Repeated Placements Extended the Strip
A wider band of concrete reached across the site, showing how neighboring mold sections joined into a larger pattern. A canopy stood above the work, with unopened bags and tools still gathered beside the building.
After the second course, the builder reported that “a wetter mix is best,” describing about five quarts of water per 80-pound bag and a yield of roughly one and a half mold sections. Those figures record the mix used for this project; water requirements for another concrete product should follow its bag instructions.
Close Views Show Where the Mold Repeats
Viewed from above, recurring groups of large and small shapes reveal the mold’s layout. The outlines vary within each section, but matching pieces appear again as the pattern moves across the ground.
Fresh tops reflect light beside drier-looking sections, creating shade differences in the construction photo. The supplied post does not identify a stain or added concrete color, so those differences should not be treated as a separate finish.
Concrete Filled the Footprint Before the Joints Were Finished
Once the concrete work was complete, a broad field of gray pieces covered the former soil patch. Dark gaps still traced each shape, and the perimeter exposed the irregular ends of the molded sections.
The existing slab remained visible along one side, giving the new pattern a plain surface to contrast with. Empty concrete bags near the wall recorded the repeated mixing and placement behind the finished footprint.
Tan Joints and a Curved Border Completed the Patio
Sakrete tan polymeric jointing sand changed the gaps from dark channels into pale lines around the gray concrete. The contrast makes each outline easier to read, giving the surface the appearance of separate stones laid beside one another.
Bendaboard edging follows the curved foreground boundary, with gravel between the concrete pieces and the surrounding ground. Two woven chairs face a small table, turning the added paving into a seating spot beside the lawn rather than an extension used for circulation alone.
The Mold Is the Detail Worth Noticing
Would you choose this irregular pattern or use a mold with straighter shapes? The stone-like outlines suit the curved border here, while a more geometric design could create a sharper contrast with the lawn.
Joint color offers another choice: the tan fill emphasizes each piece, while a closer match to the concrete would make the pattern less pronounced. That decision could change the finished appearance without changing the mold.
Images and project details: Imgur user @benuntu.