My Brother-in-Law used them for a walk on the side of their house, I haven't used them personally. They seem to be working fine and I think they are at least 4 years old. I would use a concrete stain color in the mix to make it less concrete colored and more natural. They look like individual stones but have not separated and I'm always tempted to check them closer when I visit. I wish I knew more about them myself. Hope this little observation helps you a little.

I have found them to be too uncomfortable to walk across.
too lumpy and bumpy.

Gotta make sure I wear my sports bra when using the wheelbarrow to navigate across the concrete mini pillows.

My survey says - not.

How about concrete slate molds instead of cobblestone? Here's one that has caught my eye.

Here is a link that might be useful: Concrete Slate Mold

Here's another.

Here is a link that might be useful: Conrete Slate Mold #2

Here's my last one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Concrete Slate Mold #3

Those look really interesting, Steve! Thanks for including them. I've bookmarked all three. I may go that route until I can afford the real deal... They may allow you to avoid the sports bra effect too! LOL

You're welcome, Erinmn. The one that I like the best is the one sold by Improvements, which is the first one of the group. I like it best because it looks like it is the largest. If you want to see a nice looking path made out of pavers, check out Vickie's Home. You'll have to click on the photo link to find it, but you will will eventually find a set of photos of her path. She used rather plain pavers, but it looks great. So perhaps the type of paver used doesn't really matter that much.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vickie's Home

I love #3 of Steve's options-- especially that there's a 18" as well as a 12".

I played with those dimensions in MS Publisher and found that you can create some really pleasing patterns with those two combinations. When I'm ready to do our patio, I'll probably order those.

(and spend the next six months making 5 pavers a weekend!...)

I poured the cobblestone mold. It turned out cute! I used concrete dye,sorta sandstone colored. The only drawback is it does pour individual stones,which means grass can grow between the stones. I used a trowel to make the top smooth and yes a wheelborrow would bounce if run over the path.

The concrete flagstone look I checked into involves pouring a cement slab then while it's still wet,you take a rubber stamp,it's 2' X 2' and stamp the top.

Nicole,

Which cobblestone mold did you use?

I have been working on a walkway that leads out to our new pond. i'm using the quickcrete coblestone mold. It takes some time, but looks great! I love it. And it's so much cheaper than the real thing. Iwould like to send a picture, but this is the first time i've used this, i'm not sure how.

I want to thank everyone who responded to this question. After all this time I am still thinking about making a path and I just have not seen anything that I like better than that cobblestone look. Bumpy or not its got to be better than the dirt and weeds I have to drag trash cans over. I just like the way it looks and I was thinking that if I put soil or sand in between the stones wouldn't it make it not so bumpy?
... frogys28, since you have recently made your pathway did you put sand under the form to make it level or is it necessary with the mold? How long does it take to make one of the cobblestones with the form and how long does it take to dry before you can make another one? Can you get more than one paver with a bag of cement. Any information you can offer would be great and pictures would be wonderful.

Plantsniper,

I'd give thought to buying pavers and laying them yourself. Below is a link to a New England company that makes them. This is to illustrate what can be done with concrete pavers. I'm sure you'll fine someone local.

You need one 60 lb bag of concrete per form. That's a lot of mixing. The concrete sets up fast enough so that buy the time you've mixed the next bag you can remove the form. I'd put down a bed of sand under the walkway. Make sure that level it and tamp it down.

Hope this helps,
Tom

Here is a link that might be useful: Ideal pavers

Plantsnipper,

I've given some more thoughts (after an infusion of caffine) to using forms vs pavers. Last year there was a thread where someone compared the cost of making slate looking pavers vs real slate. Turned out that there was little difference in cost. I'll try to find that thread for you. You may want to price the difference between making cobblestones and buying them. Remember to add in the value of YOUR labor in making them yourself.

When I used the walkmaker form I mixed the concrete in a barrel that was sold with the form. It was called OddJob. Don't buy it. It was cumbersome and hard to use. You are better off mixing in a wheelbarrow. If you have a lot of bags to do in one day, rent a cement mixer. You can do one bag at a time in it and it sure saves the muscles which you'll need for shoveling the concrete into the form.

So, if I had to use the walkmaker form again this is what I'd do:
* mark out path
* kill grass / vegatation with round-up
* dig out four inches of soil
* put down weed barrier cloth
* put down two inches of sand, level and tamp down.
* put down concrete in forms
* fill in between pavers with sand
* or, fill with soil and plant walkable vegatation.

This should bring the surface of the path up to level with the surrounding soil.

All the best,
Tom

Yes, if you hand make concrete pavers they probably cost more than real stone, and don't end up looking all that real or all that beautiful, " cute" might be the best you can hope for. And then, from the first day they are installed they start looking worse and sometimes need a sealer every year to retard the fading ... while stone just keeps looking better. In 50 yrs the concrete is ready for the scrap pile unless you used a hot lime mix that is not at all known in the concrete trade today. A hot lime putty will and make beautiful long lasting concrete ... like reconstructed limestone, or like the Roman Coliseum
If price is what you pay and quality what you get... I just don't get making concrete pavers except that with lots of labor you can have a rather unvaluable thing for little cash outlay. Nor in most cases, do i understand concrete stamping or stenciling, etc. It seems that some people actually prefer the look to real stone. I did make some concrete cobbles once in order to match an existing granite cobble that is no longer available -- these hand made cobbles cost about twice that of a comparable stone cobble and the do require a certain maintenance etc.
- A

I tried to send a picture, hopefully it works! i didn't put sand down firt, but our soil is kinda sandy to begin with. the way that you fill the mold it kinda forms to watever is under it. i was able to get one coblestone mold out of a 40lb bag of quickcrete. i used a bucket to mix it. it works really well. i just put the quickcete in fist, added the water, hammered the top on, rolled to around the yard with my foot, then it was ready. as soon as i filled the mold i took it off and placed it in the next spot. you should cure the quickcrete for about 5 days. the bag tells you different ways to cure it. i put a painters tarp over in for 5 days, it helps to make it stronger. after that it was fine to walk on. i swept dirt into the cracks. it is a little bumpy, but i guess it depends on what you want it for. i hope this helps. good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Your Album: http://img75.photobucket.com/albums/v228/frogys/

Is the base preparation any different as compared to stone or pavers?

i didn't do anything for preperation except rake over the area and smooth it out a bit. if you have some kind of lump in the ground it doesn't matter because the quickcrete just mold around it. if you pick one of the stones up after it's dry the bottom look odd becuse it has fromed around whatever you put it over. i hope ths made since.

I tried them before, and made them level with the top of the form. They were ok. Still 6 years later they are fine. I stained them with concrete stain. I knew someone else who used them and over poured the form, making the stones more rounded. They looked better rounded, but not as much as he did. I think I'm going to try them again but try a wooden form, pour the concrete and then use them as stamps to impress the form but not as separate stones. I think it is important too, to round out the edges and maybe even sand them. Sounds like a lot of work, but I am going to try it at some point. Probably as a floor to my greenhouse.

What about ABS molds for stepping stones?