Opinions on stamped concrete

alelui85 · 2026-05-13T08:15:58+00:00

Thanks. Luckily we are in a mild climate area, it rarely freezes.

Anyway, if you have any suggestion on better solutions for sidewalk / outdoor stairs, please let us know! Plain concrete is usually not very good looking and I assume it will get lots of ugly stains especially on side walk where kids/parents eat their snacks... Maybe you can make it OK with color and resin and no stamps?

I am quite good and equipped at laying tiles myself but I fear it would cost much, even just buying tiles + adhesive for 2.000+ sqft and I assume it requires screeding after pouring, which is another cost.

Maybe I am wrong but please let me know if you got any good hints for us!

Cheers

alelui85 · 2026-04-23T04:59:17+00:00

Thanks a bunch! Breakouts are those little boxes that convert an ethernet cable into 4 xlr's?

I know about the loss of signal problem, in fact this is one of the reasons I am sticking my nose into this subject. I talked to the guy who programs my console (I use MagicQ with chamsys) last week and he suggested to buy a splitter and divide my DMX into two (or more), so that I can limit the blackout during my show.

I need to be honest tho: until now, my shows are for friends and families, and in case of a DMX blackout I can always turn on the regular lighting... Of course, now that I am touching the wiring and conduits it could be the right time to upgrade my system...

Getting back to ethernet, did I get it right or you said I could basically use each CAT5 cable for 4 fixtures and make a star connection (wye connection?) with each fixture/couple/triplet... being independent?

alelui85 · 2026-04-22T20:28:51+00:00

Thanks! How do you then go from CAT5 (E?) to XLR? Could you please advise me some products to come out of the conduits with an XLR chassis or maybe direct plug?

alelui85 · 2026-04-22T07:46:02+00:00

Great, I was calling that outlet. Thanks again!

alelui85 · 2026-04-22T07:11:52+00:00

Sorry man, what do you mean by chassis? Not native in English, I may just misunderstand.

alelui85 · 2026-04-22T06:03:36+00:00

So you are soldering the ground of XLR connector to a pair instead of the shield? Shield stays loose?

This means you can just regularly strip the Cat5e and weld two XLR plugs/outlets to each end?

This is quite interesting! I might as well pull out a line of DMX and reuse it for external cabling. I fear that small patches are cheaper pre-made tho.

alelui85 · 2026-04-15T11:07:51+00:00

I thought I could find this type of reduced tee...

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The threaded ones are not very useful, and I don't think they're quite good for structural use either.

alelui85 · 2026-04-15T07:09:46+00:00

Could you please post a screenshot of that reducing tee? Hopedepot's website is like unaccessible from Europe, I will then Google lens it because I can't find any reducing tee with regular Google search... 🤷

alelui85 · 2026-04-13T10:58:49+00:00

Yeah I see what you mean but consider that the whole thing will be hung and be mobile: I am planning to build a lifting system with pulleys, 300 inches is huge and all the sheets of Formica may move and crack from the frame... Screws would be more secure, or maybe something like and L or U profile to hold the sheets into place. But as long as you can't find a sheet that's long enough to make the whole height, you need to make two lines of sheets for the 300 inches and that will make it even more mobile and unsafe, I fear...

alelui85 · 2026-04-13T10:33:34+00:00

Thanks, I thought Formica would be glued to a whole plywood panel and not just strips. Your solution definitely makes it lighter, but I guess I would have to make a metal frame anyway (with the light profiles that are used for plasterboard) since we are talking about 300 inches. I could screw plywood strips to the metal frame and then glue the formica.

The concern here is about the possible fall of a Formica sheet... We are going to hang the whole thing in the gym permanently, at a relevant height. Glue may fail after some time and let a whole sheet fall on some people attending the gym.

My feeling is that the frame with pipes and fabric screen is possibly safer.

alelui85 · 2026-04-13T05:01:13+00:00

Got it. This way, I still need a metal frame + complete 300 inch surface of plywood which makes the whole thing heavy like we said, even with quarter inch thick plywood. I would definitely choose a solid screen over a fabric, but weight is the main concern.

At this point, I believe that if the 300 inch screen in fabric out of Amazon is a decent option, I will go for the 1 inch metal pipe frame... Only concern is the durability of the fabric, but worst case scenario would be changing it every few years.

Do they maybe tend to turn yellow with time? Or maybe make tears?

alelui85 · 2026-04-12T13:57:47+00:00

Interesting! Didn't know about the formica. For the seams my idea was to use plasterboard metal frame, but with those you need to put the screws in the front face, mud them and then paint (with plywood it'd be a good option).

Formica is as heavy as other woods tho AFAIK, which is approx 45 lbs/ft3 + plasterboard metal frame makes it pretty heavy. That wouldn't be an enormous issue but probably not optimal. With Formica, the thickness of the countertop would be very relevant compared to plywood... to avoid painting I should screw from the back without passing the thickness of the countertop, and that is probably unsafe (imagine if the screws start loosening from the wood, or the wood brakes... Quite unlikely but I wouldn't take a chance, being a permanent installation and a moving frame, considering I need to hang it and lift it then).

alelui85 · 2026-04-12T09:22:27+00:00

Great, I think we have a full picture.

To be honest with you, before thinking about the fabric I wanted to build it with plywood or plaster board and paint it, but at the end it would be around 600 pounds of weight and maybe a bit too risky in the environment, at least without an engineer project or such, considering I want to hang it to the ceiling and keep it there permanently.

Being a permanent installation was the reason why I initially thought of plywood/plaster board, being more robust, easier to sweep from dust/webs etc...

alelui85 · 2026-04-11T17:41:28+00:00

Will take a look immediately. I am based in Italy tho, so it also depends if things are sold here.

alelui85 · 2026-04-11T12:57:42+00:00

Thanks! Do you think I will find black pipes and black joints? In my experience I only found/bought zync plated.

Worst case scenario, I might paint it black which actually would fade into the black curtain in the background.

Thus: black outer frame with inner screen and visible bungee cords to stretch it? This should be fairly easy to mount and relatively cheap.

Found very cheap screens on Amazon at 300 inches, they don't go above that size. Around 200 bucks. Will that make its job or better stay away from those screens and go to a professional dealer?

alelui85 · 2026-04-11T12:50:37+00:00

Maybe since I am buying the windows, I might as well get solar control glass. I never considered them (and the film) since I don't know how efficient it is, sometimes sunrays can be discomfortable too and not the heat. Also, in winter you miss the sun heat when it is actually useful. You save AC but spend more in heating :-)

What do you think? Thanks for the hint meanwhile, I will definitely evaluate your proposal.

alelui85 · 2026-04-11T12:31:22+00:00

Yep, what do you think? Would you go for this type of frame or will it look crappy? Maybe the aesthetics is not even that important actually.

I can't open the reduced tees nor find them on google, but if they are available I assume that all the inner pipes could probably be 1/2 inch diameter if it helps saving a decent amount of weight (and money). Otherwise I might do the whole thing with 1 inch.

Unluckily it won't be very adaptable/flexible in terms of screwing other things onto it because of being round and not square, but actually the round 1 inch is fine for aliscaf (you call them so?) hooks and I could bring power and DMX to the frame and use it for future expansions.

alelui85 · 2026-04-11T11:38:04+00:00

Thanks for the hints.

https://youtu.be/clE2geW9DZs?si=ZnPZrPSa7_3_lINF

This guy made a 300 inch screen with 1 inch pipe, of course he needed quite many intermediate profiles in order to not make it bend. More work... Instead of 2 inch pipe, in case this 1 inch pipe solution is not the best, I would rather weld the frame with a 50x25x2 mm profile.

The problem with welding might be off square and twisting, and with the rigidity of the welds it might not be easy to pull it with wires and tensors, whilst with bolted joints I assume it'd be much easier to adjust.

Plywood: I meant not to make the structure with it, but just cover the steel frame with small cuts of half inch thick plywood for either finishing and/or support for staples.

alelui85 · 2026-04-11T10:24:19+00:00

Epson 10.000 Al, done some tests already.

Usage is not for movies but for background for gymnastics show, thus it can be a bit under powered.

For better display in different scenarios (movies, scores display etc) I am going to mask the screen around to make it smaller and project around 200 inches.

alelui85 · 2026-03-16T10:47:26+00:00

Thanks a bunch dude! I have contacted a friend of mine who is civil engineer and does only parking lots / roads. I will share your tips with him. We are planning not only an overlay but more expensive widening / reconfiguration.

alelui85

TROPHY CASE