Fake Rockwork

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Author Message Robin E. Treston Intermediate Member Username: robin Post Number: 4 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Friday, August 27, 2004 - 05:32 pm:    Has anyone ever spec'd fake rockwork (ie: Disney'ish stuff, pool landscaping etc). Any suggestions on how this is typically spec'd? Is it a shotcrete type system over lath? Thanks! Jim Brittell (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Friday, August 27, 2004 - 06:24 pm:    A long time ago, in an office far, far away, I worked on a private residence that used this type of material. The owner hired this contractor independently, so we did not have to provide specifications. However, this contractor created molds for stone shapes and cast them from concrete. The cast panels were then attached to a structural wall similar to the way stone veneer is anchored to a building. The project was ultimately abandoned, so I never got to see it installed, but we did look at other examples of the contractor's work - it was pretty impressive, and without the stigma of low cost. Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 44 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Friday, August 27, 2004 - 08:56 pm:    Simulated Rocks, huh? try http://www.dekorra.com John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: john_regener Post Number: 181 Registered: 04-2002 Posted on Saturday, August 28, 2004 - 03:23 pm:    Check out www.custom-rock.com Orange County (CA) CSI had a chapter meeting program on simulated rock formations. It was very interesting because the materials and processes are very proprietary. From the meeting came the suggestion to treat this construction as design-build. In fact, the "contract documents" may be in the form of a scale model created at the design development phase. It would be very difficult to come up with conventional drawings and specifications for this work. Ralph Liebing Senior Member Username: rliebing Post Number: 105 Registered: 02-2003 Posted on Monday, August 30, 2004 - 06:51 am:    Had an experience several years ago where we used shotcrete and lath to make rock formations to create enclosures/compounds/caves/moats, etc. for containing animals in our zoo. Was mainly an undefined design-build situation, where the contractor had previous experience with similar installations. The challenge was to make the formations "animal-proof", in that they could not scale the rocks and escape [no vertical surfaces- all had to slope inward, and so forth]. They used stains to color the formations which came out to be quite successful and attractive. D. Marshall Fryer Senior Member Username: dmfryer Post Number: 32 Registered: 09-2003 Posted on Monday, August 30, 2004 - 08:42 am:    There are two basic types of fake rock: shotcrete or gunite over rebar, wire, and lath frames; and molded or field-formed FRP. FRP shapes can be ok for looking at, but are less abuse-resistant and generally not for climbing on. One critical aspect of fake rock is the skill of the artists who apply, texture, and color the shotcrete and gunite materials. This is not a skill that your local construction workers will have or can easily learn. You need to carefully specify the credentials of the installers and their supervisors. If it is a large installation, you should focus on the half-dozen firms who specialize in zoo and theme park work. Use of models, mock-ups, and visits of prior work are all highly recommended. P.S. This is not cheap stuff. You may want to also consider real rock formations. Lynn Javoroski Senior Member Username: lynn_javoroski Post Number: 144 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Monday, August 30, 2004 - 10:55 am:    I thought I posted this on Friday - must have been hallucinating. I worked for a company that does this kind of stuff all over the country - Cost of Wisconsin - http://www.costofwisconsin.com. They now have Washington and Florida locations, too. They do zoos, museums, theme parks, atriums, "adventure" golf courses, etc. I designed a golf course in Estes Park, CO while I worked for them. This work is gunite, shotcrete, metal lath, rebar and a lot of artistry. Sometimes they will make molds of existing, real rock and rock formations and create duplicates. In some cases, they will use "stock" rocks that are created by the gross to create a cluster of rocks. I agree with what has been said above - writing a spec will be very difficult. I'd suggest contacting one of the companies and working with them to develop a spec for the project. It'd be really close to a concrete spec with mock-ups to be sure of the quality of the work. David Cline Senior Member Username: dcline Post Number: 24 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, August 30, 2004 - 01:50 pm:    Any another company you could contact would be: http://www.digiacomoinc.com/