How to fix a leak in concrete birdbath?

[Rab]

We have a cast concrete birdbath left for us at this place. It has a crack through the bowl part and so won't hold water.

We have seen birds landing on it looking for water in the heatwave, so I'd like to DIY repair it.

Initially had an (over)ambitious idea of making a blue mosaic in the bowl with some freecycle tiles but we don't have the tiles or the time.

How can I make it waterlight? Pref. on a budget with things we may have at home already or can buy at Poundland. A mate suggested to run a bead of clear silicon. Would be glossy, so a bit unsightly and possibly toxic to drink from? We want it safe for wildlife.

Please give us some simple suggestions and I'll give it a try tomorrow and report back here. I'll try to add before & after photos.

Thanks.

[Someone-Else]

To properly repair it you need to make the gap wider so you can then infill it with cement. It will take some time to do and a steady hand. (Angle grinder?) Anything put over the top will be like a plaster, it will work for a short while, won't last long and look not nice.

Depending on how elaborate this bird bath is, its probably cheaper to buy a new one. Ebay have resin ones from £12

[davyp1]

As stated above, you would have to slightly widen the crack to provide a seating for a surface repair.
For this type of repair I would suggest neat OP Cement mixed with a PVA solution.
But it also my thinking that any such repair will not be long lasting!
The only reason your Bowl is complete with a crack and not in two halves is probably because it has some
reinforcing mesh or bars cast within that hold it together!

Perhaps bin it and start again!
Does your bird-bath have a separate stand or pedestal that the bowl sits on?
If so, perhaps buy one of the larger terracotta plant-pot saucers from a garden center and cement/fix that to your stand or pedestal!

davyp1

[Rab]

Yes, it is a large concrete bowl which sits on a concrete pillar. And yes, the crack goes right across.

Another thought....if I were to mix up some cement (I already have) and use it to fill the crack and then to line the bowl. Then stick a strong plastic bin liner using cement and then add a mosaic of broken tiles set in cement and then overglaze with clear varnish.

Would this hold water and last through (southern) English winters?

[dewaltdisney]

Temporary fix would be to put a few layers of cling film over the bowl part. This will hold the water for the birds for now. A longer term fix might be to use an epoxy filler in the crack but this woudl run to a few quid so a new bird bath would be the better option in the long term.

DWD

[ayjay]

I'd either use an oil based mastic or some sort of gutter sealant in the crack, or just line the thing with some heavy duty plasticky/polytheney stuff stuck down with some silicone.

I doubt that a liner would put the birds off (possibly a bit slippyy slidey), but if it did, a layer of pea shingle would sort that out.

Longer term I think you need to look at replacement, maybe make a concrete copy of the existing if you want to keep the cost down.

[wine~o]

I had a crack in my bird bath roughly from the centre to the rim (again concrete)

I applied "geocel the works" one of many sealants out there to the underside of the crack about 4/5 years ago. all good and no suspicious bird deaths from silicon poisoning.

From what the OP is saying though their crack might be more substantial than mine (ooh errr mrs...)

[Timllfixit]

Car body filler would probably work well too.