Case Study Overview

Site Garden
Location Wales
Repair Type Stone repair
Defect Composite stone water fountain cracked into multiple pieces

Repair Products

Rapid 5 Minute Epoxy Adhesive,
Sylmasta AB Original Epoxy Putty

Case Study PDF

Case Study Details

The water fountain consisted of two tiers and was made from composite stone. When winter temperatures in Wales plummeted below -10°C, the upper bowl cracked into several pieces due to water inside it freezing.

When Spring arrived, the owner of the water fountain decided to try and repair and restore their favourite ornament. Not only did the upper bowl need to be bonded back together, but there were numerous other cracks and missing sections requiring attention.

Sylmasta advised that Rapid 5 Minute Epoxy Adhesive be used first to reassemble the fountain. Rapid 5 Minute creates high-strength, permanent bonds between many materials, including composite stone.

The five-minute cure meanwhile is long enough for parts to be carefully assembled and rearranged if necessary before the adhesive sets, at the same time as requiring minimal holding or clamping.

Rapid 5 Minute comes with the two components that make up an epoxy adhesive – resin and hardener – kept separate. The 25ml cartridge extrudes the parts in equal measures, after which they are mixed together for around 30 seconds with a spatula.

The fountain owner extruded the epoxy onto a piece of cardboard for mixing. The mixed adhesive was then applied using the spatula to one of the surfaces to be bonded, and the pieces pushed together and held in place.

Any overspill of epoxy was thoroughly cleaned off the stonework. Rapid 5 Minute exposed to sunlight can yellow with age, which would have looked unsightly against the pale coloured fountain.

After five minutes, the stonework no longer needed to be held together as Rapid 5 Minute had begun to set. The fountain was left undisturbed for a further 30 minutes, allowing the epoxy adhesive to reach maximum properties.

Once the upper bowl had been reassembled, any remaining cracks and missing sections were filled in using Sylmasta AB Original Epoxy Putty. AB Original is a hard wearing, waterproof, ceramic-filled putty which bonds to all materials.

It offers a two-hour work time, enabling the putty to be mixed, moulded into shape and applied without any worry about premature curing. It is suitable for use in interior or exterior settings and achieves a full cure in 24 hours.

The putty was kneaded by hand until a uniform colour. It was then shaped and formed to replace missing areas of stonework and pushed into cracks. For shallow cracks, the surface of the curing putty was wetted whilst still pliable to create a type of slurry which could be worked further in.

To help disguise larger sections of AB Original, powdered dust from the stonework was pressed into the putty. This took it from its standard off-white towards and towards the colour of the fountain, helping the repaired areas blend in.

The fountain owner even discovered that painting yoghurt onto the fountain helped further disguise the repair by encouraging lichen and moss to grow. The distressed touch this added was in keeping with the original stone.

Once the repair and restoration had been completed, the end result was a robust and fully watertight upper bowl. The fountain could go back into use for the summer with any visitors to the garden none the wiser that just a few months earlier, it had been cracked into multiple pieces.

Products Used

Rapid 5 Minute Epoxy Adhesive
Adhesive with five-minute work time which creates high-strength, permanent bonds

AB Original Epoxy Putty Stick
Super-strength epoxy putty fills cracks and replaces missing sections of stonework

Related Case Studies

Case Study: Classical Composite Order Column Restoration at Former Cinema Built in 1920s

Damaged concrete classical composite order column capitals are returned to their detailed original state during the renovation of a 1920s neoclassical style former cinema

Case Study: Luxury Portable Toilet Trailer Leaking Wastewater Holding Tank Repair

Wastewater holding tanks underneath two luxury portable toilet trailers undergo repair and strengthening after heavy corrosion weakened and breached the metalwork

Case Study: Leaking Concrete Flood Defence Wall Repair at Multimillion Pound Dam in Scotland

Gaps in a relatively new concrete flood defence wall at a multimillion pound dam in Scotland are sealed by a civil engineering company using AB Original Epoxy Putty

Case Study: Rotted Wood Beam Repair in Renovation of Welsh Home

Large voids in a rotted wooden beam are filled to create a flat, smooth surface enabling the outside of a house to be rendered as part of a home renovation project

Case Study: Pipe Joints Sealed in Cast Iron Rainwater Stack Repair at London Office Block

300 pipe joints in a 250-metre-long internal cast iron rainwater stack suffering with corrosion are sealed, avoiding a total system replacement during the refurbishment of an office block

Case Study: Underground 600mm Concrete Water Main Pipe Break Repair in Canada

A city authority in Canada repair a break in an underground 600mm diameter concrete pipe at the exact point it passed through a wall, significantly reducing levels of water loss

Case Study: Seawater Storage Tank Floor Repair at Gas Processing Plant in Saudi Arabia

Gaps which had developed between rubber sheets covering the floor of a seawater storage tank at a gas plant are filled in to protect the exposed concrete coating the bottom of the tank

Case Study: Environment Agency Repair Crack in Underwater Wall Between River & Trout Farm

The Environment Agency permanently seal a 700mm long crack in an underwater wall discovered when abnormal levels of water were monitored passing from a river into a trout farm

Case Study: Fence Spurs Suffering from Concrete Cancer Filler Repair Using Epoxy Putty

Spurs suffering from concrete cancer which began disintegrating during the replacement of a trellis fence are repaired and rebuilt using Sylmasta AB Original Epoxy Putty

Case Study: Repair of Leaking 350mm Effluent Pipe Running out to Sea Underneath Salt Marshes

An effluent pipe running under salt marshes and out to sea is sealed in a logistically challenging repair which had to be completed in an eight hour window whilst the tide was out

Case Study: Reinforcement of Heavily Corroded Steel Pipe to Avoid Future Leak Repair

A heavily corroded section of steel pipe is reinforced, helping a site to avoid a future breach which would have required a costly and disruptive leak repair or replacement of the line

Case Study: Oil Refinery Repair of a Leaking Underground GRP Seawater Return Pipe

A leaking underground 3000mm GRP seawater return line is partially excavated and sealed in an epoxy putty repair at an oil refinery, cutting downtime from several weeks to two days

Case Study: Protection of Wooden Entrance Gates at an Estate in Scotland Against Rotting

Upgrades to an estate entrance gate created the potential for wooden slats to rot at the base until a waterproof, bevelled edge was formed from epoxy putty to prevent water pooling