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Now that the first row of blocks is on the upper
floor, I feel a bit more comfortable getting close to the edge of the room to
take a full length photo of the upstairs floor. This is looking north across
Fort Morgan Road. I am standing near the doors that will go to the upper
deck.
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This is looking south, of course, across
Little Lagoon. I am standing in the master bedroom area.
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Mike is beginning to lay out the blocks that will
make up the top row of the upper floor, just under the cornice. He is
doing this so that I can do a free-hand design on them using concrete
acid stains. The product is runny like water , so I need them tipped
over and flat on their backs, which he will do for me later. The old
pallets are there to keep the blocks clean while they are lying on their
backs. He is lining them up in order, so my design can be continuous
from block to block. the DAC-ART blocks vary in length so the design
will flow across the grout lines as if they were not there. |
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 Video Five--3 Minutes
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Testing Concrete Acid Stain
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I have started testing concrete acid stain
on my DAC-ART blocks in preparation for my big job of adding a
multi-color design around the entire top row of blocks that go just
under the cornice. I had two colors of SuperStone Concrete Acid
Stain left from the construction of the Phase I Guest House. I had the
colors SuperStone calls Aged Copper Green (actually blue) and Palmetto
Green. This product had been in my mini-storage for about 5 years and
looked OK, but I don't know if constant hot-cold cycles plus time caused
any change to occur. I took a small paintbrush and made these marks,
several coats, on a piece of scrap concrete block. The blue looks
kinda blue but the green is definitely not green. But it did leave a
permanent mark, so it could be useful. |
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Meanwhile, I met a super guy who is a concrete acid
stain professional. His name is Chad Blackwell. Chad's biz is:
Xtreme Concrete Designs
251-269-4368
He is opening a new showroom in Foley near Reynolds Concrete. Ck my Villa
Lagoon Partners page for the address and phone there. |
When first applied
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Cad was kind enuf to give me a small
sample of all of the colors of Kemiko Concrete Products that he
uses. I did a sample on a piece of broken block. You can see the
original look immediately after painting it (above) on the bare concrete
and then a day later (below left). I poured water on it and the photo on
right below shows how it looks wet. Keep in mind that these blocks
already have some color added into the body of the mix. Chad is going to
purchase some of the Kemiko Product in their green and blue colors for
me to try. We both think that this will be the first example of anyone
using concrete acid stain on the exterior of a residence to create a
polychrome frieze.
Many homes on the Lido, the beach
island resort of Venice have colorful friezes. I made photos of several
when I was there. I think this is a perfect effect for a water's edge
Italian style home here on Little Lagoon. |
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Same Block the Next Day
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Same Block the Next Day Wet
Concrete Acid Stain Continued...
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Below are a couple of photos to show you the cuts
and odd corners we have to deal with. Mike and crew are really good at
planning. They 'measure twice and cut once' so we do not have much waste
and they label each block for its placement in the house construction.
The newer DAC-ART blocks are made with the thin fins that you see on the
ends in the photo below. This is a big help when blocks have to have
slight adjustments in length. The thinner fins or flange is quicker and
easier to cut than the full thickness of a block. Don't know how this
would effect insulation properties if you were building in a very cold
climate. I suppose Ted Dial could devise a way to add insulation to the
small cavity the flange ends create. |
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