How to paint a concrete patio

Tags

concrete, diy, home, house, paint, painting, patio, porch

The patio on our house wasn’t looking especially welcoming with its sad, dirty concrete. With a little patching and painting we took it from drab to fab (sorry, I want to punch myself for saying that). What a difference a little paint makes!
You may have also noticed I have an addiction to the yellow/teal combination as also seen here. I’m working through it but will say as a disclaimer that I choose the house colors well before I used them for the bench. I’ve got to be stopped.

Back to the patio! When we bought the house there was evidence that the patio may have somehow been enclosed by plexiglass by the previous owner? Presumably that included some sort of floor covering because it’s always had grid marks that were not a good look.

There had also been some patching done to cover up cracks around the patio. Because the patio is attached to the foundation, we had someone take a look which meant them chipping away all the patch work to expose the rebar. The good news: The rebar hasn’t disintegrated. The bad news: We had big gashes that needed to be patched up. If you have cracks that need patching in your patio I would recommend Sakrete’s Top’n Bond patch which was easy to use. This was not a structural issue, if you have cracks affecting your structure consult a pro.

After patching as needed I somehow convinced my husband to powerwash. We are lucky to own a powerwasher that connects to a hose but you can also rent one from your local home improvement store. Once you get that bad boy hooked up, you’ll start looking for anything you can possibly wash with it because it makes such a difference!

Once the surface was clean I had to prepare for an important step: ETCHING. Do not skip etching! We almost did because we’re lazy, but it’s necessary to prep the surface for paint. This stuff will damage plants and other surfaces so they need to be protected from the spray when you etch and then rinse with water. We used plastic to protect the plants and I used foil and painters tape to protected the painted parts of railing. We used the Behr brand etcher since it was the same brand as our paint but there were multiple kinds. Read the labels and ask a pro.

With a prepared surface we could have started the painting process but decided to take one more step to make the patio last a little longer. You see, this concrete is over 65-years-old and so the cement (concrete= cement + gravel) seemed to be suffering some wear on the steps. We spoke with the paint pro and he recommended an epoxy product before painting. I don’t remember what brand we used but wished we had chosen one with more product or bought two… it didn’t spread very far. But it did get the job done and evened out these rocky steps a little and made them look better once the paint was on.

Everything was cured and well dried by the time we started painting. They make a special bonding primer for concrete that is the consistency of milk and dries a little tacky. This stuff is easily poured on the surface and can be brushed around quickly. It also dries relatively fast because it’s so thin.

For our two paints we had the store match the existing paint colors of our house in the porch and patio floor paint. Note: There is also “concrete and garage floor” paint but our neighbor who had it used on her patio said it started to chip and flake. I can only guess that the porch and patio stuff is better outdoors while the garage and concrete stuff is meant to be more indoors. Choose wisely.

Then it was as easy as painting. My husband rolled and I used a brush to get in the smaller spots. We painting right over the primed epoxy and primed concrete. Just two coats did the job.

With some painting and patching the front of our house is finally looking complete after 65 years! You can see that while our main focus was the patio we also painted the front of the house’s foundation. We decided not to go around the whole house for now because we didn’t have time but there was plenty of paint leftover if it needs to be done at a later time.

Did you also notice that our hydrangea bloomed in between the two weekends we spent on this project? Makes for a better “after” picture if you ask me!

This project had a lot of steps but was worth the time spent for a long-lasting finished product. It’s been a few weeks since we completed this and so far so good. The paint is standing up to everyday wear and tear so far and it makes our little home so much more welcoming!

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How to turn a coffee table into a bench

Tags

diy, home

This is one of those projects where I end up asking myself “Why didn’t I do that sooner!?” on multiple occasions. First, this coffee table was rescued by my dad from a neighbor’s discard pile. That was probably at least two years ago. Then, it sat on our side yard housing spiders for a while before I finally was Pinspired to make it into a bench. A bench whose cushion took a year of procrastination for me to complete. The end result though is so totally cute and the whole process was easy so I have no idea why it took so long. If you can get your hands on a coffee table with strong legs, turn it into a bench! You won’t be sorry!
This coffee table works perfect for this because it’s built pretty strong, if you’re going to try this, make sure the bench will be structurally sound for sitting as versus just being a coffee table you’d never sit on. I removed the top of the table and cut out the middle because the edges have a nice bevel to them.

Next I cut the middle out of the table itself and eventually removed those two pieces that were there for the drawers. Those were cut down to size later.

Since this table spent so much time out in the elements it was a little warped and despite measuring, my cuts left a few gaps that would need to be filled. Also, I needed to connect the table back together and make sure it was stable so I used some of the scrap wood that had been cut to reinforce the sides. I just screwed this piece in a few times and it was fine.

The piece on the right below never had to be removed from the table so I only really had to reattach the board that was shortened. I used a few screws for each just in case and you can see all the screws on the sides, below, that attached the two pieces of the table back together.

A few screws here, a few there, piece of cake.

With a few gaps to fill in and those screws to hide, I took out the wood filler and found that apparently in our sometimes damp environment it doesn’t fare so well…

Gross. You are welcome for that image. I used what I could to avoid a trip to the store and tossed it. It got the job done and once it dried I used a sander to go to town on the whole table to rough the surface up a little and sand down the patch. Then I used a spray primer on the table since it previously had no finish. A few light coats on all sides and then I let that dry.

I don’t know where the pictures went but after the primer was dry I did several light coats with a spray paint to get this bad boy all gussied up. But surely you already know how to spray paint if you’ve made it this far!

Next was the cushion. I bought my foam from this site instead of the fabric store since this stuff is made for outdoors and was about the right size. This stuff is not cheap but should last! I took it to my bench and marked where to cut by feeling where the edge of the bench was. An electric knife made this a total breeze to cut.

For this project I purchased outdoor fabric that will last in the sun and elements but to be honest, I usually take the cushion inside when we aren’t using it. You could just as easily use some sort of canvas or heavy material for this project for outside use or something lighter if you’re making an inside cushion. I’m also going to direct anyone who’s attempting this to a better sewing tutorial than I could give here. I simply measured my fabric and sort of went for it.

This method worked fine for me but if you’re concerned about having completely nice sewn edges, you are more particular for me. I was proud of myself for using a fancy stitch on the hemmed edge opening for putting the cushion in (and taking it out so I can wash the cover!).

For my outside bench I needed a way to attach the cushion to the bench so it doesn’t fly away when it’s windy so I used some of the same seam binding that I used on the long sides to make little ties. May not be ideal but it’s very functional for us!

Ultimately this bench is the perfect addition to our outdoor seating and the foam makes it particularly comfortable. I don’t store anything in the drawers currently but it has crossed my mind. This is a great way to repurpose furniture and give it a new life!

It only took a year for me to finally get around to finishing it! Procrastination is a beast. You’ll notice that the spray paint has a few chips and is peeling a bit in some places. Not quite sure what to say about this but presumably because this table has stayed outdoors it’s taking a little bit of a beating from the elements but with the cushion it’s hardly noticeable and if it gets worse I can easily sand and give it a new coat of paint. In the end, I’m so glad I finally finished this project off!

Nothing Says “Welcome Home” Like Giant Zucchini

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cooking, dinner, food, food processor, nature, plants, seed packet, shred, travel, vacation, vegetarian, yikes, zucchini bread, zucchini muffins

Been away from the blog for a bit so I’m making a comeback with the same thing that welcomed the husband and I home from a week of July vacation: gigantic zucchini!

Not the first time we’ve come home and been terrified by the crazy sized zucchini growing in our absence but this time was an extra surprise because I thought I had planted a very dark green zucchini! It appears some other seeds got mixed into my seed packet and I think these are actually “Segev” or Lebanese summer squash.

The seeds in a squash this size are as big as a pumpkin’s and when squash gets this big, you can’t grill it. So what to do?

Take out the food processor and shred away! I brought half (8 cups total!) to my co-workers and we had a zucchini bread bake off. At home we used it on pizza, in a farro dish, and more zucchini muffins than are good for us.

And I still have one more giant zucchini to shred then use. And several more are now growing on the plant. Yikes! When you spend all winter dreaming about tomatoes, basil and zucchini you forget how hectic it gets trying to use it all up when it hits. At least it feels like summer now.