Master Bath Paper Floor

Master bath Floor

     Once again thought I would try my hand at the Paper flooring. This time I Followed information again from: Domestic Imperfection, on the stone looking floor sample she did. This one I fell in love with. Gathering products: nothing I could go pick up in this area, everything had to be ordered from somewhere.
RUST-OLE UM STAIN
Art Paper
Urethane Finish
     Excited to get started, and can't wait for the finished project.  Prepared the floor, taking out all left over staples from the carpet, and patching all area of the wood.

    This time I had a great idea... "Oh My Watch out"  Since this floor would be done with white paper and a light stain, I did not want any of the under flooring to show through. The closest thing to the stone look was what I was after.  I decided best thing to do is to prime the floor.   I know you say you can't put stain on primer.... Right... but it is not going on the primer it is going on the paper over the primer.. Waa Laa
     After all the cracks were filled, dried and sanded, primer was ready to go on.   Now there were a few imperfections in the wood, I left them un-sanded.  In my mind this would give a bit of depth to the stone look.  Therefor the floor itself was not completely smooth as would be, if doing a hardwood, or cement floor.  Not thinking could this catch up to me later??? Hang in to see.

Ready now to lay the paper.  I had ripped all the paper and wadded up in a ball, separating the pieces that had a straight edge and those that did not.  Now mind you, this is a craft paper and much thinner than the brown paper bags that most use.  Yet, how does one get a light floor when the beginning is dark to start with.  The choice was one that had to be made for the look I wanted. 

      Making the glue mixture of one part Elmer glue and one part water in a small tub, I carefully put glue either on the floor or the back of the paper.  Place where I wanted it and applied a coat of glue mixture to the top and I smoothed it out. (I used a cheap paint brush most of the time, and sometimes I just used my hands."

Laying the paper ugh!  This took me two days, I am here to tell you it is not for the impatient or the one who does not like hard work.  Getting the paper to lay flat as possible with no bubbles(A DIY fix for this later) was not an easy task.  Also this is thinner so it rips easier, thinking it went on well just to look back and see that it had ripped in one spot. (A DIY fix for this later)  

    I found that laying an area, letting it dry, then going back to that area actually worked best for me.  Putting too many pieces on top of each other when overlapping just made things much worse when trying to get it smooth and edges to lay down.  

Think if hanging wallpaper if you have ever done that.  Lining this piece up straight with the wall should lay flat right--duh.. well just have patience.

Alright now lets go to the stain process.

     I used a sponge to put on the stain, then wiped with a clean cloth, it seemed to go on very well. I purposefully did not smooth it all out, I wanted some marks so it appeared to be real stone.  I started noticing in area's the stain seemed to be much darker.  It was not until I had finished that I realized what made this happen, although I loved the outcome.    In laying the paper I found that if i put most of the glue under it and didn't put a lot over it that it was easier to work with a lay flat without any bubbles and shrinkage.  Where I did not have the glue mixture on top of the paper, the stain actually went straight onto the paper causing the difference in coloration.
     After the stain was all dry, I waited until the next day before putting on the Urethane.  The directions said to pour it on and use a  Floor Coater Tool to spread on the floor.  This is unlike the oil based which said to put it on with a paint brush.  I was so excited to see the final outcome, I kept going back to look at it from time to time.  I bout had a heart attack.  The oil based stain did not stop it from getting to the paper and it was bubbling up like crazy.

I was seriously freaking out.  Trying to be patient as I waited for it to dry and wrecking my brain at the same to to see how I would fix it, amazingly enough when it had dried, it all laid down very nicely.  I for sure let it dry the entire day and did not re-apply the Urethane until the next morning.  Again it did the same thing in the same spots.  Then I noticed that it was doing that the most where I had not put a lot of the glue mixture on the top of the pieces. Having things to do, I left the house for it to do its thing and to my surprise again, came home to find a beautiful floor.

I absolutely learned a lot more from this experience and will keep all things in mind for the next project.  Again you say?  Yes, I love the look and outcome so well that the hallway and dinning room will be next.  The most important thing is for me, is to give myself a lot of time and do things  in many more small stages.  This will for sure save my back and poor knees having a few breaks in between.

DIY Fixes

Bubbles.  Don't really know how to prevent this, every piece seems different in its own way.  I just went back and put a little slit in the bubble with an Exacto knife, put a bit more glue on it and laied it down.  It does not matter that there is a line in it now, it will be covered with the stain or into the grain if you are using a wood grain look.

Small tear
     I could have just tore a piece of the paper and glued ontop, yet I have to always go one step more in my creating.  I went to my Cameo and cut some leaf patterns out of the paper and applied directly over the small tear.  Ta da  instant fix.  And it also gave my stone looking floor more texture look as well.

  The end pic of course is zoomed in, you have to look really close to see the leaves, yet I know they are there so I am happy.

A am certainly open to any suggestions that anyone may have to make this process a better experience.
 Catch ya later! ~Sis

DIY Paper bag floor

Paper Bag Floor

     Alright now, anyone who is familiar with East Texas knows that it rains like all the time.  A must, for me anyway, in order to happily live here is to have many indoor projects.  February is one of those rainy months so my first indoor project is to try my hand at the Paper Bag Floor.  I heard about this as a money saving flooring option, and since my youngest son, Colt, told me to" Google everything", I did.  Researched for days, watched every you tube, and read every blog I could find.
The best of all: http://www.domesticimperfection.com/my-paper-bag-floor-one-year-later/.  She absolutely did a wonderful job with her research.
     As I mentioned before, this is a double wide mobile home, which originally had carpet in every room except the kitchen.  In the bathrooms----Really--- yes it did.  Okay I say to self, this just has to go.  Starting with the smaller bathroom first, as a okay let me give this a try, not concerned with too much, I can always go back and lay flooring over it if I don't like it right.

  My first thought was where do I get paper bags, everyone has plastic theses days.  Amazon?  Thanks to my wonderful friend Jo in LasVegas, who is obsessed with all natural, just happened to have a stack and did not have a clue why she was saving them.  Deep down her soul must have know I would need them.
     So out comes the carpet which was stapled to the particle wood floor, removed all staples or hammered them in which ever applied and ready to move on.

     Ripped up the bags and wadded them into balls in order to get the crinkled effect.   Mixed one part Elmer all purpose glue with one part water.  Carefully wet the back side, laid it down and went over the top with the glue mixture with a paint brush.
     The paper bags are thick so it was not too hard to work with, although it did get bubbles and some parts did not want to lay flat.

     I did notice after I put on the varnish that it had bled under some of the edges and of course made darker spots that show up a lot.  At this point I decided that it would do for now, until I find a fix or redo and went on to apply the varnish.
Okay not bad for a first timer who has no clue what she is doing.  Probably made more work for myself at a later date, yet for now, it is better than the particle board.

My Notes:  How do I stop the paper from getting bubbles,-- I have no clue--👎
I really do not like the color, although some might, after one coat of varnish the floor is absolutely
shinny and appears nice.  Will I keep it this way?  No, I will for sure redo this floor at a later date.  
More personal input and thought before I start to tear it up and redo it.
For now----- on to something new.

   

 Catch ya later! ~Sis