A test: the acid stain
After moving the three pets with us out to our little cottage last Sunday to enable us to finish the floors, the week brought more snow than we've seen in a long time. More snow meant we had to move back in the straw house b.c our cottage in the country would leave us in peril of not getting to work (at least not safely, or perhaps not at all). It snowed off and on all week, messing up our floor staining schedule drastically, but this week, we'll finally get things wrapped up.
Above is a pic of the acid stain test patch we mopped on with a sponge mop. I like the colour and it's a lot less messy than spraying it on with a garden sprayer.
This is the StainAstar product we're using to colour the concrete to look like tile. It runs about $65/gal which covers 400 sq ft. We'll apply a concrete sealer after we stain it, then grout the cracks. The grout is the most expensive part.
This is a test patch we did using the garden sprayer. A lot more liquid was required to cover the surface, making the overall colour much darker. Having liquid sit on the surface was bad for our wood work and plaster - it soaked right through the painter's tape and stained both surfaces.
A little view of the beauty brought by the multiple snow storms around our house.
Believe it or not, I wouldn't give up a view like this for anything. When I lived in the American South (yes, it must be cap'd), I desperately missed winter of this kind.
Here's a sneak pic of the antique wall sconces my Dad installed in our master bedroom in the little nichos we carved in the wall.
Above is a pic of the acid stain test patch we mopped on with a sponge mop. I like the colour and it's a lot less messy than spraying it on with a garden sprayer.
This is the StainAstar product we're using to colour the concrete to look like tile. It runs about $65/gal which covers 400 sq ft. We'll apply a concrete sealer after we stain it, then grout the cracks. The grout is the most expensive part.
This is a test patch we did using the garden sprayer. A lot more liquid was required to cover the surface, making the overall colour much darker. Having liquid sit on the surface was bad for our wood work and plaster - it soaked right through the painter's tape and stained both surfaces.
A little view of the beauty brought by the multiple snow storms around our house.
Believe it or not, I wouldn't give up a view like this for anything. When I lived in the American South (yes, it must be cap'd), I desperately missed winter of this kind.
Here's a sneak pic of the antique wall sconces my Dad installed in our master bedroom in the little nichos we carved in the wall.
posted by Kara at Friday, December 07, 2007
4 Comments:
I am so excited for you! The house is beautiful and just in time for the New Year and new babe.
Judy
Wow, your house looks great. Love the snow!
I have two questions:
Do you have to wear a respirator when applying the acid stain?
What kind of material do you use to grout the control joints? Is it off the shelf grouting compound, like you'd use on bathroom tiles, etc...Our slab is 6" thick and the rule of thumb is to make the control joint 1/4 as deep as the thickness of the slab. So our control joints are over 1" deep, and thus a maintenance nightmare. But, they seem to have done the trick as cracking is minimal.
Thanks,
Scott.
Hi Scott,
We haven't been wearing a respirator when applying the acid stain because it didn't seem to be very strong, but my folks who are helping me report that they can taste it in their mouth. That suggests to me we should have considered it more carefully. We could see mist-like vapors coming off as we mopped it on.
For our grout, we are just using the regular tile grout off the shelf at the hardware store. It will probably be more expensive than our acid stain and sealer were combined.
I love the acid stain on concrete. I had no idea there were such products or that concrete could look so good.
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