Training: EZ-Lift Rock Patching

So as part of our EZ Lift system, which is part of our AWS system, which allows rocks to be lifted safely and quickly, we have this rock right here. What this is, this is one of our panel designs. This is called a single rock panel. K. It's one rock.

So there's no concrete reinforcement to this. It's just one single rock. So in an effort to lift this rock safely, we came up with our EZ Lifting system, which is we drill this rock all the way through, okay, with a one inch hole, all the way to the bottom. And then we put a plate and all thread through the hole, and at the top of the hole, you've got a threaded piece here. Right?

Okay. So what you do is you screw an I hook into this, and then you clip it safely. You pick it up, move it, unscrew the I hook. Alright. What that does, it leaves a hole right here.

So now what this is gonna be about is now that we're the rock would be in place, you've got this hole that you wanna cover. So we developed a process on filling this hole so it's sealed and structural, but also, matches the rock even considering that rocks have different color. Alright? So that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna show you how we do that.

We're gonna go inside and show you that process. But you could see right here, this is the hole that we're trying to fill. It's usually like a one inch hole diameter and anywhere from one to two inches deep. Okay. So now you saw how our EZ Lifting system works and the reason that we drill holes in the rocks to create a safe and easy installation.

Okay? So what this part is about is after we drill the hole, how do we fill that hole so that it is structurally sound and looks beautiful? Okay? What we've developed is a two part process, okay, in filling the hole. The first part is we're using a mortar, repair, a fast setting non shrink, mortar based product that is used to fill the hole.

Okay? So this is kind of the product. It's a light gray product. It's a powder. We will give you this.

Okay. The idea is you mix this up, and this has got like a like a hydraulic cement type of consistency. It dries really fast. So it's a powder, and it's also moldable a little bit. So once it gets starts to get hard, you can mold it and form it, but it does dry pretty quickly.

It'll dry in five to ten minutes. If it's really hot or you use hot water, it'll dry quicker. We fill the hole with this. Right? You mix this stuff up.

You pour it into the hole. Okay? You can see it right here. You can see it right here. You got a hole with the all thread inside.

You fill the hole up to the surface. Okay? And then what we've done is we've developed different formulas. Now rock, every rock's different. Every rock has a different tone.

So we have done is we've developed multiple formulas for each color tones of the rock. Okay? And those formulas are made up of multiple color hardeners. Right? Color hardener's got a dye, a sand, and a cement in it.

So we've taken them, and then, like I say, each one is a formula. For example, this one right here. So you can see the tone of this rock. Here's a sample disc of what this patch will look like. And as you can see, got a pretty good match.

Not gonna be perfect. It's never gonna be perfect, but the idea is it kinda blends in and looks better than, regular white mortar, right, or regular patch. Right? So this is a blend of three different types of color color hardeners. Right?

In this particular case, it's smoky beige, ash white, and light gray, which creates a formula, alright, which are these three right here. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna go through the full installation, but the concept is you fill this in with the patch, let it get a little hard, and then you sprinkle. We give you these. Okay? And they come in salt and pepper shakers.

Right? So we make it real simple. You and you sprinkle the the hardener onto the surface and you use all three. One, two, and you just kinda sprinkle it on in little kind of variation. Okay?

You do not wanna mix these together and make one color and then put it on because it definitely won't match. You wanna use them separate, and the reason we do that is to create variation in texture. Okay? So what'll happen is every one of these single rock a AWS panels that are drilled, okay, we're gonna match up to one of our formulas. We're gonna we have all these different formulas that we've mixed up, and we're gonna match it up.

Bam. This one matches this the best. Alright. This is formula number one. And then on your paperwork, it's gonna say, Rock, these are numb these are letter these are labeled with a letter.

So it'll say a panel, and then the formula will be this. Right? The formula will be this. The formula will say, you know, smoky beige, ash white, light gray, and then we will give you these. You're gonna know, alright, panel a, which is lettered.

You're gonna know the formula, and you're gonna know which of these three to sprinkle on there. It's really simple. And then you sprinkle all three of them on. Boom. So now you get, a custom formula that matches the color so that it will blend in real nice, and you get it for each of the rocks.

So if one of the rocks is a different tone, whether it's more white or more gray, you're gonna have a formula with the hardeners to match that. Alright? So we kinda covered everything. Now Eric is going to do the full installation and show you exactly how this is done. So you can see he filled in the hole.

And one thing you wanna do is the hole is circular, but when you fill it in, you wanna kinda feather it in off the side. You don't wanna make the patch perfectly circular because you'll notice it. Right? So you could see Eric kinda feathered it in, and he also kinda formed it a little bit because there's a little bit of of a hump in the rock where the hole is. Right?

So you again, you wanna try to make it look natural, kinda feather it in, give a little and then you're gonna see he's gonna kind of, install the or sprinkle the, color hardener. You can see what Eric did. He sprinkled a couple of different hardeners. And, again, you can use little use a little bit of judgment. You know, if you got more white in the stone, use more white.

More tan in the stone, use more tan. But, again, if it's dramatically different, you're gonna have a different formula, which is gonna be While the, patch material is still wet, that's when you wanna kinda do all the sprinkling and tap it all in. This way it all cures together. Right? So that's kinda the idea.

Now it's darker now because it's wet, but when it lightens up, when it gets drier, it'll lighten up and blend in a lot better. Like we said, we're not going for perfection. You're going for just a tone that makes it look more blended in than, than bare concrete, right, or a big hole. Right here is a couple that dried out, and then that's the hole. Right?

So it blended in real nice with this kind of formula. Right? And then this one right here, could see the hole was right here. Right? You could see how that blended in.

Right? And that's the formula. Right? So it worked out pretty well. You can see when it dries and, blends in real nice to make your, AWS system look amazing.

It's important that you do not use this color hardener to fill the entire hole. The patch is to fill the hole for two reasons. It's harder. It does not shrink. This can shrink.

So if you fill the whole hole, it'll shrink. You might have a gap or it might crack or it might settle. That's why we specifically talked to a professional about using this product. This also seals it better. This has got hydraulic cement in it.

So it seals the hole better so moisture can't get in there and it can't crack over time. It seals the hole. That's why you wanna use the patch to fill the hole, and you only wanna use this to sprinkle. Got it? Alright.

Next thing is this stuff gets hard quick. It's like I say, it's like hydraulic cement. If you're out there, you've probably used it. It gets hard quick. And the hotter it is and the hotter the water, the faster it it kinda takes off.

Right? So if you've got eight or 10 of these holes to do, you may only wanna do one or two at a time or do one at a time. Okay? Unless you've got somebody behind you where one guy's mixing and filling the hole, and you have another guy, maybe the more creative guy on the crew who's got more patience, and he's the one doing the sprinkling. Because what you don't wanna do is fill all the holes and then come back, you know, after you filled all the holes and come back to the one because it'll get hard.

And then when you go to put the hardener on it, it won't stick and bite into the patch. So it'll flake off and you'll have gray. You'll have gray cement. Alright. So just a couple tricks, a little bit of common sense.

We give you the appropriate hardeners that, are applicable to your formula for your rocks. Like I say, we give you the documentation, has every rock, it's labeled on here and on the documentation. It'll say formula one, and it'll say whatever the hardeners are. It'll say ash white or whatever it is. Right?

So it's really clear on what formula and what hardeners go on what rock. So we give you that. We also give you the hardeners, right, in these little shakers. So it's very simple to sprinkle it on. And we also give you the patch material to fill in the holes.

And then all the mixing stuff's kind of on you to kind of pick out your material for mixing and all that stuff. But take your time, you know, be clean. If you're sloppy, put tape around it so you don't make a mess. Otherwise, that's how you fill the hole, and I'd showed you what it looks like finished. Looks pretty good.