Monday, May 7, 2012

THE PATIO

When we moved in here, the front patio was bare, grey concrete.  Neither SWMBO nor the BRD liked that so they tinted it with a sort of reddish-brown stain.  After a year or two it started looking kind of ugly.  So they bought some paint of the same shade and they painted it.  Voila!  A nice new patio.

That was some time ago and it's started looking bad again.  After some discussion the gals decided to take the paint off right down to the bare concrete.  So Judy has worked on it for 7 or 8 hours with a power washer.  The paint comes off . . . mostly.  But the stain is another matter.  So here's the current result.



Now most people would probably say (as I did), "Man, that looks terrible."  But then it started to grow on me.  I think it kind of looks like a patio in one of those old homes in Italy or Mexico.

SWMBO, being of an artistic nature, said she was thinking about getting some blue and green pigments and doing a sort of abstract earth-as-scene-from-outer-space patch job on it.  I think that's a pretty good idea but nothing has been decided yet.

What do you think?

(By the way, you will notice that this has been from the start and continues to be the gals' project.  I have studiously avoided getting anywhere near any manual labor on it.  But I'm always eager to give my opinion on their work.)

8 comments:

  1. I like that aged effect you see on buildings in Mexico and Italy, but I think this needs at least one more layer of color. I wouldn't remove any more red but I'd glaze over this with another shade to make it look intentional and richer. That's just my opinion, and like assholes everyone has one.

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  2. It does have a kind of aged palazzo look.
    I'd be careful with the opinions however or you could find yourself on the working end of the proposition!!!

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  3. Another coat of stain, in another shade if you fancy. Whatever you do needn't be irreversible, because to be boringly pragmatic I'm sure it would be possible to hire a grinding machine with which your wife could restore the original pristine surface.

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  4. Yes, yes go for the abstract! So much fun at doing it.

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  5. The stain was probably a "penetrating" stain and won't come off unless you literally grind down the top layer of concrete....waaaaaay too much trouble. I think it needs something else, but have no idea what to suggest. I'd advise you to listen to Steve as he has that artist's eye and understanding of color.

    S

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  6. I laughed out loud at you not getting involved in the manual labor - good job!

    I like the idea of adding another color or two - keep us posted!

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  7. I think it looks fab but would be very curious to see the Earth From Space idea.

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  8. I like the idea of just improving what‘s already there, rather than re-staining it completely instead. :) Did you pursue adding the blue and green pigments? I would suggest that you stain it with a matte finish though - the transparent one. I think it would emphasize the aged look that you were aiming for.

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