I really love my floors....

So we did it! I am all giddy inside every time I look at my floors. Its a big "ta-done" for me. These pictures of mine really do not do it any justice, but hopefully you can see the big difference with the progression pics as well.

Foyer Progress

It started out, from the time we moved in, with the idea that I was going to have wood floors. Well, between kids and moola we ended up deciding it would be best to go with concrete painted floors. 

Dining and Foyer progression with my baby practicing duck and cover! lol

I knew all along what I wanted and that was DARK! So I got dark. The guys that did it tried to talk me into a stain instead of painted. They even talked my hubs into it, but I did not budge and DURN glad I didn't. 

I had already done my research on what needed to happen, thanks to a few blogs and their own trails and tribulations (Anythingology was the best).

First, we started out by removing the carpet, padding and tacking around the perimeter. We only focused on the main living areas which consist of the foyer, dining, sitting, family rooms and hallway. This was easy! WE thought we were going to tackle this ourselves, but naah...did not quite work out that way.

The next step was to decide whether I wanted to tackle the acid process or the grinding process. They both have their own pros and cons but both are messy. I just did not want to deal with the chemicals! But we really never made it to that step. I did get as far as reserving a concrete grinder, but never picked in up. Extracurricular activities just never allowed us to make the time to get it done. So we decided to hire help. Since I had done my research I knew that these guys knew what they were doing. Like I said, I learned a couple things from them too. They actually did both grinder and chemical processes in exactly that order.

So the last step was to let go and let them and we are soooo glad we did.

Dining Room Progress

We did have to be inconvenienced for about a week and move in with my grandmother. It was important because when painting the floor it has to be completely clean and porous. The grinder process was to remove all the paint and any other residue that was on the top layer of the concrete. Dust gets everywhere!!! The chemical process was to remove the top layer of the concrete to make it clean and porous enough for the paint to soak into the floor and therefore will not peel. And the kids were not going to do right once the paint went down so it was a good move.

You can see I chose a high gloss vs a matte finish. For me it makes the paint extra special and creates really nice reflections on the floor. Now of course just like with any dark wood, you can see every smudge, foot print, and piece of dust. I just use a swiffer-jet for everyday and put a mop to it on the weekends with a little olive oil in the water. That's the great thing about it....I do not have to worry about it getting wet. The spills just sit right on top. It is very slippery when wet though so you got to get it when it happens. The kids love to slide around in their socks too.

I chose the Valspar front porch and floor paint series. To get the DARK i wanted we did a 4 to 1 ratio of 4 gallons of Brownstone to 1 gallon of Dark Kettle Black.

Sitting and Family Room Progress

I have to be honest and tell you the smell lingers for awhile. Its been three weeks and just now really starting to go away. I air it out on the weekends, but we do not notice it until we are away form the house so long and come back.

Sitting Room Progress

The big gaping crack you see above had to stay. These are there to help with any small spider cracks that may occur with the settling in the floor. They help by stopping them dead in their tracks...literally! If you decide to fill these they will make the cracks even worse because they will just keep going. It does not look like that now because they came back with a silicone to fill them. Its also helps it from being as deep and impossible to clean, but you barely even notice them now. See below: this was the last step.

silicone filler

The silicone filler is really not as harsh of a color difference as it looks in this pic! It works perfectly.

Sitting Room and back side of feature wall in Family Room

So this is my new floor and I love them!!!

Also I wanted to let everyone know that my twin sister has finally decided to create her own blog and tell her story. She is 14 minute older and we are identical! I would really love it if you can stop by her blog sometime and she would too. 

Love you Punkin!

Pretty Luscious Ultimately Sexy