Anyone make their own concrete monuments?

We've make our own, albeit not actual concrete monuments. We'll set an 5/8"x24" rebar then excavate a hole around it, knock a hole in the bottom of a coffee can with a pick, put over pin and fill 'er with quickcrete. We usually only do it when the job regs. call for it.

I used to. We took 6" diameter 24" long PVC pipes. Covered the end with a piece of paper or plastic and taped it to the pipe. Turn it upside down. Put a cap on your pin (Ohio 30" long) and roll a piece of duct tape and stick it on your cap. Place your pin and cap inside your PVC pipe and fill with sac-crete.

That was how we did it many years ago. Haven't done it in years though.

Matt

I have made monuments when I worked for the city of St. Pete FLA. we had plywood forms and made them out of quickcrete. Placed an disk in the top after it had set up for a bit. They were tapered square monuments about 3 ft long and 6" at the top and 10" at the bottom. They were heavy and not going anywhere after we set them in the ground. We used them to replace city benchmarks that had been destroyed over the years. I think they were about a bag and a half of Crete and weighed about 100 pounds.

I have layed out a couple of Department of Defense Cemeteries in the past that required a specific bronze tablet (purchased from Berntsen, of course) set in a 6"x6"x4' chamfered and rebar reinforced concrete post at the "block" corners. We precast these posts in plywood forms outside the office and called the transit-mix folks. It was an expensive and time-consuming pain in the butt. We had to rent a flat-bed to get them to the site; each one weighed about 150 pounds.

I would have preferred to cast them in place but the construction-management firm and the inspector wouldn't hear of it.

I have a buddy who makes ours. He builds forms out of 2x6's with plywood ends, like a trough. He fills the form and scrapes the side of the bound. Let it set for a couple of days, remove some nails and there you go. Be sure to put some rebar or other scrap metal inside and add some aggregate to the concrete. He also uses some old motor oil to slick up the sides. Quality operation.

I have always considered making a text tube rack. If you could find a cheap plastic (or similar) 6" pipe, then make a stand that holds up several like test tubes. You could get creative by making a detachable top that also acts as a trough, then you can be sloppy. Throw the concrete in, then a rebar, then a cap. These would be great to carry over the shoulder and they would look nice at the property corners.

Now get the form guys to use these racks for the last bit of concrete from the truck. No waste...

I have done it two different ways.

1.) Used PVC pipe with a rebar & cap in the middle. Liked them for ease of making and carrying around, but not sure about stability since they are round, straight & smooth.

2.) Made wood molds that were 24" and tapered. Put the four sides on hinges to a bottom board and bought sakrete. Got two monuments per bag. Rebar and cap in the middle. They worked fine but didn't really like them because the sides were not smooth like commercial bought ones and were rough on the hands. Also, I'm not really sure they were cost effective when you consider the time and materials.

We have used method 1) for many years. Our experience has been is that they seem to be pretty stable. We gone back and remeasured ones set 20 or 30 years ago and they are pretty good.

Lately we have used the same company where we get our stakes and rebars. They use a mold, but don't have the PVC pipe for support.

I've made a number of them by digging an 8" wide hole about 36" deep, widening out the bottom to a little more than a foot(+), the placing 30" rerod about 2 inches either side of the "hotspot/corner", fill with a very well tamped rather dry concrete mix, then place a disk at the actual corner(in the middle of the concrete.

The rerod are left about 2 inches below the surface.

If I were to do it today, I'd make it just a little more elaborate, sticking up about 3+ inches and use some of that plastic/polyester concrete.

We used to.

We also used to stop at RR tracks to pick up spikes, and whenever we were at a construction site we'd pick up scrap nails, tin tabs and iron rods.

I never tore off pieces of my clothing for flagging though.

Yes, but they are better to cast in place as you can actually build a better monument.

We do not do this unless specifically asked, and we do not pre-cast them either, they are built in place, tied out with nails and 3.0' offsets, and the bottom of the hole beveled out (or belled out) with the top recessed 2" and trowled to shed water.

>
> I never tore off pieces of my clothing for flagging though.

🙂

I never tore up clothing either, but ....

I have destroyed a few handkerchiefs. 🙂

" They were heavy and not going anywhere after we set them in the ground. We used them to replace city benchmarks that had been destroyed over the years. I think they were about a bag and a half of Crete and weighed about 100 pounds."

So they were set on bedrock? Is bedrock there always at the same depth?

It appears from your original post that the primary reason why you (and others) might consider casting your own monuments would be a perception that you were saving $$. Just out of curiosity, what sort of prices are you seeing for pre-cast concrete monuments?

It's been a few years since we've had to use concrete monuments, but at that time, I think we paid around $70 per monument, 42" tall, 5" top, tapered, smooth surfaces, and with a plain brass disk in the top (no stamping).

Here's a diagram that our supplier uses for ordering.

I never tore up clothing either, but ....

Green Flagging?:-O

> It appears from your original post that the primary reason why you (and others) might consider casting your own monuments would be a perception that you were saving $$. Just out of curiosity, what sort of prices are you seeing for pre-cast concrete monuments?
>
> It's been a few years since we've had to use concrete monuments, but at that time, I think we paid around $70 per monument, 42" tall, 5" top, tapered, smooth surfaces, and with a plain brass disk in the top (no stamping).
>
> Here's a diagram that our supplier uses for ordering.
>
>

The typical concrete monuments used around here are 4"x4"x24" with imbedded 18" rebar. The prices that I have heard are from $12-$16 a piece (and that does not cover delivery).

I don't use them a lot and I can't see buying a whole pallet of them. I was figuring that I could make a half dozen to keep in reserve and then make them as needed.

The Bow Tie Surveyor

Have made them several ways. If the soil is agreeable I have set a 5/8" X 30" rebar in the bottom of the hole leaving enough to project into the form about half way, fill the form, either a coffee can or a piece of 6" stovepipe and put a stubby brass cap in the top centered at the point location I am monumenting. The last one I made, I placed a punched RR spike at the bottom of the hole at the point being monumented, kicked some dirt over it and then put the form in place with some steel in it, filled it with concrete and placed the stubby. Do not leave them sticking up above the surface. I like the two piece monument and feel it is worth the trouble when described well on the filed record of survey that is filed.
jud

My supplier will sell individual monuments, as required. That way, I don't have to stock them. That said, my supplier is a 2 hr. drive from my office.

Used to make them in situ here in the UK, where they're known as permanent ground markers. Usual method was to dig a 1' x 1' x 1' deep hole in the soil then drill down a cylindrical hole with a hand auger to the hard, then drive in a piece of heavy rebar to refusal and hacksaw it off flush with the ground. Concrete was dry mix in a bag and water in a plastic drum, both carried to the hole and hand mixed in a bucket.