making a cast from an impression in cement?
I need an easy, fast, and preferably inexpensive way to make a cast of an impression that was made in concrete.
I'm unexpectedly having to move from my home of 24 years (short version: Ten years ago, a tree fell on the house. By the time the insurance reimbursed us for the extensive repairs, we were behind on the mortgage. This was in the days when asking the bank to allow us to catch up was met with a 'yeah, right,' so we were foreclosed on and an investor bought the house and let us rent it back from him. Unbeknownst to us, he took out two mortgages on the place to pay for god knows what and then wasn't using our rent payment to cover said mortgages... so he lost it out from under us. At which point, it was taken over by Fannie Mae, who reassured us they'd find another investor so we wouldn't have to move from our accessible house {two wheelchair users and an oxygen user, made the house accessible ourselves in our healthier days}... and then a snotty realtor who I hope burns in hell did an end run around Fannie Mae, breaking several laws, sold it off to whoever had a few grand, those people now want to move in, and the house was no longer ours before we knew what had hit us.)
So... I'm now moving on about two week's notice. Fortunately, I finagled us a way to move to the house next door, so that frees me up to worry about all the sentimental things around here that I can't take with me.
One of those things is the sidewalk my dad and I poured as part of putting in our wheelchair ramp back when my sister and I were kids. We put our hand prints/crutchprints in the end corner of the wet cement and signed our names, as did my cousin/best friend, now deceased. Altogether, it's about a foot square piece of sidewalk, and the impressions can still be clearly read.
Is there anything I can use to make a reverse impression of this so I can take it with me? Would I have to do it in pieces (I assume so) or could I do it in one single square foot piece? Should I cut my losses and just chisel the end of the walk out and carry it off (I'm past caring what the scammy, rude, obnoxious people who bought the place think, as they're over here harrassing us about not moving quickly enough for them every day... we paid you rent, you slimy jerks, we're not squatting, and we've got a shedload of medical equipment to move tyvm, not to mention 24 years of possessions)?
Ideas/advice welcome, especially from anyone who might've done this kind of thing before.
I'm unexpectedly having to move from my home of 24 years (short version: Ten years ago, a tree fell on the house. By the time the insurance reimbursed us for the extensive repairs, we were behind on the mortgage. This was in the days when asking the bank to allow us to catch up was met with a 'yeah, right,' so we were foreclosed on and an investor bought the house and let us rent it back from him. Unbeknownst to us, he took out two mortgages on the place to pay for god knows what and then wasn't using our rent payment to cover said mortgages... so he lost it out from under us. At which point, it was taken over by Fannie Mae, who reassured us they'd find another investor so we wouldn't have to move from our accessible house {two wheelchair users and an oxygen user, made the house accessible ourselves in our healthier days}... and then a snotty realtor who I hope burns in hell did an end run around Fannie Mae, breaking several laws, sold it off to whoever had a few grand, those people now want to move in, and the house was no longer ours before we knew what had hit us.)
So... I'm now moving on about two week's notice. Fortunately, I finagled us a way to move to the house next door, so that frees me up to worry about all the sentimental things around here that I can't take with me.
One of those things is the sidewalk my dad and I poured as part of putting in our wheelchair ramp back when my sister and I were kids. We put our hand prints/crutchprints in the end corner of the wet cement and signed our names, as did my cousin/best friend, now deceased. Altogether, it's about a foot square piece of sidewalk, and the impressions can still be clearly read.
Is there anything I can use to make a reverse impression of this so I can take it with me? Would I have to do it in pieces (I assume so) or could I do it in one single square foot piece? Should I cut my losses and just chisel the end of the walk out and carry it off (I'm past caring what the scammy, rude, obnoxious people who bought the place think, as they're over here harrassing us about not moving quickly enough for them every day... we paid you rent, you slimy jerks, we're not squatting, and we've got a shedload of medical equipment to move tyvm, not to mention 24 years of possessions)?
Ideas/advice welcome, especially from anyone who might've done this kind of thing before.