Cement board art?

August 13, 2008 8:38 AM

What kind of art project can I do with cement board?

Our builders left us a thin, 60 x 36 in Hardiebacker cement board. They don't need it/want it. What can I do with it?

posted by mothershock to grab bag (5 comments total)

At 5' x 3' it could make a great mosaic tile table top. Get a crappy old coffee table with a ruined top, or missing glass top, and cut to size. Some old tile, or dishes, or teacups, some mastic, a little grout...
posted by fixedgear at 8:45 AM on August 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

I guess it really depends on your interests and skills, but if it were me, I would use it to make an abstract painting, then layer on mosaic elents like fixedgear says. I would probably use it as a focal point for my living room, but if you secure everything with industrial glue, then spray varsish the whole thing you can probably even display it outside. A quick Google for Hardibacker brings up an incredible amount of info on the proper materials to use with it.

Have fun!
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 9:04 AM on August 13, 2008

What fixedgear said, or outdoor mural / divider.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:24 AM on August 13, 2008

Note on cement board: it seems very strong, but it has about the structural integrity of a large sheet of chalk. You can't even carry the stuff flat, it'll just crack under its own weight. It's a great backer for something that needs an incompressible base, but whatever you do with it, make sure you attach it to something with some more rigidity -- 3/4 plywood or the like -- if you're expecting it to stay in one piece. Liquid Nails construction adhesive or something like it would work to glue it to something else.

I've got two or three sheets of the stuff taking up space in my basement. Want some more? :-)
posted by rusty at 1:38 PM on August 13, 2008

If you do a mosaic piece for the outdoors, use floor tile rated 3 or 4, and not the shiny wall tile. The wall tile will not withstand constant freeze-thaw conditions and will end up crazing and chipping. Adhere the tile pieces using Liquid Nails Construction Grade (get a calking gun for this.) Liquid nails on Hardibacker is amazingly strong. Leave a small enough hole to fix screws through the front into the structure from which it will hang. Grout with regular home improvement store grout, including over the screw holes and screw heads. Don't varnish the piece though. The varnish ends up yellowing and chipping away from the non or semi-impervious floor tile. I did this same project on a piece on the side of our garage 8 years ago, and it still looks like the day I installed it. Fun stuff!
posted by Acacia at 11:19 PM on August 13, 2008