My Blog

Final ' Crete Wood' --concrete wood floor

03/13/2012 22:04:00

We added more stain to deepen the colors and add a little more interest. Next we sealed up the floor. Here is a picture of the final product. Sorry--all I had was my camera phone.

Crete wood--after first coat of stain.

03/12/2012 23:44:00

After the tape is pulled, we need to vacuum really well, then I rub an actual brick on the floor to take off any burs or picky sharp pieces. Next we will put two coats of stain that actually consists of 4 different color combinations that I have formulated. I use Ultrastone stain that is made by EliteCrete and formulated specifically for polymer cement overlay material. This picture is after the first coat of stain.

First and second concrete layers down --

03/11/2012 16:41:00

Well, we got the floor all prepped. Now we will put our first layer of thin finish. as a bonding layer over the whole floor. Once that is dry, we will put our 1/4" fiber tape down laying out our 'boards'. We are using 6", 8", and 10" boards. We will just eye, and look at what makes sense for the ends of the boards aesthetically.

Next we will put our thicker mix of thin finish down with a trowel--about 3 or 4 boards wide at a time and drag a wallpaper brush through it to make the grains. We will add a few knots and the little buggers created from the brush will be allowed to dry because they make interested variations later when staining the boards. Once that layer is dry--time to pull the tape! This picture is with the tape already pulled.

Making concrete look like wood: 'Crete wood'

03/09/2012 09:03:00

I am working on an interior concrete overlay project. Eventually we will do the whole house, but we are starting in the master bedroom area. The end result will be what I call 'Crete wood". We will be creating a floor that looks like it is a wood floor. It will be much more durable than a wood floor, water or puppy accidents will not cause warping, and it will not scratch easily! First step will be to take out the carpet, pad, and tack strips. Next to grind the top surface of the existing concrete and there is one crack that needs to be addressed. We can never guarantee the crack will disappear, but we can fill it and hope it is done cracking. Back to work--I will try to take pics along the way. This is exciting!

Chair is finished

09/23/2011 13:58:00

The chair is finished, and I must say, it looks awesome, kind of regal. We don't claim to be actual reupholsters, but one of our customers really wanted this chair to match in her bedroom so she could sit on it to get dressed after her knee replacement. I just had to say, "we can do that for you." She is going to love it!

chair makeover

09/22/2011 18:55:00

We've been working on making a chair that is a gorgeous chair, but it just did not match the master bedroom that it was needed for., especially after the crown molding we installed and faux finished similar to the antique gold picture frames in the room as well as surrounding the multi layered plaster faux finish we installed on the ceiling inset and accent wall. The chair was dark wood and had flowery fabric. We brought it back to our shop and Bob took all the fabric off. We then sprayed a basecoat on the chair. I mixed up a glaze and applied that and then put gold into the grooves, wiping off the excess. Next, Bob is going to add some batting and put the new fabric on and trim!

heavy texture made smooth

08/17/2011 12:09:00

Somehow this post did not get posted, but I wanted to conclude our filling in the heavy texture blog. The walls were looking so much better with just the first coat of mud, and then we put the second coat on, trying to stay vertical this time, filling in the ridges we created. With some sanding, these two layers--in most places could have been enough, especially for the degree of smoothness we had discussed the price given was to reflect. After all the work we had just done, though, I really wanted to bring it to the next level, so I took the time to shine a light to find the pits and spots that needed to be filled, and filled them. I filled them so tight they really didn't need more sanding. It really came out nice.

filling in heavy textured walls

07/24/2011 09:49:00

We have been asked to fill in a very heavy glacier texture on a clients walls, and make the walls smooth. We have been working at it this past week, and it is coming along nicely. First, Bob went through and taped the ceilings off, knocked off the highest points of the plaster texture, and sanded the roughness down some with sanding screens. We decided to use compound as opposed to hot mud, to not limit our working time with each batch. I like to use a beveled edge trowel and hawk, and Bob likes to use a knife and hawk. We are laying in the first coat completely horizontal, which leaves vertical ridges, and those will be filled in with the second coat going vertically.

Cabinet doors installed!

06/30/2011 12:05:00

We re-installed the cabinet doors. I made the doors a little darker than the bases, which happens sometimes since I did the doors in my shop and the bases on site, so I toned the bases on a few side panels and on the crown around the top. They look great! I will try to take some better pictures, but here are some of cabinets. From white to>>>>>>>>>not!

Cabinet doors are going back on!

06/24/2011 11:01:00

We will be re-installing the cabinet doors today. We did the accent glazing at the edge of the panels with dark walnut. Basically we just brushed it on and then wiped off the excess with a balled up t-shirt rag. Then we put 2 coat of Zar antique flat urethane, using bronze wool between each coat. They look awesome. I am really mad at myself now for not taking a before picture of the kitchen. I will at least take an after picture and post that. They also had a white fan that we made they blades the same as the new cabinet finish.