Cement Planter With Stairs

Hi,

I came across a "DIY cement planter mold" on Aliexpress, on little use of the search engine, the site showed a huge variety of cement planter molds to choose from. Sorry this is not an ad for them, but I thank AE for the inspiration for this project.

I decided to make a cement planter mold myself, some differences as below

• They use silicone for mold for making this many times, I am using sun board which would like one time only
• The overall dimensions were small 3.5" x 3.5" x 1.6", may be for smaller succulents or an ash tray, I made mine about 5.75" X 5.75" X 3.5"

I will list down each step in details, If you have queries and suggestions, please leave a comment

• White Cement 1 Kg
• Fine Sand 1 Kg
• Sun Board (5mm or ~0.25")
• Cutting knife
• Pen
• Steel measuring scale
• Hot Gun gun
• Super glue
• Transparent tape
• Water

• Cut four pieces of sun board with dimensions- 6" x 4.75"
• Cut base of 5.75" x 5.75"
• Tape the sides to make a square
• We are not going to use super glue for the outer box, which makes it easier to de-mold
• Donot attach the base yet

• On the base sheet, leave 1" from one of it's edge and mark 9 dots separated by at 0.25"
• Cut few strips of 0.75"
• Cut these strips to size on the base sheet, we should have 9 steps
• Stack them one over the other to make stairs
• For the second Stairs, match the height by placing 9 full length strips( 0.75" X 5")
• Leave about 2.75" and then start a new stair of 9 steps, each of 0.25" apart

Tip :

• I used Super glue to stick these, instead use tiny amount of hot glue for easy de- molding
• Because the strips were cut by Hand, there are few imperfectness. One could make the stairs even, by using some kind of filler

• The inner box is about 4" x 4" x 3"
• Cut it's Base of 4" x 4"
• Keeping the margins sun boarding thickness cut the sides 3.75" x 3"
• Stick them all together using transparent tape
• Use paper tape to fortify sides

• On the base we have already stuck the stairs
• Hot glue the inner box without it's top and then hot glue the top
• Hot glue the outer box to the base
• Use transparent tape to seal any gaps

Tip:

• Even after my best efforts, there was a gap of 2 mm in between the stairs and the outer box. this caused issues while de-molding. I recommend first hot glue two side to stairs and then rebuild the outer box

• Mix 1: 1 cement and fine sand in a large container
• Add enough water to make a semi thick paste
• Pour the mixture into the mold
• Because of the weight of mixture, there is a bulge on the sides, use paper tape to make it as straight a possible
• Leave this to dry for 24 hours
• I used about 1 Kg of each Cement and Sand

• This is the most difficult part of the all
• Slice the transparent tape, carefully and remove the sides
• Remove the base. Since I used super glue, it did not come out well
• Since I had gaps in between the stairs and the outer walls, i had to first sand the excess and then slowly pry the stairs
• The inner box come out easily, just remove one side at a time and the base or it's top at the last
• While de-molding I broke the first step, which I later super glued in place

• Once the planter is properly de-molded
• We need to sand all sides and make it uniform using sand paper
• We need to water cure the planter for 2 to 3 days to avoid any cracks
• Add soil / pot mixture, sow some seeds and watch the planter come to life

I hope you enjoyed reading, If you have a suggestion or a wish to see any other design, please comment

Thanks for reading