Repair large terracotta pot?

JohnB47

Not sure if I want to spend time/money on this but I'm wondering if I should try repairing a fairly large terracotta pot that's broken in three large pieces.

The terracotta is dry on both sides, no glaze.

I've looked at youtube suggestions and two are possible. "Milliput Terracotta Epoxy Putty 113g Modelling Plumbing Ceramic Plant Pot Repair" and Gorilla Glue.

The putty stuff looks a bit thick, although you can soften/dilute it with water. The pot pieces do mesh together quite neatly so I'm not sure if putty would compress enough. The Gorilla stuff expands after applying to wetted surfaces and some say it's a bit uncontrollable and messy.

I might just throw the pot away!

Any thoughts?

grumbler

I'd use just some two-component epoxy resin (without any solid additives like in building cartridges for anchors). It's liquid enough (if you do it in a warm place) and sets slowly, so you can push the excess out of the gap. It doesn't shrink, so the gap remains fully filled.

As it sets slowly you must make sure that the pieces are held together until it sets. Use ropes and duct tape.

stuart45

2 part resins used to bond brick cuts together when making squints and dogleg.etc so it should work well for your pot.

JohnB47

Thanks guys. I have some araldite, two part epoxy. Is that what you mean, or is there a product more specific to bonding clay/brick?

Actually, I have some brickwork on a relatively new wall that needs repaired too. It's where  a line of bricks at the top of the wall meets a corner, so that the level drops. The brickwork right at that corner is comprised of two wedge shaped pieces mortared together. The mortar has has just cracked - probably it dried too quickly. Perhaps the epoxy stuff would work well there too? I haven't taken it apart yet but I'm guessing that the mortar will have stuck to the pieces to some extent, making it impossible to clean them up and re mortar.

stuart45

Is the corner a different angle than the normal 90 degrees?
Special bricks can be made like this

stuart45

Epoxy Chemical Resin - Everything To Know | Anchor Fixings Blog
Have a look through these as an example.

twopenny

I tried araldite. It didn't hold when bing continuously wet - assuming you are going to put a plant in there.
Maybe ok if you use an innner plastic pot.
The brick stuff sounds interesting.

theoretica

Do you know why the pot broke?  If it was dropped/hit then a repair seems more likely to be a success than if it just failed because of weak materials.

Bendy_House

Hi John.

As Grumb and others say.

You have two dry, rough, and closely matching surfaces to bond, so epoxy adhesive - like Araldite - is most likely the best way to go.

Also as said, you need to do a dry-run, making sure you have a method of holding the pieces tightly and firmly together, so it cannot move once the glue's been applied and it's been left to set. Any movement after the curing process has begun will seriously weaken it.

You also want the two surfaces to be pulled as firmly together as possible, so only the minimal amount of adhesive is left in the joint.

You ideally want a smear of adhesive on both broken edges, leaving no 'dry' bits. Assemble, and gently pull the pot together to extrude as much excess adhesive as possible. Secure with whatever - large rubber bands that the postie has dropped?!

Then, once the curing is approaching the final stages, you should be able to run a craft knife blade over the outer edge of the joints, trimming away the rubbery, part-set adhesive, leaving barely a trace. But don't do that unless you are confident you can do so without dislodging the pot...

JohnB47

Great response everyone, thanks. The pot blew over in strong winds - twice! I'll have a look at the link. Thanks for the advice Bendy- house.

twopenny

I lost 3 big pots last year because they blew over in high winds.

I decided that mending them and they perhaps give way again due to moisture and temperature change it was better to start afresh. Tho it was expensive.

So now I have them on wide wheeled, wire bases that give a wider area at the base - and I've supported those with pot feet.

I'm also more alert to moving them out of the wind when gales are forcast which is where the wheels come in handy .