So glad that Hissy has found a good temporary home. I've always loved snakes and have had them as pets since I was a child. Later, when I was in grad school and living in an apartment just off campus, my much younger brother brought a rat snake home from scout camp. Unfortunately, my father, who was terrified of snakes, announced that either the snake went or he would go, so naturally I took him off my brother's hands and installed him in a nice herpetarium in my apartment (at which point I discovered just who my friends were and weren't!) Kaa (as I named him, from Kipling of course) stayed with me until I had to move to another location, at which point I found a new home for him.I would love to have a snake pet again, but now I'm in a New York City apartment and haven't the room it would need. I'm hoping that Hissy will find a wonderful new home. Thanks to you for being so kind in rescuing him even though you weren't familiar with snakes!

I'm so frustrated that I can't see the pictures of Laura's rocks! I think this technique is exactly what I've been searching for. I want to make a couple of fake stone chairs that will be similar in shape to beanbag chairs, but with rock markings. I think the wire armature will work for me. I'll build it, then put something under it and sit on it to make the seat indentation! Then I'll add the quickcrete. Based on reading lots of websites about hypertufa, I was thinking I'd have to make the concrete or tufa much thicker than you've made yours. Am I right in thinking it's the fibers in the initial layer of quickcrete that make your structure strong enough to hold 400 lbs w/o after the armature is removed?

I'm sure it depends on what you want to use it for... To protect from burrowing animals, like gophers, I was told by the master gardener at my community garden to use 1/2 inch hardware cloth, and to be sure it's galvanized, or it'll rust in not time. Be sure to shop around. I found prices in my local hardware shops were pretty expensive. I found what I needed from amazon.com for $110 cheaper than in the store...

Well since I started this discussion, I thought I'd report back to let everyone know we went with the finer 20/20 mesh. On the first day of construction, the builder brought two pieces out so we could compare the 18/14 with the 20/20. Turns out the view was not that different, when looking through the two, so we went with the finer mesh. I'm sure the 18/14 would have been fine, but since the builder was offer the 20/20 at no extra cost, we figured we should take advantage. Also, we've been able to feel plenty of breeze..., so we are happy with our choice. Thanks everyone for your feedback.