birdbath repair suggestions

[Northe]

I have a birdbath -- definitely not concrete or fiberglass, probably some kind of plaster. Apparently there was some sort of coating on the inside of the bowl and after a freezing night or two the coating spalled and the bowl developed some fine cracks and now leaks. I'm looking for some sort of coating I can use inside the bowl to stop the leaking. One of the local hardware stores recommended the water-based latex form of Drylok masonry waterproofer -- I wish it was available in less than a gallon-sized can. Someone else recommended some kind of bitumen paint -- but didn't know the brand or where it was available. Obviously I don't want anything that'd be toxic for the birds.

Anyone had experience with sealing a birdbath, fountain or, perhaps, something like a small koi pond?

Thanks in advance!

Northe Green Valley, AZ

[Joe]

This is not a creative use for your time. Head for a garden shop and buy a more robust birdbath, or search the web for many of the online choices. Good luck.

Joe

[Phisherman]

Any of the clear aquarium sealers might work (look at a pet/aquarium shop). The area to be sealed must be very clean and absolutely dry. If that fails, it probably a good time to think about replacing the birdbath. A freezing/thawing cycle will certainly make the smallest of all cracks worse.

[dadiOH]

Don't use any thing with bitumenous material...bye, bye birdie.

If the cracks are truly fine an acrylic sealer such as Seal-Krete should work pretty well assuming the material is porous.

If it leaks a LOT, epoxy would fix it. Seal-Krete would be cheaper (MUCH), it costs around $12/gallon.

I would think a cementacious paint might work too. As would an elastometric paint.

[jmagerl]

[Northe]

Thanks for some good ideas.

I'll check on Seal-Krete and epoxy paint. The only aquarium sealers I've seen are the relatively thick material in tubes, and I'm intending to seal the entire surface -- I'm not rejecting the idea out of hand, though.

Northe