Customer Reviews

Pathmate Concrete Stepping Stone Molds, Belgium

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this producted to make a stepping stone path in my back yard. It works great! (NOTE: Don't buy the ODJOB mixing drum, just save your money and use a wheel barrow). If you use the product level with the ground you can use a wetter mix of concrete. If you need to use the stone mold on a slope use a stiffer mix of concrete so you can lift the mold to make the stone level, which is what I needed to do for the areas of my yard that have a small grade. It worked well in all situations and the form is very well made. You can use the form again right after you pour the first stone so you do not have to wait.

The Pathmate molds beat hand-laid pavers six ways from Sunday. If you can scrape your site to undisturbed soil and have no drainage issues, you can cast stepping stones without going to the gravel and sand method. The wet mix absorbs irregularities--if the mold is level, the stones will be level. Each cast sets enough for the mold to be removed by the time you've mixed the next 60-pound bag. The only limit is set by the number of bags your vehicle can haul or how many your old, retired back can manage. The plastic material in the molds is the same stuff used for shipping pallets, so you'll have to work hard to damage it. Works good for me!

Been using this mold this past week. Gone through over 20 bags of concrete and the mold is holding up wonderfully. Once you get the hang of the concrete consistancy (not too dry or wet), and the easiest way to fill the mold (using rubber gloved hands), it goes quick. One of the benefits of this type of mold is that it can be removed after just a minute of settling of the wet concrete, and you move on just as fast as you can mix another bag. We now have a nice cobblestone path. Ok not real cobblestones, but nice nonetheless!

Excellent item for the "do it yourselfer". Easy to use and the finished project looks great.

Love the product. Easy to use, great directions. Excellent customer service by seller with quick ship.

We bought our first form over 10 years ago. The first time we used it we built a walk ring around our above ground pool. The walk way was beauitiful and functional right up until the last year when we replaced our pool. We then took the stones apart and reset them as a small patio on our lakefront. Yes they have held together that long. We have since bought 2 other forms in different patterns and used them in various places. I love these and as a long time DIYer I would recommend them highly!
I did want to mention that we actually used our concrete mixer as opposed to the instant quickcrete. The molds set up fast and by the time my husband came back with another bucket I was ready to move on to the next one.

I wanted a safer path from my deck to my woodshed. The grass gets slippery in winter, when I need the firewood (it's a steep slope). The concrete mold has done a good job. I followed the hint I found online to sprinkle mortar mix over the wet concrete for extra surface "grip", and studded the wet concrete with little marble chips (like studded snow tires). The spaces between the "Belgian blocks" is wide enough for our aggressive weeds to be a problem, so I swept more mortar mix into the crevices after the concrete had cured (the water-sprinkled mortar mix runs out the ends of the spaces unless you place something, like a 2" x 6" piece of plastic milk jug to hold the unset mortar in place). To give room for the concrete to expand and contract with temperature changes, I left the individual molds sepa rate. To prevent weed growth between molds, I put down strips of plastic landscaping film on the ground before placing the mold and pouring in the concrete.
The manufacturer is accurate: each mold takes about 60 lbs. of concrete mix. That's heavy for me, so I mixed up about 20 lbs. at a time. Although I partially filled each space in the block after mixing up each of three batches of concrete, it seemed to do just fine with delayed filling. The mold wasn't hard to lift off the block despite the extra time of several batches of concrete, and studding the wet concrete.
My walk may not be as pretty as a flagstone walk, but it was cheaper, and it isn't slippery.

Easy to use.
I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because I wish it were not quite so deep.
The finished pavers are much taller than the pavers that are already in my yard.
Other than that, the mold is easy to use and releases quite easily to start again in minutes.

I can honestly say that I am surprised by this product. I bought the mold and one bag of concrete just to see if it really would work how the infomercial said it would. If you do what the directions say you will end up with some really decent looking stones. There are a few issues that I do have with the product. The mold will produce individual blocks that can move around on you unless you mortar or compact sand in the cracks. There are other molds on the market that make almost the same looking blocks but they are open halfway down the mold. That way the concrete forms between the blocks to so they form one solid unit. Depending on what you are going for that may influence your decision. Overall this is an excellent product that almost anyone can use without any real concrete experience. All you need is a good strong back.

This is not only an easy way to make a stepping stone path, but it's rather fun as well. The instructions are good and easy to follow (although I found that even though it calls for a 60 lb. bag of concrete per mold, a 50 lb. bag of Quickcrete works perfectly). I also did not use their mixer, but mixed up the Quickcrete in a wheelbarrow and troweled it into the mold. The fact that you can remove the mold after a short spell (I think the instructions said 6 minutes, but I waited 10 because my concrete was slightly soupy) means that you can lay down a pretty long path in a few hours if you have enough concrete on hand. Now I'm looking for new places to put a path because that project was so fun.