My Epoxy Adventure

It seems that all I've done this year is work in my garage!

A couple more projects and we'll be set for winter. I have already insulated the walls, organized my tools, moved my stairs, and did a major purge of all things unnecessary. Time to tackle the floor.

After much research, I decided to use an epoxy finish on the floors. I wanted them to look clean, and hated the look of the bare concrete. I considered having a pro apply a commercial epoxy but, when I found out that *all* epoxy will wear out eventually, decided that the cost wouldn't make sense, if I was only going to have to do it again in a few years. And that's a key piece of information: epoxy isn't permanent! I know, I know, I thought it was, too. Bottom line, it will wear down to the original surface simply from driving on it. How long that takes will depend in how much you drive on it. For the average homeowner, you'll have to consider touching it up about every three years. On the plus side, it protects your floors from all sorts of staining and pitting.

I picked up four Behr Premium 2 Part Epoxy kits from Home Depot. Each kit comes with everything you need to finish a single car garage, including concrete etcher/cleaner, roller and brush. As luck would have it, the rep from Behr was there at the time and was very helpful, with all sorts of good advice. First thing he recommended was to buy a little extra. I have a three car garage (about 1,000 sq ft) and each epoxy kit should cover a single car garage....buuuuuuuut they don't. Not really. So, he said I should definitely pick up an extra kit so I didn't run out.

Ok, I just have to mention this because it struck me as funny when it dawned on me...my garage is bigger than my first apartment! ha ha

I figured I would do the garage in two parts. The double side and then the single side. That way I can move all my stuff to each side of the garage and wouldn't have to take it outside.

With all the construction going on around us, the garage is always filled with dust so, before I started, I swept, vacuumed and pressure washed the floor.

The first step in the kit is to apply the etcher. Wet the floor, sprinkle it on, brush with a stiff brush, and let it sit for 10 minutes, then rinse the floor. This helps the epoxy bond to the concrete.

Once the floor has completely dried, it's time to apply the epoxy. Mix the epoxy according to the instructions, and then it's basically like painting a wall. Cut in around the edges, then roll on the finish. I am applying the colour chips they've supplied so I'll do my floor in 1 metre square areas so I can make the finish as consistent as possible.

Wait about 24 hours before you move anything back onto the finished floor, four days before you drive on it. The Behr rep recommended laying down cardboard where car tires will be driving, for the first few weeks. And here's my finished floor (well, half of it, at least)!

I hope to tackle the other side next weekend, as long as the weather Gods keep being good to me.

Delish - Camp Food

Since I was a kid, I have been going camping with my family. I've always loved it. Mr. Mel and I have made camping a *huge* part of our summer, also. It's so nice to get out of the city, sit at the lake, go fishing, and have late night campfires and marshmallow roasts.

There is the standard camp food fare: burgers, weenies, beans, etc. and I have no problem with that. But, I like to stir things up a bit and often plan meals ahead that can be thrown into Ziploc bags and tossed into the cooler. Not all simple food has to taste simple!

This weekend, I brought a few of my favourite recipes...and I thought I'd share with you.

Easy Steak Marinade

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp of dried rosemary or thyme

Place 4 steaks (I use sirloin) ina large Ziploc bag. Wisk all ingredients together and pour into bag. Close the bag, getting rid of the air, and mush the steaks around a bit so they are all well coated in the marinade. Refrigerate for up to 2 days. 

Grilled Asparagus

1 bunch (10-12) asparagus spears

dash of salt and pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

Cut or break off the woody ends of the asparagus spears. Toss all ingredients together in plastic bag. Cook in disposable aluminum container (covered in tin foil) on BBQ set to "high", for 20-25 minutes.

It's Perfect Just How It Is

I am often on the look out for furniture that is begging for a facelift or make-over. But this table was pretty perfect just the way it was. And, for only $80, it's hard to go wrong!

Remember this table? While I loved it, I just wanted a change. So it's been banished to the basement until I find a new home for her.

This table works great, and is just what this room needed! It's on casters so it'll be easy to roll out of the way if we need more space.

I am working on some big changes for my living room, stay tuned! I am still hunting for an area rug for this space, what a daunting task!

Moving Stairs

Among the valuable lessons learned during construction of our house is that, often, common sense isn't all that common.

Exhibit A: Our garage stairs.

Given that our garage is laid out like this (note: this is not to scale, just to give you a general idea)...

...and given that our contractor understood that one of the vehicles we drive is a big-ass truck, I am at a loss as to why they would have put the stairs encroaching on the one parking spot that would have accommodated our truck. Ugh...men.

As a result, we have had to resort to parking the truck at an angle that takes up the ENTIRE double side of our three car garage. Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnnd, because we have three vehicles (ridiculous, I know, I know), it means that one has to be parked on the driveway. That sucks rocks when you live in a climate that gets to
-40 in the winter (uh, yeh, that's a bone chilling 40 degrees below freezing) and an average annual snowfall of 60". Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...............

After living with the garage this way for almost two years, I finally got on this project. I thought I should wait until the outside temperature was eight-hundred million degrees and the humidex was hovering around 99% and I had no one to lend a hand; cause that's usually the best time to do this sort of thing (please note the intense sarcasm). It took some muscle, and my potty mouth got the best of me at times, but I managed to reconfigure the stairs to face the opposite direction. It's a huge improvement!

Logic...gotta love it!

I've got another garage project on the go as we speak, I hope to update soon!

Saturday Somethin' Somethin'

Happy Saturday! It's a beautiful day here already; I am writing this as I sit in the morning sunshine, sipping my coffee as I wait for the first coat of driveway sealer to dry so I can apply coat number two. Typical Saturday. wink

Today I'm featuring wood bathtubs. Yay or nay? I admit, I  am drawn to them. They look so inviting, and darn comfortable! They are not cheap, that's for sure, but it's not just the price that's got me hesitant to make this leap. I think this is a very specific style, and I am sure it's not for everyone. I can't honestly say whether I think this would help or hinder me in an attempt to sell a home.

No sense taxing the brain unnecessarily. Just enjoy these lovely tubs.

And my personal fav. This beauty: the Helio Tub by William Garvey. Let's just say that the cost of this one would have me taking public transit and eating puffed wheat for many years!

I figure that, if I loved this look, but couldn't take the plunge (pardon the pun) I might just start with something small. How about a sink?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!

Delish - A Side Dish!

I had the yummiest supper tonight. I am stuffed! I tried this new recipe for a simple side dish and I love it! If you like brussel sprouts (there are people besides me who like them, right?) then you'll love this, too!

Brussel Sprouts with Mushrooms

4 cups brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved

1/2 lb mushrooms, halved

5 tbsp butter

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

fresh lemon juice

Cook brussel sprouts in a pot of lightly salted water for 15 minutes,

strain through colander, removing as much water as possible. Set aside.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Cook and stir mushrooms until lightly browned.

Toss brussel sprouts with mushrooms, and sprinkle with parsley and lemon juice.

 

New Life for Country Cute Table and Chairs

My parents have had this dining set since the early 80's! For those too young to recall, that was before iPods, DVD's, and uhm, yeh, you could buy a bag of chips for 50 cents! ha ha I grew up at this table. It's in tons of photos from my childhood, each nick and scratch has a story.

It's still very sturdy, and my mom still loves the style of it. But she's so over the finish!

Now that the main floor laminate is in, we decided to breath new life into this set. Dad gave me carte blanche so I decided to have a little fun with it. Mom is a big fan of these spaces from Sarah Richardson so I figured I'd stick with the same colours and embrace the country charm of the set.

I did the table first. It's not rocket science: clean, strip and then sand, sand, sand....and sand some more! I primed and gave a coat of fresh paint on the legs and apron with Krylon Satin White. I stained the top with Minwax Red Chestnut, topped with three coats of Varethane to protect it.

The table is my favourite part of this project. It just turned out so darn cute, I wanted an excuse to keep it for myself!

 

Now for the chairs...oh the chairs. Many a curse word left my lips while working on them. I sanded them down (man those spindles are a pain in the butt, thank goodness for my Dremel!), and cleaned them with TSP (make sure you wear rubber gloves with this product). I primed and then sprayed these with Rustoleum Aqua.

Here's where things went downhill in a hurry. Thankfully, I only tried this method one one chair, so fixing it didn't take as long as it could have if I had gone gung ho on all four. I scuffed the chair up with 100 grit sandpaper and then rubbed a light coat of stain over the entire chair. Epic. Fail. Monstrously epic! Back to the drawing board.

Once I had all four chairs painted (again) I mixed up a light grey glaze to make the colour a little less....bright. I did four parts glaze to one part grey paint. I used a rag to wipe it all over the chairs and left just enough behind to have them look a bit aged. A coat of Varethane to protect them and they are done...finally.

Here's the finished set. They were both really surprised to see it, and mom just loved it!

I am now hunting for rug for this area...wish me luck!

Linking up: