Craft Room Reveal/Faux Wood tutorial

Craft Room Before....Yikes!!  This was a great space just for me and maybe 1 or 2 kids, I wanted to accommodate lots of friends at the same time!  Changes need to be made....

We have 2 utility rooms on our lower level right across from each other.  The first one I already showed you, that is hubby's office/bike shop.  This one is my craft room/mudroom for the kids.  There has been carpet in both for the last 3 years....not so good.  It was so nasty!  Oil stains, paint stains, you name it.  I was so happy when the first one was done but boy was that a lot of work!!  My room wouldn't be quite as bad since I am constantly rearranging and I had already painted it so all I had to do was the floors.  I needed a full 3 day weekend to complete, I couldn't procrastinate on this one since everything had to come out, and there is a lot of junk packed into one room.  All of it went in my dining room and I wouldn't be able to stand looking at the mess so I needed a chunk of time.  Dad to the rescue, taking the boys on a camping trip....perfect!!  Dave helped me move everything out beforehand and rip out carpet and prep the floor.
For prep, you must remove all nails and tackboard.  Second, wash floor with degreaser and rinse, I use TSP.  Then patch all the holes from carpet with concrete patch and let cure.  Sand any rough patches.  Make sure to really smooth out any rough surfaces....they will show!!  There is one spot that didn't get done right away so had hubby patch quick and being impatient did not sand all the way down and you can totally see the spot!  GRRRRR.  Oh well, lesson learned.
Craft Then you have to etch, this is very important so product will adhere to concrete.  You can use pre made etch, home depot or lowes has one.  We just used Muriatic Acid from the pool cuz it's cheap and we already had it.  :)  He mixed probably about 10 parts to one.  Be careful, this is wicked stuff!!

Make sure to wear protective gear while using and rinse very well.  Let floor dry completely and now it's time to prime!!  I used a primer called Seal Krete lock down, 2 coats and let completely dry in between.  Then I did 2 coats of Porch/concrete paint.  Make sure it's paint and not stain.

Now comes the fun part!!  I used a piece of trim that was about the size I wanted for the planks and did a random pattern starting from one corner and went back and forth with my pattern.  I used black sharpie and just traced the board.  Buy a big pack of sharpies!!  I went through about 7 I think.  

 I used 3 different colors of glaze (Modern Masters clear glaze and mixed 3 different tones to get dimension I wanted)  to do the faux wood grain along with multiple tools.

You will need a Wood grain set, found at Sherwin Williams, and I used a strie brush to soften the lines. I worked with about 3 or 4 planks at a time.  I highly recommend doing a practice run on a piece of cardboard or poster board to get the look you want.  

First step:  Brush on lightest color all over planks you are working with and rub it in with a rag lightly misted with water.  You don't want it wet, just a light spray.  Work the color in and then take other 2 colors and do random streaks of each over the top of first color.  Now take your wood grain tool and starting at one end of plank, drag through your glaze rocking back and forth until you get the grain you want.  Now take your strie tool and soften lines a bit.  Finally take the hand scraping tool (if you want a distressed look) and drag through randomly to achieve final look.  Continue working back and forth from one end of room to the other.  Make sure to end each plank so that you are not overlapping glaze, you don't want it to get muddy looking.  Have a second damp rag handy to wipe down wood grain tool every couple sections.  

 Let dry overnight.  You want to make sure and use a good sealer.  I used the Seal Krete Clear Seal in Matte Finish.  I could not find the Matte at big box stores, I found it at Dunn Edwards.  Still has a little shine but I did not want a high gloss.  I did 2 coats of seal with Polyurethane pad (no roller marks) and followed manufacturer instructions on dry time.  Wait at least 24 hours before moving stuff back in.  Yay!!  I love it!!  And the floors are a breeze to clean.  Now I just need all matching cute baskets and it will be done.....

Supplies:

Mop bucket

Etching compound or acid 

Protective gear

Primer

Porch/Concrete Paint 

Paint accessories 

Poly Applicator 

Glaze 

Rags 

Spray bottle 

Faux Finishing tools 

Concrete Sealer 

Linked to 

http://www.mabeyshemadeit.com/tell-tuesday-11-pattern-giveaway/