Kathryn Adams

> Although your floor sounds beautiful Debbie((I too love the
miracles of
> painting effects as a resolution to " how do I fix up this dump
with no
> moola")
> But let me caution you about water seal.
> I redid the nasty fake-o looking panel cabinet and oval sink in
my
> mobile home front bathroom with smooth pretty stones from Agate
Beach in
> Northern California glued and grouted in with sand and blended in
the
> counter with an etched concrete/joint compound mixture.
> On the floor I did a paint technique much like yours and then
applied the
> most expensive "marine" water seal over everything."Thompsons"
> Oh, did it look great.....for about 6 months until it all
started to
> yellow. And I do not mean a nice patina looking yellow. I stripped
that and
> used another brand"also top drawer" with the same nasty results.
The long
> and short of a solution that I have found, has been thin coats of
either the
> clear coat on "Patio Paints" yes the bitty bottles or Glossy Mod
Podge. Sure
> it wears off and needs a recoat but not the huge mess the good
stuff turned
> out to be. And the focal point" sink" retains that beautiful wet
look rather
> than the rocks you wonder why you brought home once they dry out..
> Kathe
>
> -------Original Message-------


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Robyn Coburn

> On the floor I did a paint technique much like yours and then
applied the most expensive "marine" water seal over everything."Thompsons"
Oh, did it look great.....for about 6 months until it all started to yellow.
And I do not mean a nice patina looking yellow. I stripped that and
used another brand"also top drawer" with the same nasty results.

The long and short of a solution that I have found, has been thin coats of
either the clear coat on "Patio Paints" yes the bitty bottles or Glossy Mod
Podge. Sure it wears off and needs a recoat but not the huge mess the good
stuff turned out to be. And the focal point" sink" retains that beautiful
wet look rather than the rocks you wonder why you brought home once they dry
out..>>>>

I think I have some additional suggestions.

If you are not particularly worried about how long the finish lasts - if you
are using Mod Podge for instance - you can probably save a ton money by
using (only) a couple of layers of Future Floor Wax from the supermarket - a
secret weapon of theater set and prop builders. It is water based, quick
drying, increasingly glossy and actually much longer lasting than you would
think. It can be tinted with paint tints for faux paint effects, which will
then settle to the bottom of your container and allow you to pour off the
newly clean Future for future use! It can go over basically any surface,
including crafts projects.

For a certain industrial look in your decorating, Future really looks nice
over unfinished concrete or cement floors or countertops, giving a nice
patina.

Most of the time, when I was still designing in Australia, when I have
needed to seal a painted floor and enhance the depth of color and texture,
again for sets, I have used Acrylic Emulsion which I purchased from another
theater in bulk. They bought a 44 gallon drum annually, and I would buy 5
gallons at a time and it would last for a whole season on our little stage.
Acrylic Emulsion is one of the key ingredients in white craft glues - it is
white, less viscous than glue, and then dries clear. It is goes on with a
roller or brush - beware of too much rolling over or you get tiny air
bubbles that are very faintly milky when dry (but it takes a serious effort
to do that). It would dry overnight and be a satin finish. It stood up to at
least 8 weeks plus classes. I never had to refinish a set, and it took the
next layer of paint beautifully.

Another floor that is really durable is non-skid garage flooring - it has
the little raised circles, and I think rolls out just like vinyls.

Thinking about wall painters and renters and refinishing woes - a product
that is used in low budget filmmaking a lot, is Sand Blast masking paper -
that comes in 50 yard rolls. It has a good sticky surface, stronger than say
Contact Paper, yet will still peel off walls or formica or that cheap white
coated furniture. The outside is a somewhat absorbent brown paper - like
grocery bags but thicker and more durable. It takes paint really well,
including standing up to faux finishing - hence its popularity in films when
working at locations that cannot be damaged in any way. I bet if you can
find a sand blaster - ie someone doing decorative glass sandblasting, not
cleaning stone buildings - they may sell some.
Robyn L. Coburn

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Thanks so much Kathryn. Your sink sounds gorgeous! Our house is wall to wall
saltillo tile except for that one bedroom so we have water based tile sealer
here. I'm not sure, but I think the Thomson's is different. If it yellows I'm
thinking it's probably a polyurethane based sealant.

Robyn~Wow I love inexpensive, creative set ideas!! Thanks so much. We have
older dogs that have accidents every day, would the Future Floor Wax hold up
under the conditions of constant cleaning? I'm actually very pleasantly surprised
by the floor. I really like it better than the tile. It's been a week or so
and the unsealed floor is really wearing....I want to touch up and then seal
and protect it.

Thanks again for the ideas, I'm going to file them away and save them.
Sparkles~
Debbie~:)



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Robyn Coburn

Robyn~Wow I love inexpensive, creative set ideas!! Thanks so much. We have
older dogs that have accidents every day, would the Future Floor Wax hold up

under the conditions of constant cleaning? >>>>

I think it depends on the cleaning material you are using - ie longer if
just water, shorter if strong detergents - and the number of coats you put
on initially. However I think the bottle has some info on that score. In
your situation you may have to reapply more often - when you notice the
shine fading. It's so cheap though.

Robyn L. Coburn

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