How to repair garden statues?

[gnicholson]

I have one statue the head has come off, a donkey the ear has come off, a turtle the head has come off plus a large pot and stand combined which has also come apart. All are concrete coloured. What is the best type of glue to use that will not show up as a yellow or brown colour and drip like the one I did before on the statue?

donkey lost an earstues lost a headpot broken above baseTurtle lost a head

[MikeTNZ]

Hi there @gnicholson,

My word, this does look quite unfortunate.

What sort of adhesive did you originally use on these?

Masonry is terrible in that it is quite porous and will soak adhesive up like a sponge.

The other thing is, the parts that you've already glued and have broken, will need to have all of the glue removed with some sort of a solvent, that is why I asked you what sort of adhesive it was.

My advice would be to use something like an industrial adhesive, there are a number of these on the market, often these require a pre-cleaned surface, by water-blasting and a primer brushed on to the mating surfaces and allowed to cure, then you have a cartridge of the actual adhesive that fits in an adhesive gun.

Sika do a range of concrete repair components, I think this would be your best option, this primer and adhesive, once cured is virtually un-breakable.

Believe you me it is a very strong bond!

And it is not an instant bond either, so you have a bit of time to move things around to get them realigned, just be aware, you WILL need rubber gloves on with this stuff, if you get this stuff on your hands, on your face (when your nose gets itchy) or in your hair, it will be there until it wears off, it is really strong stuff.

With most of your items that need to be repaired, they should be fine done in-situ, the pot with the broken base however will need to be braced for 24 hours while the adhesive cures and strengthens the joint.

If you have further questions or need further advice, by all means, throw a reply in this thread, I'm more than willing to help you out.

Cheers,

Mike T.

[EricL]

Hello @gnicholson

Thank you for sharing your question about how to repair garden statues. It's great that you've received excellent advice from @MikeTNZ. Just to add more choices, I recommend Selleys 415g Liquid Nails Landscape Stone Concrete Adhesive. Please remember to support the pieces while the adhesive dries. 

I also suggest Selleys 290ml Instant Construction Adhesive Hold Liquid Nails. It is a very strong adhesive, however, it has a long drying time of around 48 hours. I recommend using a hand brush with soap and water to clean the statues. Once the statues are dry you can then apply the adhesive.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[MikeTNZ]

Hi @EricL ,

I totally agree, Selleys do make some really good adhesives and I'd totally forgotten about them when I made my post.

It's just that I use the Sika stuff at work quite a bit and that was on my radar, they all pretty much do the same thing, apart from the really cheap adhesives that are best avoided, if you don't want to a do a job a second time and no-one enjoys that!

Cheers,

Mike T.

[gnicholson]

I am trying this as it looked the easiest time will tell Selleys 415g Liquid Nails Landscape Stone C...

Cheers Glenda

[Jason]

Thanks for the update Glenda (@gnicholson)

Please let us know how you go and remember we're here to help if you need a hand with anything.

Jason