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Old 08-09-2011, 11:13 AM
 
Location: Largo, Fl, Sparta, TN
315 posts, read 1,008,020 times
Reputation: 217

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So you are running out of projects, well I need to have a house built on my property. Just feel free to come on down and start anytime. LOL What are you going to do with yourselves when you have nothing to do? Hope all is well with you, Mike and Nicki. :-)

 
Old 08-09-2011, 08:32 PM
 
82 posts, read 416,683 times
Reputation: 186
Guess I'm not exactly sure why you wanted to stain or paint the concrete? Seems to me that by painting it, you have added to the maintenance ? Can you give me some insight as to why you decided? I realize that there was some difference after you filled in the planter area, but I was thinking there were other ways to compensate for that....

Once again - thanks for sharing your story! LOVE how you are so free to share information that you have learned.

Blessings to you, Mike & Nikki!
 
Old 08-10-2011, 04:59 AM
 
Location: Where the sun likes to shine!!
20,548 posts, read 30,460,439 times
Reputation: 88954
Quote:
Originally Posted by vacation bound View Post
So you are running out of projects, well I need to have a house built on my property. Just feel free to come on down and start anytime. LOL What are you going to do with yourselves when you have nothing to do? Hope all is well with you, Mike and Nicki. :-)
LOL..believe it or not we have had many similar offers I really don't know what we will do but I'm sure Mike will find something for us to work on.

Quote:
Originally Posted by CA Sweet Pea View Post
Guess I'm not exactly sure why you wanted to stain or paint the concrete? Seems to me that by painting it, you have added to the maintenance ? Can you give me some insight as to why you decided? I realize that there was some difference after you filled in the planter area, but I was thinking there were other ways to compensate for that....
You are right. The paint did add some maintenance to the patio upkeep. Because of the fill in and the two big cracks on each side it was looking kind of bad. Mike wanted it to have a cleaner look. It wasn't a necessary job just one that was on Mike's mind. See what I will be dealing with
 
Old 08-10-2011, 07:11 AM
 
82 posts, read 416,683 times
Reputation: 186
I totally understand dealing with something like that on your spouse's mind. LOL I guess that I was just thinking about the long term maintenance and how paint on concrete peels, etc. The stain would have bee nice, but..... color would have been very important.

We had a crack in the decking by our pool. I don't know how to describe it, but after the crack was filled in, the whole decking was covered in a thin layer of concrete that was troweled in such a way to cover all defects and give a very pleasing look. I'm sure that it has a fancy name - but I don't know it - and I sure don't know how to do it. The contractor did it.

Anyway....... at least Mike has another project to keep him busy as the year go by and y'all run out of big projects. LOL Thanks for the response!
 
Old 08-10-2011, 10:27 AM
 
Location: Ohio
668 posts, read 2,191,707 times
Reputation: 832
Im suprised. if you had done searches on concrete staining, you could of pulled up some beautiful works done by those who do this for a living.

Lisa, did you acid wash the deck first?

Personally, I would have gone to a DIY site before even attempting this project, to get tips from the experts on how to stain concrete, and how to avoid all the mishaps.

I used to post on DIY Network, under various nicks, and, its been years since I have been on that site, but, Im sure that there are still people who are skilled in just about everything you can think of, on there
I made a lot of friends there and they gave excellent advice on concrete staining and other things, such as building homes and woodworking and a whole host of things that helped a lot of people.

OK, now that I think about it, its been 10-15 years since I have posted on there!! Man, how time flies!

OK, my two cents worth is all used up ...

So, its back to the corner to lurk again.

I wish you well...

Jesse
 
Old 08-10-2011, 10:28 AM
 
Location: Texas
15,891 posts, read 18,387,720 times
Reputation: 62768
This one's for you, Lisa and Mike and Nikki:




‪The Carter Family - Rocky Top Tennessee‬‏ - YouTube
 
Old 08-10-2011, 10:38 AM
 
Location: In the Pearl of the Purchase, Ky
11,087 posts, read 17,616,909 times
Reputation: 44417
On the subject of staining the concrete, couldn't Mike put a clear sealer over this? Would cut back on the paint chipping I think.
 
Old 08-11-2011, 10:01 AM
 
Location: Ohio
668 posts, read 2,191,707 times
Reputation: 832
Staining doesnt 'chip'...
Concrete is very pourous. It gets down into the crete, when you acid wash it with muratic acid (opens up the pours, when you use a power floater, as it looks like mike did on his pad)... This etches the crete and makes absorbtion easier.

After you 'stain' the crete, then you can put a sealer over that, so that the dirt doesnt 'grind in' and make the stain look terrible.

Looks like he used enamel floor grey on the porch. Thats ok, but, if there gets to be any standing water on it, the enamel will lift up, and have to be repainted. (I did this on my basement floor, lasted for 10 years, until my Wife flooded the floor with water, and I sealed up the drain, so the water 'set' til I vacumned it up, and the paint came up with it in strips and blobs). They will have to repaint, probably every 6 years or so, with enamel, I am guessing.

Just my two cents worth, and a wee bit more for the collection plate

I wish you well...

Jesse
 
Old 08-14-2011, 06:42 PM
 
5 posts, read 17,086 times
Reputation: 13
lisa,

could you tell us more about your solar and wind setup? right now i'm working on one for a future off grid home we are planning(i'm grid tying it into the home we are in now). have you upgraded anything from the first story about the install and set-up? i am planning on twenty four 100 watt panels and twenty four 190 watt panels and ten 1500 watt wind turbines for our set up. i'm looking at twenty 6 volt rolls batteries that are around 400 amp hours each.

does your smaller set up give you plenty of power or are you planning adding anything to boost your power output for the home?

i have enjoyed following your story and it made me join just to ask you this question above. we are planning a 3500sqft berm home also.


side note i purchased a wood stove just like your first one last winter. that was a huge waste of money!!! i'll buy a bigger better stove before winter. i want a old pappa bear like i grew up with. they put out alot of heat!!!
 
Old 08-15-2011, 06:29 AM
 
Location: Where the sun likes to shine!!
20,548 posts, read 30,460,439 times
Reputation: 88954
Quote:
Originally Posted by CA Sweet Pea View Post
We had a crack in the decking by our pool. I don't know how to describe it, but after the crack was filled in, the whole decking was covered in a thin layer of concrete that was troweled in such a way to cover all defects and give a very pleasing look.
We had some work done like that in FL and they did a spray spit finish on top. Very different from just painting or staining.

Quote:
Originally Posted by woodworkingmenace View Post
Lisa, did you acid wash the deck first?

No..it wasn't in that bad of shape.

Personally, I would have gone to a DIY site before even attempting this project, to get tips from the experts on how to stain concrete, and how to avoid all the mishaps.

Mike and I have done garage floors and driveways before. We are pretty sure this will hold up well since it is covered
Good to see you Jesse.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ketabcha View Post
Thanks..I'm having flashbacks. We had one family who came in to the skating rink all the time and loved to hear that song. The two older(not kids..they were about 50) sisters really got down and danced when I played it

Quote:
Originally Posted by kygman View Post
On the subject of staining the concrete, couldn't Mike put a clear sealer over this? Would cut back on the paint chipping I think.
We aren't overly concerned with chipping. The patio gets very light use and it is covered....but when it starts to look bad we will fix it


mr.nobody-Thank you for writing in and welcome to our story.

This is what our current system is.

We have a 1620 watt 12 volt system and 1540 amp hours of batteries. We chose golf cart batteries for the ease and expense. If something goes wrong or we need more, we can drive to pick them up. Those large batteries are a nightmare to try to order, have shipped, and are a bear to move around. They are just too heavy for Mike and I to be self sufficient.

We have twelve 135 watt Kyocera 12 volt panels, two Outback 80 amp charge controllers, one Outback 12 volt inverter, fourteen 6 volt golf cart batteries and a back up Honda generator which is only used for pumping our well water into an underground storage tank.


When Mike designed our system he wanted to have 2 redundant systems so that if something happened to one we would still have power from the other.

We no longer have any wind turbines as they didn't produce enough juice for us.

We run our entire house on our solar set up without having to supplement it. We have upgraded from propane usage to electric usage. I now have a regular electric refrigerator and we even use a portable air conditioner on occasion when it gets too hot, of course the sun has to be out to use the AC. We run the TV, computer, lights, hairdryer, and washing machine with no problems. I think Mike did a great job.


Good luck with your house and your system. It sounds massive. Maybe you could go with less panels but get higher wattage ones? Just a thought.




OK all I'll be back later with another short story
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