Re: cement for terra cotta? / replies, results & thanks

Hi Folks,

My large terra cotta pots are pieced back together again.  Thanks so much
for your suggestions.

Nancy, we used the silicon adhesive first to get the pieces to hold
together.  Funny you should mention the cracks giving the pots "character."
 They now look like archeological finds.  :-)

Pat, I'm glad you reminded me to put the tray under the pots of annuals
that I'll use in the top of the repaired terra cotta pots -- I was thinking
that the packing peanuts underneath them would not be bothered by the water
-- hadn't thought about my poor beleaguered pots!  And thanks for getting
that Master's degree in ceramics.  :-)  As for the inside of the pots I
think we may have done better than making a lip of the cement:

Donna, Karen, Marilyn, you're right!  We happened to have auto body putty
(like Bondo, I presume) on hand; we lined sections of the insides of the
pots with that, after repair with the silicon adhesive.  It's like iron!
If these pots ever crack again, it won't be around the old cracked sections.  

The next time a terra cotta piece cracks, I'm not going to work so hard to
get cement to coat the edges completely -- it only weeps out the front and
the glossiness of the silicon is unsightly against the flat finish of the
terra cotta.  I will use just enough cement to hold the piece together
until I can coat the inside with bondo since that is obviously where the
real strength comes from.

Funny story:  my husband was enthusiastic about using the auto body putty,
because he knows how tough it is, =and=, he said, "it's the same color as
the terra cotta!"  Then when he squeezed the tube of hardener into the
putty, it was bright royal blue.  You should have heard the silence.  :-)
No matter -- it doesn't show, anyway.

Thanks for the valuable information, and especially for the encouragement.
I was dubious about this effort and now I have my pots back, albeit with
added 'character'.  Is this a great list, or what!

Best, Alyce Elliott
northern NY zone 4

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