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: : If you ask the DiamondCrete people here's what they say about the matter: : : "DiamondCRETE can and will stand up to extreme weather conditions when properly mixed and cured and sealed. Refer to mixing instructions for more information. It recommended that if you bring your patio/lawn furniture that you bring in your garden art for the winter. You have spent time and money on these beautiful pieces and you should protect them as you would your furniture. " : ------------------------------ : OK, I suppose we're talking about plaster furniture vs. durable garden art. I have no problem with that. I'll just tell you that I'm not only a concrete artist of sorts, I'm also a purist. I see DC, Flashcrete and EZ-stone in the same way as I see the "Ceramics" made by bored post-middle aged females to fill their empty nest syndrome woes. My Mom did that...and had fun. She bought pre-cast pieces, painted them and had some instructor fire them for her. They're nice, but worthless. If I were going to do ceramics, I would be starting with a lump of clay, a wheel and my own kiln. That's the same difference as between studio mixes and real concrete formulated for a special use. : I think Diamondcrete is hedging on its instructions but whatever works for you is fine. Just don't want people to be giving away or selling stones that won't get through the first rainy season or winter. If you're planning to make a garden path or tree rings or a birdbath out of DC...good luck. You'll be digging it all up every time the weather changes. REAL concrete stones just sit there, year after year, with an occasional re-sealing every year or 18 months (sometimes not even that). : I have no axe to grind here. I'm not selling anything...I don't even sell my work. I just want people to know the limitations of the pre-mixes. They won't learn it from the studios who are trying to sell it to them and of course they don't get it from the manufacturer. I know, because a well-meaning glass teacher tried to do that with me. She honestly didn't know the basic formulation differences or the resulting physical properties. No sin in that. We're all obliged to learn and make decisions based on the facts. I have since educated her, but her main profit is from giving classes and selling DC. I learned glass from her, but thank goodness I didn't succumb to the stone and mosaic classes. : OK, I think we've pretty much talked out this subject. I promise to post something about glass or whatever next time.

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