The Floor

O.M.G.

What have I done?

Before I got started on the floor in the craft room, B sweetly reminded me that I was basically tattooing the house because this was going to be a permanent thing.

Thanks, B.

This is where I started...

Ugh. I hate those floors. No matter how they turn out, they're going to be better than this. And no, I haven't decided on what I want to do with the exposed ceiling. I think I'm going to leave it as it because it kind of adds a crafty look to a craft rom.

This is what we had after the stain went down...

Now, this isn't a picture of it dry. The stain went on thick so it may take a little while to completely dry. I was able to walk across most of it. I'm not crazy about the results but I also think it will look better once I get the lacquer down and new lighting.

I chose Behr Semi Transparent water based stain. I chose water based instead of acid because it is much safer to use and much easier to find. The acid stain would have been ideal but I would have had to neutralize the stain quickly after it went down and and I would have had to buy it online.

I chose semi transparent because I wanted the original colors of the concrete to show through. Acid is great for this because the acid reacts with the chemical make up of the concrete and makes different colors. I don't think I achieved the intended look because I put the stain on a little too thick. The directions on applying stain are kind of vague so I was doing this on my own. There also aren't a lot of people who have tried this so there wasn't anyone to ask. If I had the option to do it again, I probably would just because I know what to do differently next time.

And this is the picture I promised yesterday...

Isn't he beautiful!? We were really enjoying the ducks and then this happened...

Oh yeah. Big dumb pooch decided she wanted to play too. Good bye ducks. We haven't seen them since.

-W