From Broken Bird Bath to a Charming Gnome Garden

Spring, 2026

By Michael Loebig – GBI Marketing

When my wife Sarah and I purchased our home, the previous owners left behind a severely weathered stone bird bath. Since Sarah is getting more into creating gnome gardens, she thought it’d be a fun project to fix up the bird bath and turn it into one!

Assessing the Damage

This bird bath is a two-piece design, consisting of a bowl (top half) and a standing post (bottom half). Aside from both pieces needing a fresh coat of paint, the bowl had a large crack that ran all the way from the top rim to the bottom center and went clean through on both the front and back sides of the bowl. We decided to fill the crack with WEST SYSTEM® G/flex® 655 Thickened Epoxy Adhesive because it bonds well to stone and has a 30% elongation, allowing it to expand and contract with Michigan’s seasonal temperature changes.

Performing the Repair

To prepare the surface, we ground a bevel along both sides of the crack (on both the inside and outside of the bowl) for a secure bond. With the surface prepared, I mixed up my
G/flex Epoxy and used a disposable paint brush to apply the epoxy into and around the crack. The bristles made it easy to coat the uneven surface and work the epoxy into the crack without too much trouble. I flipped the bowl over and repeated the process on the opposite side. Once I was happy with the amount of coverage I achieved, I let it cure in-place for 24 hours.

Since this bird bath will live outside and be filled with dirt, we didn’t spend a lot of time preparing the surface before painting. I removed the amine blush with water and paper towels but didn’t do any sanding before hitting it with vibrant green spray paint. We knew going into this project that we weren’t going for top-of-the-line aesthetics—we just wanted to make it functional and eye-catching—so sanding and fairing the surface wasn’t something we felt necessary.