Interior Continued
Now it's time to put on some finishing
touches. We decided to pour a cement floor.
To do so our current concrete slab had to be
really clean. After all of the mud and dirt and
stucco and saw dust, the floors were really
dirty and getting them clean was a really big
effort.
We decided to do the finish floor before the
finish mud because we wanted to put tile along
the bottom of the walls as a base board. If we
would have done the finish mud before the
floor, I would not have known how thick the
floor was, and the tile would not be in the right
place.
Our concrete slab had a "brushed" finish
instead of a troweled finish. This was so that
we could put tile down. Tile for a space this
big would have been really expensive. Then I
thought about having to cut all of the square
tiles to go around the round rooms and decided
to do something else. We found a
"self-leveling" cement product, Ardex SD-T,
that you mix, pour out and then you can stain
it. Like usual nothing goes as well as we'd
touches. We decided to pour a cement floor.
To do so our current concrete slab had to be
really clean. After all of the mud and dirt and
stucco and saw dust, the floors were really
dirty and getting them clean was a really big
effort.
We decided to do the finish floor before the
finish mud because we wanted to put tile along
the bottom of the walls as a base board. If we
would have done the finish mud before the
floor, I would not have known how thick the
floor was, and the tile would not be in the right
place.
Our concrete slab had a "brushed" finish
instead of a troweled finish. This was so that
we could put tile down. Tile for a space this
big would have been really expensive. Then I
thought about having to cut all of the square
tiles to go around the round rooms and decided
to do something else. We found a
"self-leveling" cement product, Ardex SD-T,
that you mix, pour out and then you can stain
it. Like usual nothing goes as well as we'd
planned. It's a really long story, but
I will not be buying anything from
White Cap again. We got about half
of the house poured and it was clear
that we were screwing up the whole
thing. The Ardex set up so fast that
the first batch was partially cured
before the next batch was mixed. It
was nasty, ugly and expensive. I
was pretty upset. I did a bunch
more research and calling around
and found a similar product at a
cheaper price that also set up
MUCH slower: Fowtop HD made by
U.S. Industries. It is a much better
product I think. We poured it about
1/4" thick, let it cure and then
sprayed stain onto it. The stain is a
water based concrete stain called by
Mason's Select. I taped off big
flagstone shapes with masking tape
I will not be buying anything from
White Cap again. We got about half
of the house poured and it was clear
that we were screwing up the whole
thing. The Ardex set up so fast that
the first batch was partially cured
before the next batch was mixed. It
was nasty, ugly and expensive. I
was pretty upset. I did a bunch
more research and calling around
and found a similar product at a
cheaper price that also set up
MUCH slower: Fowtop HD made by
U.S. Industries. It is a much better
product I think. We poured it about
1/4" thick, let it cure and then
sprayed stain onto it. The stain is a
water based concrete stain called by
Mason's Select. I taped off big
flagstone shapes with masking tape
mixed custom colors and then sprayed the stain
on with my Wagner power painter. I used a
couple of other techniques, like sponging and
wet-on-wet application to get the effect I was
after. Once I had it the way I liked it I let it dry
and then put a clear coat over the top. I don't
think these pictures do justice to the finished
product, it turned out really well. The stain is not
as durable as I hoped. It is possible to scratch it.
I think this is because the Flowtop was harder
and less permeable than typical concrete. I should
have acid-etched the surface before I layed the
stain.
on with my Wagner power painter. I used a
couple of other techniques, like sponging and
wet-on-wet application to get the effect I was
after. Once I had it the way I liked it I let it dry
and then put a clear coat over the top. I don't
think these pictures do justice to the finished
product, it turned out really well. The stain is not
as durable as I hoped. It is possible to scratch it.
I think this is because the Flowtop was harder
and less permeable than typical concrete. I should
have acid-etched the surface before I layed the
stain.
This picture shows how I made the floor
two-toned. I made a "walk way" where the
natural flow of traffic goes through the
house. The picture also shows some of the
cabinets, the doors of which are made out of
broken pallets, and the tile work of the
counter tops. I'll put better detail pictures of
these items up when I get them.
After the floor was down, it was time for
the BIG project: finish mud. We attached
the base-board tiles with mud and, once
those were dry, we started the finish mud.
The mix was 2 sand, 1 dirt and about 1/2
handful
two-toned. I made a "walk way" where the
natural flow of traffic goes through the
house. The picture also shows some of the
cabinets, the doors of which are made out of
broken pallets, and the tile work of the
counter tops. I'll put better detail pictures of
these items up when I get them.
After the floor was down, it was time for
the BIG project: finish mud. We attached
the base-board tiles with mud and, once
those were dry, we started the finish mud.
The mix was 2 sand, 1 dirt and about 1/2
handful
of chopped straw. We started in the middle
room, thinking that we'd make our mistakes in
the room that would have the least traffic.
We covered the floor in plastic, called everybody
we knew, and mixed some mud. This is a slow
process. It takes a lot of work to get a nice flat
wall. The first day we had WAY too many
people. I wanted to be the only person working
the finish trowel, so all of our help was going
much faster. The mud started to dry faster than
I could finish it, so we tried to keep it moist with
a mister on a garden hose. We misted the wall
so much water on the wall that some of the clay
was slowly washing off of the wall. It looked
great, but as it dried it seemed really sandy, but
there were no cracks. I decided to change the
mix some and remove some sand for the master
bedroom. Mistake! The new mix went on fine
but then cracked as it dried. It wasn't terrible,
but not perfect either. The middle room mix
was perfect and it only SEEMED sandy because
we washed all the clay out of it! Whoops.
Anxious to move in and not anxious to do the
whole thing again, we decided to live with the
walls as they were. We'll go back and fix them
later. I wish that I would have gotten more
adobe experience BEFORE I started with our
walls. The parts of the walls that look good lood
really good, and the bad parts aren't too bad. I
am so glad that we decided to do adobe instead
of stucco or anything else.
room, thinking that we'd make our mistakes in
the room that would have the least traffic.
We covered the floor in plastic, called everybody
we knew, and mixed some mud. This is a slow
process. It takes a lot of work to get a nice flat
wall. The first day we had WAY too many
people. I wanted to be the only person working
the finish trowel, so all of our help was going
much faster. The mud started to dry faster than
I could finish it, so we tried to keep it moist with
a mister on a garden hose. We misted the wall
so much water on the wall that some of the clay
was slowly washing off of the wall. It looked
great, but as it dried it seemed really sandy, but
there were no cracks. I decided to change the
mix some and remove some sand for the master
bedroom. Mistake! The new mix went on fine
but then cracked as it dried. It wasn't terrible,
but not perfect either. The middle room mix
was perfect and it only SEEMED sandy because
we washed all the clay out of it! Whoops.
Anxious to move in and not anxious to do the
whole thing again, we decided to live with the
walls as they were. We'll go back and fix them
later. I wish that I would have gotten more
adobe experience BEFORE I started with our
walls. The parts of the walls that look good lood
really good, and the bad parts aren't too bad. I
am so glad that we decided to do adobe instead
of stucco or anything else.
Ellen celebrates the last mud mix. We
move in as soon as the walls are dry!
move in as soon as the walls are dry!
