Bobbi.... I put my 2 cents in on the squeaky floor thread.......sounds more like a poor installation job to me. Some brands just don't do well on a cushioned underlayment and if the supplier also provided the installation they should have known this...........

Bobbi.... yes I did........laundry too...............so there.

STK, I saw that and I thanked you on the diemma. David also commented. You guys are the best!!!

Well good for you for doing your chores! Do you have a robot vacuum?

Do some of these people even read what people want? Good Lord!
So pushy and rude... I have never seen anything like it..

No, I use an upright on the area rug in the bedroom.......the rest is plywood sub-floor or bare concrete, so I just use my big shop vac...................picks up everything....... dirt, dust bunnies, cat's tail or toys and the occasional item that I have to retrieve.

STK... Have you ever stained a concrete floor?

Patty... I've been accused of being brash or too bold, but never pushy and rude.........that just hurts......I think I might cry now...........nope, not gonna do it. I"ll fix a gin and tonic instead..... BRB.

I have Patty........where is the concrete? Outside or inside.

Oh Geez... STK... I wasn't talking about you...

Inside... Basement floor... We ended up taking out the carpet... Long story... dogs and family living there..
Anyway... I have decided with the dogs we have, carpet isn't an option... But then again I can see what they can do to hardwood...

Patty was your carpet clued down? How clean is the concrete surface? Mastic, oil, paint, caulk, rust... these are all stains or materials that have to be cleaned and removed before you stain. It's not like staining new concrete..... remodel staining usually involved some pretty major cleaning operations and sometimes the best course of action is hiring a professional crew to come in and do it. Definitely not something you want to learn on......but here goes. First you start by scrapping off any residual contaminants (i.e. paint, mastic, caulk, etc., etc.) then you clean thoroughly with TSP. Power scrubbers and wet vac are a must. There are many products that you can use to clean the specific contaminants and what may work to remove paint may not remove caulk or oil.........it's a trial by use case quite often and definitely requires on site determinations.

I would suggest you check out concretenetwork.com ( http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/interiorfloors/ ). They have some pretty extensive information that I think will help you make a decision as to if this is something you want to attempt or hire someone to come in and do it for you.

Thank goodness that day is done. Hope everyone's day went better than mine. :)

Sorry, Robin. Hope it's a better evening.

Full moon. 'Payday' weekend.

I set a new personal record today for number of calls on a day shift. Plus landed up with an hour of overtime for the day.

*sigh*

STK...I just finished a very tasty gin and tonic myself...with lime.

Oooh, Darzy! That sounds so good!

extia.... it ain't my idea...... though I love me some well done concrete stained floors for the interior. As a remodeling component, the prep work usually is a pretty labor intensive job.....and sometimes the processes and the cleaners one needs to use to get a good clean canvas to work with is beyond the normal DIY efforts.........especially if the floor has been sealed. Stain needs to penetrate and react with the lime in the cement and if it has been sealed that takes using some chemicals that the normal home owner doesn't normally have the opportunity to use. One of my subs once told me of a home owner who was using acetone to clean some oil stains on the floor that were left from the pipe fitters who ran gas line in the house when it was first constructed..........he discovered this after tearing up his carpet and padding. Long story short he was nearly overcome by the fume build up and left the house to get fresh air.........the fumes built up from the rag he was using, the acetone on the floor and the can he left open............unfortunately, the gas water heater kicked on and his house went up in flames. The fumes were ignited by the water heat, the explosion was more of a flash type so there wasn't that much blast damage, but what the blast didn't get the fire did............some of this stuff just needs to be left to the professionals.

Even if you have a clean canvas, the staining process alone is tricky and needs a minimum of three people....one to spray and one to scrub it in with a brush and one to over spray the brushed area........then there is the sealing.........the easiest is the acrylic based sealer, but these are the least resistant to wear and require maintenance. Solvent base are better but more expensive.........then there is urethane........facts are that they all require maintenance periodically......stained and sealed concrete is not maintenance or trouble free as many would think...............and pets are hard on them.

It's my opinion that staining concrete as part of a remodel project should be left to the professionals. It's not cheaply done, it certainly isn't easy and the potential for screwing it up are pretty good, leaving one with a not so good finished result.

Darzy, I had to forgo the G&T.......I forgot to take my meds this morning and took them this evening at meal time...........they don't mix will with Gin..............not at all. Well ladies it's almost my bedtime here..........have a good night and well resume this meeting tomorrow morning sometime.................this rooster won't be crowing, so set your alarm clocks.

No alarm here. It's one of the few mornings I can truly sleep in. Sleep well!!

Hi all! Thanks for the lovely welcome! With the help of rinke I have decided to start on a slow 5 year plan to try and get my teeny tiny house a little more polished......at the risk of making everyone do a spit take.........are swag lights really out? I have an area that is basically a large walk through between kitchen and family living room with a 70" closet with sliding doors on one wall..........the light fixture is centered correctly on the 55" side but one the east side there is roughly 39" to the closet side and over 70 to the west wall...........that darn light just sits mocking me day after day........initial thought was to get a light bar fixture with 3-5 eyes that are adjustable......or to put a sister fixture up the same distance away from the wall as fixture #1? Or then I found some discussion regarding swagging a light fixture over to the correct spot??

I only have 8' ceilings,so nothing can hang very low...
not a chance that the hubs will cut a correct hole, move the fixture, repair old opening and paint.......
I've got to pick my battles carefully........ If he knew the long long list of changes and upgrades I'm kicking around.......he would kick me! Lol. He grew up in a house that hasn't seen a furniture rearrange..........ever...it may have been painted a time or two,but every stick of furniture is in the same spot as 1985....... No lie! Lol. I look forward to the suggestions from the talented group assembled here!! Please be gentle, I'm a total newbie and I'd hate to run off crying.....

Hi PKK...welcome! You'll have a lot of fun slowing making your house your home! Hey..show us a picture what you mean. It's kinda hard to visualize. But, I like the really cool looking retro swag lamps, or updated ones as well! Another option is arc lamps to spot exactly where you want, but I'm not sure I'm getting the scenario right. It's actually quite a bit of fun to think of ideas with paint and "used" and "old" stuff and fab finds instead of buying all new, expensive stuff.

Thank You STK... yeah, I have done some research on it... Yes, carpet was glued, yes,paint, and for some reason (I guess our thought was to keep the carpet clean... put some tile in so the people boys wouldn't bring the sand and stuff off the beach)... And some cracks... (15 years of change)... I know it will be a lot of work... Just wondering how well it will hold up to dogs..
They are like my kids... You do what you can to make your home look as good as you can, but the boys always come first... Not really sure how I got to that point, I guess when the people boys got big enough to know better...

PKK, I sympathize. My hubby is the same, do NOT rearrange furniture, what do you mean we have to paint? What's wrong with the color it is now? Why do I have to get rid of my 80's clothes? Darzy's right, post a pic or two and don't worry, we've seen worse, trust me!

I'll open 4/27 now

I don't know if this will be a good enough angle for you to get a feel for how off center it is!

Oh honey, you're already ahead of the game because it's not a boob light! From this pic it looks perfectly centered, sorry! I personally love this light. You can start your conversation with hubby "Honey, remember the other day when we were talking about replacing that light? I think you were right; we need something bigger up there". And when he's done staring at you like you have spaghetti dripping off your head, you can give him a big hug and a thank you. [houzz=]

It's not the best shot, but the x marks the more centered location of a light in the middle of the area..........the length of tape is 24", so putting a large fixture in that area would get it closer, but I don't think it would completely cover up the existing hole.........see hubs aversion to patching, painting this area! Ideally if I don't have to involve him at all in phase 1............ill be better off...........baby steps...

Well, if you need to do a swag, then I say go for it! Retro is in! Think 90's.......hehehe

I'm tring to maybe find a fixture that is maybe 28 to 30" wide, might cover the whole dang off centered hole! Lol. Swagging I think is still going to draw the eye to the off centered area??? Such first world problems!! Lol

Oops

patty, the dog claws will leave marks on the stained concrete floor........even in the Urethane sealer. Actually, other than tile on the floor, I'm not sure of anything that won't show some effects of dog claws. I remember growing up, mom complaining about the scratches on the terrazzo floor her dachshund left in our home in Florida.........they were not so much in the floor as they were in the wax and seal coat. Likewise, I'm thinking you will have the same trouble with your dogs and the stained concrete. The sealer or wax will show marks and it will be a maintenance task..............the performance might not be what you expect and that's going to be a lot of hard work and expense to end up with the same thing..........

I think it just boils down to what you like and want, but just about anything you put down is going to show some scuffing from their claws and at times need waxing or a new seal coat..........maybe a good commercial 24"x24" vinyl tile would be best.........these are thicker than residential tiles and hold up well to hard foot traffic, there are many commercial options I think might be better than the amount of work to achieve the stained concrete with comparable performance and maintenance. I would think a good wax job on vinyl tile might be easier than resealing the stain concrete. Just my thoughts.

someone knocked over one of the iron stakes that was bracing our tree on the terrace. GRRRRR so they pulled it up! and left it there. can you believe it?
sorry to interrupt.

Good grief, what's wrong with these people?

it was bar time, I think. we live close to campus.

Thank You STK... That is what I was afraid of...
Seems like most of my problems are because of the dogs... LoL...
But unless I shave them and have their claws removed I have to work around it problem... Putting them up for adoption isn't an option...

Paula, an inch or two off won't be that bad.

Okay gang.....grasshopper wants to know what the thoughts on the attached images are.......after craning my neck all morning staring and photographing potential candidates!! After looking at a fixture that is 30"......holy cow that is a large fixture...I think it would overwhelm my little house.....so onward I looked......how about a track lighting set up in the attached picture...wiould have to do a mock layout to see if it would adequately #1 be centered and #2 look too goofy....... Or my next idea.....a pendant fixture, with the lamps maybe staggered...attached lamp choices also.

I once made myself a large pendant with a piece of plywood, white painted, drilled 5 holes in it (one for a large screw upwards), bought 4 cute shades, fixtures and wire, a rugget ceilingplug, crafty and voila!

I'm sticking with the flush mount advise, because of your ceilings and the fact it's going to be in a passageway, be it a wide one. Plus if it's a neutral shape, it won't look akward/off when you hang pendants/chandeliers in the rooms next to it.

Track lighting is great for getting light where you want it. Some systems also have a hanging flexible track which bends into a curve shape to fit whatever shape you want.

Several more hours spent researching this "problem". Lol. Okay...............how about a ceiling medallion idea?? Or a homemade ceiling medallion made out of say.....something like a mirror?? Lol. Only because I actually work in a glass and mirror company and have the access to almost anything I could use for dirt cheap..........and then a fixture like olldbobbi posted? Broke some of the " ideas" to the husband this afternoon.........may not have revealed the full extent of everything I have my eye on changing though.......baby steps people.....may have to do a little compromise but he was on board for the moving front entry steps idea totally!! He even had a suggestion on the whole problem of the large wall / outdoor closet dilemma. Gotta go get my tape out and lay it out to see if its doable....will have to compromise on a few things, but we are getting the show moving forward.... Have a great Saturday night all!

How about a grouping of canned lights? You can put those anywhere you want! Just take down/cover up the one you have now.

LOL I now see a bronze mirrored ceiling up there

Serious rinke?? I can have a bronze mirror either cut in a square or circle to be large enough to cover existing outlet hole?? Drill a hole in the middle and bam.....ceiling medallion.

No I thought full ceiling cover! :D

giggles

No ceiling medallion, disco ball!!!

Wellll. I don't really think my house has that kind of vibe to it! Lol. After much kicking the all around, I think I'm either biting the bullet and having the hole properly patched....tired of cobbling stuff together OR only because I sometimes put table in that space, back to the two tracks of lights?? Last discussion. I mean it.

One light, one lamp. Either 23" round or patch the hole. Exuberant solutions in adjecent rooms, this one simple.

True....rinke! See, I can think anything to death!! What do you think about this look? Round. 23" with a smidgen of brown wicker look to it?

Do you have brown wicker in your interior? No? Fell in love with this lamp? No? Don't do it! ;)