And the award for Best Product goes to...Sandstone

"I would like to thank Sandstone for this award. And,

I hope this thing is made of chocolate because I could use some calories right now."



In honor of the Oscars, I would like to bestow my own award for Best Product in the Faux Effects line to Sandstone. 

This is not based on anything scientific. No poll was conducted.  Sandstone did not launch a campaign of billboards or send me a swag bag.  This is entirely based on my own criteria:

1) Product Cconsistency

2) Product Ddurability

3) Ease of Application

4) Versatility

5) Overall Appearance

6) Product Cost

In many ways Sandstone is the Daniel Day-Lewis or Meryl Streep of products. (BTW, how cute was his acceptance speech?).  It has long been my go-to product when a client wants a low build plaster.

Sandstone is an off-white plaster that has a small brown aggregate (fleck) in it and the plaster dries to a pretty parchment color after sanding. It sands easily and creates very little dust.  Thinning with water, up to 50%, and whipping will give you a nice plaster paste suitable for rolling.

And of course it may be troweled whether thinned or straight out of the bucket.  Sandstone covers about 200-250 square feet unthinned.  Thinning with water will give you approximately 100-150 more square feet.  Coverage is always dependent on how thick and/or connected you apply the material.

The classic way we apply Sandstone is to roll a paste coat and then trowel a high/low coat when the first coat is dry.  Then we glaze on top.  You can tint Sandstone but it looks best when left light so the aggregate shows.

Sandstone is thick enough to go over orange peel (the walls in the picture above) and knock down (the ceiling in the same picture).

Sandstone is also thick enough to use a stenciling material for raised patterns. This is a dining room we did years ago where we used Stain & Seal on the base layer of troweled Sandstone. Then we pulled more Sandstone over a Royal Design Allover Stencil. When the Sandstone pattern was dry, we stained it one more time.

I use Sandstone a lot for both interior and exterior wood finishing.  The above door is the sample I did for a client's paneling where I crackled Sandstone over a custom black grey Setcoat. The door below is also Sandstone this time applied with a sea sponge and then sanded flat.

Here Sandstone is used in a back splash tile with the Cutting Edge Birch Tree pattern. Because the plaster may be thinned it is a good choice when using the specialty rollers, wallpaper brushes, or combs. The bathroom finish below is Sandstone shaped with a whisk broom. I call it Samara because it looks like the creepy kid's hair from "The Ring" movie.



Sandstone is flexible enough to be applied to a paper finish and will not crack off. I used it for the Yellow Birch paper I made for the craft room in our home.





Sandstone also comes in two Reactive Series products: RS Sandstone and RS Sandstone with flake.  Above picture is the finish I am applying to 2,500 square feet in our home.

This is a product that plays nicely with other materials.  The finish above is RS Sandstone over hologram foil. Here is the same finish in the picture below over a copper foil in our client's bathroom:

This whole story board for walls, wood, and ceiling are done with Sandstone in combination with other FE products.  So the next time you are stumped about what to do for a client give some Sandstone a try. It is much more then a simple rolled plaster.  You will be surprised at all the finishes you may do with it!

And speaking of surprises....

Look what was under that gold foil wrapper!  Oscar who?

Back in Black: 2 DIY Finishes

Happy Halloween. This is my Broken Doll costume I wore to work today. I am sad because my house looks haunted and my ceiling is still not done!

In fact, today I finished staining and waxing the last of (all 300+) ceiling planks! Since I am crabby and more then sick from eating all the candy we have at the front of studio I am posting these DIY's projects pretty quickly.

Let's start with a high-low coat of Faux Effects' Midnight Stuco Lux over Black Setcoat. Do not trowel this too heavy or you will get spider cracks when it dries.  A gallon of Stuco Lux covers about 200-250 square feet.

Next mix 1 part FE Aquawax to 1 part FE Old Bronze Metal Glow. Also mix 1 part Aquawax to 1 part Wheat Metal Glow. A gallon of Aquawax applied in a tight skim should cover 400 square feet.  This mix will look cloudy when wet but will dry true to the metallic colors.

Mix 2 parts FX Thinner + 1/2 part Ebony Stain & Seal + 1/2 part Van Dyke Stain & Seal. Brush this over the surface and soften with a cloth or terry towel.  I like stain over wax or palette deco because it bites in a little bit better over the slick surface. Any tinted glaze will bead up over wax or palette deco which makes glazing these two surfaces easy. Don't worry, the glaze layer will stick when it is dry.

What an easy finish! You could also use Palette Deco Black or Venetian Gem Black Onyx as your base.

And speaking of Palette Deco Black....

Let's roll a coat over Black Setcoat.  While this is wet, take a piece of cheesecloth that you have opened up and stick it into the wet plaster.

Tight trowel more Palette Deco Black over the cheesecloth. You want to see the weave underneath.

Pull the cheesecloth and roll you next section lapping areas slightly.  I will reuse my cheesecloth a few times and then toss it in a bucket of water to wash later.  Don't worry about lap lines-we will deal with those later.

When the first layer is dry, I pop in some Faux Effect's Aquasize in random connected areas using my trowel. 

The size will fog and then go shiny clear.

Place more cheesecloth over the shiny size and tight trowel more Palette Deco Black. I alternate between spotting in more "skin" and just spotting in Palette Deco-easy way to hide lap lines!

Mix 1 part FX thinner + 1 part Metallic Gold Stain & Seal. Mix 1 part FX Thinner + 1 part Metallic Bronze Stain & Seal. Brush these two colors on at the same time and use a damp cloth to rub into your pattern. Use a dry cloth to pad over the top to soften the lap lines.

Another super easy finish!

Hope you guys have a safe Halloween with lots of candy-seriously-come to Surfaces and eat this stuff before I do!

Our costumes for a Halloween Party last weekend. All Remodel and No Play Make Mr. & Ms. Surface's Nuts! I hope Bruce wears this when our project is over-Mr.Clean indeed.

Mid-Week Madness

          Before I pack it in for 10 days and go to paradise-how about looking at some random samples? 

You know how it goes before you take a vacation-lots of loose ends to tie up.  In my case, I had a bathroom door, 2 counter top samples, and a design assignment.  Then there was a bid proposal and two new class curriculum to get ready. Oh yea, our IDAL application and sample pictures that are due while I am away. Whew, I really need a ......

"I believe this fine beverage has your name on it"

"Why thank you my good friend but first things first."  Like getting my bathroom door painted.  I purchased on inexpensive plastic door with a faux wood grain.  The base color is a custom Setcoat we make called Spencer Brown.  It is equal parts of Royal Taupe Setcoat and Brown Setcoat.

I mixed the new Super Hide Metallic Silver and the Super-Hide Metallic Rich Gold with Finishing Paste. This is a clear paste that is thicker then Aquawax and less shiny then Aquawax or Palette Deco Clear. I brushed the two colors at the same time following the grain.

When the Finishing Paste dries, the metallic colors really pop.  I thinned Neutral White Setcoat with Faux Creme Clear and brushed it over the finishing.  As I worked a section, I wiped it back with cheesecloth, creating a lime wash effect.

When the Setcoat was dry-later that afternoon-I rolled a coat of C500 Satin over the whole piece.  Now my Modern Pickled Door is ready for install.

Next....Our assignment was to come up with a "shiny" finish for a living room feature wall that uses colors in Mocha, a Silvery Blue Sage, and a Platinum. 

This is the first fabric swatch-A chenille damask.

And this..."Could you just match that little silver thread?"

The finish needs to be in a "Venetian Plaster" with a coordinating finish in the powder bath and a breakfast nook.  Since the home is painted a specific color on the surrounding walls, I selected a polish plaster base that I could mix with the client's actual paint.

I selected Venetian Gem Tint Base.  This is a versatile product that many people forget about.  It may be tinted with all FE colorants and I've tinted with flat paint in small amounts-no more then 1/2 cup of paint per Gallon. If you try this at home, do a sample to make sure you get the amount of polish that you want.  I use the VGTB to thin the pre-tinted Venetian Plaster making them more translucent. This allows you to trowel multiple semi-transparent colors at the same time to create nice marble and stone effects.  I mixed Mocha by adding 1 part Brown Faux Creme Color + 1 part Dark Brown Faux Creme Color + Venetian Gem Tint Base.  This is troweled in a high/low coat.

The plaster dries about 25% darker then what is in the bucket. Next, I mixed the client's paint in the Tint Base, and I mixed a separate batch of Tint Base and Pewter Gold Metal Glow.  All three colors are troweled at the same time-lapping and not spotting in the colors.  The plaster polishes from the blade.

If the finish is not blended enough, the 3 colors may be tightly bladed again. Each layer dries very quickly and get more polished as you apply more product.

For the powder bath, I used the Spotted Champagne Foil because it already had silver and mocha in it. Why make it harder? Lusterstone Tint base is tinted with the exact same colors used with the Venetian Gem Tint Base. This is randomly troweled over the foil. Finally, a Royal Design Stencil is used in the client's paint color.

The breakfast nook starts with the same Venetian Gem Mocha.  This is troweled and pulled with a wallpaper brush. 

Ashley dragged the same wallpaper brush through Wunda Size and then brushed it over the plaster.

She applied bright silver foil. Then, using the Lusterstone Tint base again, we made a Silvery Sage Lusterstone with a little Dark Brown and Green colors.

Here is the design plan presented to the client:

I called it the Modern Romantic Metallics-maybe that will help it sell?

Finally, we finished some new back splash and counter top samples:

Now, I am ready to really get to work....

"Bruce, would you like more lotion?"