Recipe: Rustic Chic

Becker Architectural Concrete, Woodbury, Minn.
www.beckerconcrete.com

A bluestone-stamped field trimmed with richly stained faux beams, this technique is perfectly suited for any room with an upscale rustic theme.

Ingredients:

Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender
Weld-Crete concrete bonding agent
Aggregate Industries 4,500-psi topping mix, with:
    - BASF low-range water-reducing admixture, at 3 ounces per hundredweight of cement
    - standard 1 percent dosage of Solomon Colors ColorFlo liquid integral color: Canvas
Legacy Accent Liquid Release
L.M. Scofield Lithochrome Antiquing Release: Charcoal
Proline Boardwalk Wood Plank Stamps: 12 inches by 48 inches
Proline Concrete Tools Seamless Texture Skins: Blue Stone
Legacy Fresco Stain: Hickory
L.M. Scofield Lithochrome Chemstain Classic: Faded Terracotta, Dark Walnut
Baking soda (for neutralizing)
ChemSystems CSI Concrete Dye: Elkhorn
Acetone (for dilution)
W.R. Meadows Decra-Seal
Butcher’s Iron Stone floor finish
Special equipment required: 1/8-inch concrete edger, terry-cloth staining pads, wax applicator mop

Directions:

• This application was tested as a topping poured over a rough slab with radiant-heating tubes. If you also intend to install on a slab, your first step is going to be to clean the existing surface thoroughly, especially any cracks in the substrate.
• Apply the Roadware mender to any cracks and let set.
• Use 2-by-4s to block off 12-inch-wide borders and dividers. These will be the accent spaces that you'll stamp with the plank pattern.
• Apply a thin coat of Weldcrete bonding agent to the substrate.
• Pour your topping mix into the borders and dividers at a depth of 3/8 inch.
• Mix 3 gallons of liquid release with 12 ounces of the Charcoal powdered release.
• Using Boardwalk stamps and the release mixture, stamp all of the border and divider areas.
• Let the concrete cure overnight.
• The next day, strip the 2-by-4 forms and cover the borders with painter’s plastic sheeting.
• Pour the remainder of the floor (using the same topping mix), being careful to keep it flush with the borders.
• Use a 1/8-inch concrete edger around the seams next to the borders to give them nice clean edges.
• Using just the clear release, stamp the remainder of the floor with the blue-stone texture skins.
• Let cure overnight and return the next day to remove the plastic sheeting and to saw-cut control joints.
• Let the floor cure for three weeks before you come back with stains and dyes.
• When your three weeks are up, wash floor thoroughly with water, and use a stiff brush to remove any residue left over from the release.
• Mix the Hickory Fresco Stain at 4 parts stain to 1 part water.
• Spray Hickory stain in an even coat over the entire floor, including the borders and dividers.
• Mix, in another sprayer, a batch of the Faded Terracotta Chemstain half and half with water and fill yet another sprayer with water. Spray a coat of the stain across the entire surface, while also spraying water on the floor, to diffuse the color.
• Let stains dry, and then clean off the residue with a solution of water and baking soda, mixing a 1-pound box into every 10 gallons of water.
• Mix up a batch of the Elkhorn Concrete Dye, using one 5-ounce bottle of concentrate per 1 gallon of acetone, and spray at random across the surface.
• On the borders, using a terry-cloth staining pad, apply the Dark Walnut Chemstain by hand to deepen the shadows in those areas a bit.
• Neutralize and clean the floor and let dry overnight.
• Apply three coats of Decra-Seal to the floor, letting each coat dry completely before applying the next one.
• Finally, use your wax applicator mop to apply a coat of Iron Stone floor finish.