Sunday, June 6, 2010

Faux Stained Brick Floor Tutorial


Thank you to The Nester for featuring my brick floor and all of you for your interest!

I've had so many people ask about how I did it that I thought I would go ahead and answer some of your questions here.

Ok, a couple of things first...
1. I've only had my done for about a month now, so I don't know how well it will hold up through the years. I have dropped stuff, scraped it, sanded it, gotten it wet and so on and it has not changed the look so far;-) This is also the reason I chose stain instead of paint, to avoid the chipping, peeling, scraping stuff.

2. I used what I had on hand, so I am not recommending or advocating that you do the same or use the same products.

3. I hate to do things the right long way! I do things as quickly and cheaply as possible which normally works for me, but you may have MUCH better results if you take more time!

Now on to the good stuff!

The first thing I did was scrub the floor with bleach and water, then rinse it. If your concrete is really dirty then I would recommend purchasing a heavy duty concrete cleaner.

After letting it dry for a few days (I was actually just letting my sinuses clear) then I took the plunge!

What you will need:
1. A fairly large sponge that you can cut into the length of a brick. I would suggest buying at least two or three since they get VERY saturated and start leaving a different look. You also might want to cut some smaller "bricks" to use for the "odd" spots. I plucked some foam out of mine in random spots to give it a more "real" look.
I bought a sponge much like the one shown here in the auto department at Wal-Mart.

2. Some red wood stain. This part is really up to you as far as what kind you want to use. I used what was left in our shed when we moved here and I loved how it turned out. The red might sound scary but it dries a nice darker, brownish color. This is the exact stain I used. I ended up using about 1/2 a gallon for an 8x8 room.Yeah, it's waterproofing stain. I have no idea what impact that will or will not have.

3. A paint pan to pour the stain into. I put my pan in a trash bag since this was oil based and it made clean up real quick!

4. Some gloves. Your hands will be nasty if you don't use them!

Now, that is all I used. I eyeballed my lines but if a chalk line works better for you then go for it! I also stamped a few trial "bricks" onto a piece of plywood, which does not dry the same color, but it gave me an idea of what to do.

My How-To Guide:
I started by doing a "brick" border around the edge of the room. Make sure you think about what pattern you want your bricks to be! I almost ended up doing mine in straight lines instead of staggered lines because I wasn't thinking.

Dip your sponge in the stain and set it onto the spot where you want it. I learned after the floor dried that you should not "squish" the sponge onto the floor. You end up with darker spots on the edge of the "brick". Instead, lightly rub the brick back and forth or sideways (in kind of a gentle rocking motion)just a little so that your stain really covers the spot. If you rub too much then you end up with a monster size brick.

This is an 8' by 8' room and it took me about two hours to complete. I did go back over a few of these with a foam brush because they weren't dark enough.

Dry time for completely dry is about 5-7 days. (that is with the particular stain that I used)

Last but not least, the above photo is what it looked like before! So go make an amazing transformation!

All these instructions may make it seem difficult, but this was truly one of the easiest projects I've done. Promise!

Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have and email me your results if you take on this easy-peasy project!
Photobucket

14 comments:

Robyn said...

WOW WOW WOW! It's soooo colonial Williamsburg looking! I can't tell you how incredibly awesome this looks! I saw a snippet on the side bar of Three Ring Cottage and came to investigate. Now, I've gotta stay a while you clever chick! NEW FOLLOWER! ;-)

Christi said...

I think it's just amazing! Now if I only had somewhere I could do this...

Katie said...

I LOVE this idea. I wish I would have learned it from you sooner! I would love this look in my kitchen! Lol What do you think about that?! I think it'd be great.

Katie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Handbags*and*Pigtails said...

This is pure genious! Love it and I'd like to link it over to my blog post for today if you dont mind:)
Sarah
HandbagsNPigtails.blogspot.com

Patricia @ 9th and Denver said...

loved this painted brick project.
I have a concrete patio and have been given the stain/cement paint to do it. But it is a scary project to imagine.
Maybe if the weather co-operates this weekend.

Wish me luck!

Sandy said...

Was nice of you to come visit my blog today.. I did my kitchen cabinets several months ago, they turned out wonderful! Good luck!
Sandy

fleurcottage said...

what a great idea & so simple!

Jamie @ Life with Lily said...

HI! This is awesome!! Love your blog! Do you think this would work on my kitchen tile its kinda slate looking. Think it would work with grout?? Thanks so much!

Unknown said...

What a fantastic project! I'll be linking to it on our Flooring pinboard. Check it out next week at pinterest.com/homedepot.

- Chante LaGon for The Home Depot

Anonymous said...

I am in love with your floor! It looked like real brick to me at first sight. You’ve done a wonderful job and I hope I can do that for my garage too. I love the red stain you used-made the floor so brick-like. I almost believed it was real brick even after I read the process and realized it was stain! Other home owners, flooring Honolulu experts and interior designers will surely find this post informative. Thanks for an amazing ride through your project! Thumbs up!

Rich said...

This looks awesome. How well has it held up (since it's now 2.5 years later)? I'm considering this for a much large space - a basement that's about 20x20.

Anonymous said...

That is an amazing transformation and looks so easy to do! I will definitely share this with my friend who has been contemplating for so long on what to do with the concrete floor just in front of his yard. This would make a great outdoor flooring Houston design(for instance)! Thank you for the information and tips!

Michelle said...

I spent a great deal of time looking at your project and trying it myself. Big failure. You can't do this with porous bumpy concrete. :-( BUT it looked amazing what I managed to do. I'm starting over again tomorrow with regular paint. This was good practice and because it was a wood stain, it's fairly easy to sand away the mistakes. Hopefully, there will be no mistakes on my second attempt!