Optimize Your Dishwasher for Better Cleaning

You may have a slick, new dishwasher with all the features but it won’t matter unless you know how to make it work for you. There are a couple things you can do to improve your dishwasher efficiency and best of all, they only take a few moments to accomplish.

Dishwasher Filter

Dishwashers have a filter to keep objects and large food particles from entering the pump. Many new dishwashers have self-cleaning filters but even some of the latest and greatest still have manual clean filters. Take a moment to check your filter. Most gunk is easily removed by rinsing the filter in water. For calcium deposits, you may need a soft scrub-brush.

Water Temperature

Hot water is great for activating and dissolving dishwasher detergent. It’s also good for removing grease and leaving spot-free dishes. Most dishwashers assume a supply of about 120 F coming from the hot-water heater. Check your manual to find the recommended temperature for your dishwasher.

Time Matters

When you run your dishwasher can also affect efficiency. Running your dishwasher during off-peak energy hours means the electricity costs less. Also, during summer months, running your dishwasher at night means less heat build-up while you are around.

Loading the Dishwasher

How you load the dishwasher is another important consideration. It goes beyond things like making sure you don’t block the detergent dispenser and making sure that spray arms spin freely. Take advantage of adjustable tines, silverware slots, knife holders, utensil baskets and adjustable rack height. All these things are designed for better cleaning.

Lots of people pre-rinse dishes but scraping them clean can achieve the same results. Read your manual for recommended loading instructions.

If your dishwasher has specialty options, make sure you load items in the right orientation. For instance, Kenmore Elite dishwashers have TURBOZONE for baked on foods. Items should be loaded facing the rear of the dishwasher.

What do you think? Any tips for getting the most out of your dishwasher?

Ryan Homes Blueprint & Floor Plan for Shenandoah A

Do you know what the coolest thing is about blogging? It’s the interesting connections you make with people that live down the street or across the country. For example, Kim met one of the home improvement blogging giants–Tim Carter from Ask the Builder– earlier this month at a Delta Faucet PR Event. And earlier this year she had the opportunity to meet the entire Tigressa Carpet Design Team down in Atlanta Georgia at their kick-off event.

Sometimes, though, the connections are more personal. We hear from do-it-yourselfers all over the country (and even internationally) who are tackling projects just like ours. They’re usually working in their own homes and facing similar challenges as we did on a project.

For instance, at least twice a month we get a question on self leveling cement from an article where we described our challenges in getting it level in our basement radiant heating installation. Turns out a slotted squeegee will go a long way to helping you solve this problem.

But there are few more interesting connections we’ve made than finding someone half way across the U.S. who lives in the exact same house as us. Apparently, Ryan Homes gets around. Back when we wrote about removing non-load bearing walls from our first floor, Shannon from Mason, Ohio contacted us with this message:

A friend forwarded me this link to your blog: http://www.oneprojectcloser.com/how-to-remove-stud-walls-to-create-an-open-floor-plan/

I seriously laughed out loud when I scrolled down and saw the room that I’m sitting in right this very minute. Apparently, we also have the “Shenandoah A” floorplan! I’m dying for more pictures of what you’ve done, specifically with the kitchen. Have you knocked down the hanging cabinets yet? [We did!] Have you thought about tearing down the wall to the laundry room, moving the washer/dryer somewhere else, and expanding the kitchen? (This is my biggest dream!) [We thought about it, but decided not to...]

We purchased this house five years ago from the original owners… who had lived here since 1978 and apparently didn’t like change. Since then we’ve ripped down ALL the wallpaper (some of which I’m convinced was original to the house), finished the basement ourselves, replaced the vinyl, brick-look flooring in the kitchen and the carpet in the dining room (yes, carpet in the dining room) with hardwood, painted just about every wall and cabinet in the entire house and (of course) knocked down all the spindles. I’m in the middle of a family-room redo at the moment.

Anyway, thanks so much for the inspiration! I’d love to see some follow-up pictures if you have them!

So Shannon and I exchanged several e-mails about our house, and I always forward her articles when we complete projects. And then she said:

By the way, I was thinking of you guys the other day when we were cleaning our basement. We have the original blueprints to this house tucked away somewhere. Not sure if you could benefit from having a copy or not, but if you’d be interested, let me know.

The original blueprints! Wow! Absolutely we want them!

I had actually called Ryan Homes about 5 years ago and asked them if there was any way we could get a copy of the blueprints since we intended to do a lot of work on this house. Unfortunately, they said they didn’t have them anymore because this model pre-dates their current electronic database system.

Shannon was nice enough to send us the blueprints totally free! Here’s a copy of them sprawled out on our floor:

There are so many interesting details here, and the house is extremely similar to ours. Shannon’s house was built in 1978 and ours in 1985…

In seven years Ryan didn’t make many changes. Our front windows are a little larger than Shannon’s. You can even see this on the Shenandoah marketing materials we found when we moved in vs. the picture above.

It was also neat to see that there are some options that our original owners didn’t choose. For example, there was an optional door between the Master Bedroom and the second bedroom to make that more usable as a nursery. We’re glad we don’t have that in this house, but when the kids are old and move out, maybe we’ll add it in and put a bigger bathroom and closet off our MBR

Anyhow, we wanted to say a big, public Thank You to Shannon for sending us these plans. I also wanted to offer these to anyone else out there who lives in the Ryan Homes Shenandoah A and wants a copy: we can make a set and ship them to you if you’ll foot the shipping expense. Just e-mail me @ fred@oneprojectcloser.com and I’ll be happy to send it off.

Channellock 4 ‘N 1 Wrench Set Review

By now, you’ve probably seen a few different “multifunction wrenches”- the ones that combine several popular socket sizes into one handy tool. Craftsman has the Dog Bone Wrench while Black & Decker has the Ready Wrench. Now, Channellock is on the scene with a new offering, the 4 ‘N 1 Wrench Set. They were kind enough to send us a pair and here’s what I thought.

Pros & Cons of Multifunction Wrenches

I like multifunction wrenches for a couple different reasons.

• Compact: Small and compact; fits in a tool box, drawer or glove box.
• Multiple Sockets: I usually try a couple sockets before I find the right one. Multifunction wrenches enable me to grab one tool instead of five different sockets.

As much as I like them, multifunction wrenches only provide a handful of socket sizes. That means that these tools make for good additions, not replacements, for a standard socket set. But that also means that these tools are great gifts!

Channellock’s New 4 ‘N 1 Wrench Set

I was able to use these wrenches for a few different jobs including an oil change on my car. This set combines 8 sockets into two tools. It’s available in SAE (standard) and metric. Here’s a rundown of the available sizes:

• SAE: 5/16″ x 3/8″, 7/16″ x 1/2″, 9/16″ x 5/8″, 11/16″ x 3/4″
• Metric: 8mm x 10mm, 16mm x 17mm, 12mm x 13mm, 18mm x 19mm

Both sets are heat-treated for better durability and coated to prevent rust. They are designed to create 12-points of contact to evenly distribute torque.

Compared to the Rest
So what makes the 4 ‘N 1 better than the competition? I think Channellock included a couple features that sets these wrenches apart.

• Ratcheting: Ratcheting wrenches are so much faster! And, the reverse levers make for easy, one-handed operation.
• Hollow sockets: Great for deep socket applications.

What do you think? Ever use these wrenches?

Kichler Design Pro LED Under Cabinet Lighting

We told you last week that coming up soon on our list of articles would be a tutorial for installing under cabinet lighting, a project we’ll be tackling next in our ongoing kitchen remodel. Coincidentally, as we were planning the project, Kichler Lighting reached out to us and asked if we’d like to try their new Design Pro LED Under Cabinet Lighting solution in the space. We jumped at the opportunity!

We like the idea of installing an LED-based under cabinet system for two reasons: (1) it uses less energy than incandescent or halogen alternatives; and, (2) the LED light bulbs last for 20,000 hours (or in practical terms, forever).

Kichler gave us access to Jeff Dross, their senior product manager for the Design Pro series and a veteran of the lighting industry. Jeff told us to treat him like we would any sales person, and helped us select the components that would work best with our kitchen. I asked Jeff some tough questions: would the Kichler Design Pro system add sufficient brightness to our under cabinet area? He assured me it would, and that the only brighter solution would be a florescent fixture. I asked if the system would be easy to install and reliable. He said without question it would. This system is designed for ease of use.

We intend to put Kichler’s claims to the test in our upcoming installation. But first, we wanted to show you what things look like right out of the box in their raw form.  After all, you aren’t supposed to see under cabinet lighting components, just their effects. So consider this a look under the hood of Kichler’s latest LED product. Our initial impression: we are impressed with just how simple the system actually appears to be.

Here’s a picture of all the components we’ll be using. Below we describe each one with some close-up shots.

Kichler Design Pro LED Lighting Components

Power Supply & Leads: The black box on the upper right is the power supply for the system. The power supply takes in 120 Volts AC (standard household wiring) and outputs 24Volts DC. Kichler sells power supplies in several sizes depending on the load of the panels you need. This one serves up 100 watts. The two rather thick coils of wire on the left are 25′ leads that will connect the power supply to the first panels under the cabinets. We will be installing the power supply in the basement, connected to 120VAC off a switch in the kitchen, with the leads going up the wall and through the back of the cabinets to the panels.

LED Lighting Panels: The five bronze panels in the middle are the LED lights themselves. While somewhat deep (all are about 3.25″), they are only 3/8″ thick, and will be easily concealed on the underside of our cabinets. Each panel has two connectors–one on each end–so they can be daisy chained together.  These panels are available in a variety of colors including black, white, brushed nickel, and bronze. Kichler recommends selecting panels that closely match your cabinet color. Since we’re installing mid-tone wood cabinets, bronze is the right choice for us.

Kichler makes the Design Pro LED panels in three sizes: 6″, 12″, and 18″ (all three are shown in the picture above). Below you can see a shot of the panel up close.  From the looks of it, installation will be a snap, with just two screws to tighten to the underside of the cabinet and interconnect wires connecting both ends.

Connector Wires: Each panel can be either directly connected to the panel next to it (they will flush mount against one another–a cool feature) or they are connected with wires. You select wire lengths based on how far you will be traveling from one lighting unit to the next (9″, 14″ and 21″ wires are available). Kichler designed the panels so that the power supply wire can be connected to either side of the units for maximum flexibility. This allows you to bring power up on the right side or left side of the first cabinet depending on which side of the kitchen you start on. If you are making an extremely long run, the 8″ and 25″ lead wires can also double as an interconnect.

Dimmer Switches: The two small black boxes sitting above the panels in the first picture are small dimmer switches that can be installed anywhere in the circuit.  They feature a single button that lets you set the lighting to one of three levels (low, medium, high) or off.  These are good if you don’t already have a switch on your 120VAC line going to the transformer, or if you have a switch on the AC line but want to have the lights set to a lower level. The dimmer will remember the lighting level even when the AC switch is cycled.  Unfortunately, with LED lighting you cannot use a dimmer on the AC side.

Selecting Kichler Under Cabinet Lighting Components

Kichler has designed the system to make it easy to select the right modular components for your installation. Essentially, you want to fit the largest possible panels under each cabinet without leaving any cabinet blank. Note that the space available under a cabinet is always shorter than the cabinet’s nominal length. For example, our 24″ cabinets actually have about 22.5 inches of available under cabinet space, making the 18″ panel an ideal choice, especially after you consider the space required for the interconnect wires.

Each component in the system uses a set amount of under cabinet space that is generally measured in whole numbers. For example, the 12″ LED panel takes up 12 inches + 0.25″ for a male connector. Unless the panel is the last one in the series, you can ignore the space taken by the male connector because it will be accounted for in the adjacent component or wire.  The 6″ and 18″ LED panels work the same for their respective lengths.  The dimmer switches are 2″ wide + the male connector length if they are the last unit in the chain.

Interconnect wire ends consumes about 1.5″  of under cabinet space adjacent to the panel. Assuming you are exiting the underside of the cabinet through a cutout, you can ignore any additional length that might be needed to bend the wire. If not, you’ll need to reserve about 1/2 to 3/4 inch to make the bend.

You can see all of the Kichler Modular LED products using the search feature on their site. (That link takes you to the right results page).

Stay Tuned for Installation and a Final Review

We’ll be installing and reviewing the Kichler system in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for the full articles.

In the meantime, if you are in the market for an under cabinet lighting solution, you can find a retailer using Kichler’s Retailer Locater, which lists several online merchants and local pick-up options.

Before and After: Green Bathroom Remodel by Candice

This week’s Before and After winner comes from Candice in Southern California.  Candice and her husband, Scott, give a badly outdated and worn bathroom a new life.

We chose Candice’s submission because this remodel required completely gutting a wood-rotted room–an intimidating task to say the least.  We’ve worked in environments like this in some of our Rebuilding Together sponsor houses. It isn’t easy. We also think it’s great that Candice worked in eco- and cost-saving devices like a dual-flush toilet and a water saving faucet, something we all should think about in a bathroom remodel.

For winning this week’s contest, Candice gets a $50 gift card to Home Depot, Lowes, or Amazon. And, we’ll be making a $100 donation to Habitat for Humanity in her honor.  Candice is also entered into our end-of-year contest for a $150 gift card to the home improvement store of her choice. Read on for Candice’s story and for this week’s Habitat quick fact.

Eco-Friendly Bathroom Remodel by Candice

We purchased this house – also known as The Place Where Wood Comes to Die, in 2009 from relatives who were moving out of state. When you’re young, not wealthy, and living in Southern California, you kind of take what you can get if you find a house in a nice neighborhood – even if it is a super fixer-upper. The entire house was a nightmare – wood everywhere, dirty indoor outdoor carpeting, falling apart windows – you get the idea. But the bathroom was the worst of the worst. The wooden (see I told you) paneling & countertops were rotten and warped, the linoleum tile was cracked and chipped, and the toilet rocked from side to side if you sat on it. Needless to say it was a complete gut job.

Being non-profit workers my husband, Scott, and I could not afford to hire contractors to redo our bathroom. It was also important to us to have an eco-friendly room. We had a plumber put in the dual flush toilet and hook up the sink’s water saving faucet. We did everything else. We started by gutting the entire space. We soon discovered that the walls were in even worse shape that we thought! We patched the walls up and decided to brighten the small space with a light paint & wainscoting. We chose Sherwin Williams’ Harmony line base because it is environmentally friendly with no VOCs. The color is Friendly Yellow. We then picked up some affordable, easy-to-install bead board panels from Home Depot along with chair rails and baseboards. We taught ourselves to use a saw and studfinder, and after lots of mistakes we managed to turn out pretty decent looking walls. We decided to simply polish the concrete subfloor to save money on tile for now. Finally, we added some rugs, replaced the old mirror with a pretty matte silver oval framed one, grabbed some curtains at Target, and added accessories.

We love our new eco-friendly bathroom and had fun doing it ourselves! Thank you for allowing us to share our story.

Before…

During…

…and After!

Thanks from One Project Closer!

Candice, thanks so much for sharing your Before and After story.  This was a big job. We’re impressed!

Habitat Quick Fact

Did you know that Habitat has a special Disaster Corps comprised of specially trained individuals who help respond to disasters whenever and wherever they strike.  This special team is focused on augmenting local Habitat affiliates, and was created in response to Hurricane Katrina.

Disaster Corps is an integral part of the resources available to local communities through Habitat for Humanity. This specialized program trains and mobilizes volunteer leaders, consultants and skilled Habitat staffers to support Habitat for Humanity disaster response and preparedness initiatives across the United States. Disaster Corps members have unique backgrounds in addition to their Habitat training in areas such as logistics, project management, volunteer management, disaster preparedness and mitigation, response planning, resource development and construction, among other areas.

For more information or to apply as a member call (800) 422-4828 or e-mail: disaster@habitat.org.

Submit Your Own Entry!

There’s still time to submit your own entry!  Just send an e-mail to beforeandafter@oneprojectcloser.com. Include your Before and After pictures as JPEG attachments and tell us a story about your remodel in the body of the e-mail!

Mid-Week Round-up: Tiling a Kitchen BackSplash Edition

I’ve been meaning to share a few good reads with you and just haven’t gotten around to it… So instead of waiting for the weekend (when we usually run round-ups), I’ve decided to go way outside the box and share a bunch of links with you mid-week. <gasp!>

Number 1: Headlining this round-up is a great tutorial for how to tile a kitchen backsplash from Todd over at Home Construction Improvement. Todd shares all the steps in great detail, demystifying this project. He also includes some short videos to walk you through the harder steps.

As you can see on the right, Todd’s kitchen already sported under cabinet lighting, a feature we’ll be installing in our kitchen remodel in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for our tutorial on that!

Number 2: Staying with the kitchen theme, our friends over at Calfinder recently added some new library pages to their collection of articles. Of particular interest is their new section on kitchen cabinet finishes, which covers a wide variety of ways to refinish cabinets, including one of the least expensive methods–painting the cabinets.

Number 3: We’ve been having a lot of fun reading Meet my Ugly Baby, a relatively new blog that is tracking a Vancouver couple as they climb the property ladder. They’re currently 1 day away from settling on the purchase of their first apartment to flip, with a goal to be out of the house just 367 days later! It should be a fun read all year long.

Number 4: On the carpentry front, A Concord Carpenter Comments gives us a quick tutorial on drilling pilot holes. It’s a fairly simple task but one that we sometimes skip in a hurry. If you want clean, tight joints with no wood splitting, good pilot holes are a must.

Number 5: One of the recent additions to our community blogs, Remodelaholic gives us instructions for refinishing bar stools purchased at the thrift store. Refinishing hardwood furniture is one of the best ways to get premium furniture into your home without paying a premium price!

Number 6: Finally, as the Fall approaches, we’re again considering a lawn service for our own home. It’s just been very difficult to keep the lawn green (with grass and not weeds) with the extensive periods of drought this Summer.  Green Gardenista gives us some tips for choosing a lawn service. In fact, her article is so good we updated several of our older lawn posts to reference hers.  It’s worth the read if you’re considering a service for your lawn.

Got something great to share? Feel free to e-mail me @ fred@oneprojectcloser.com with your suggestions. Happy Wednesday!

Kenmore Elite Dishwasher Review | Model# 1394

Kenmore just recently released a new line of Elite appliances including the new 1394, stainless dishwasher with 360° PowerWash technology. This dishwasher is elegant, efficient and packed with all the features you’d expect from an industry leader. Read on for the full review and feature guide.

What Is 360° PowerWash?

360° PowerWash is an innovated approach that “blasts dishes from all angles”.

Kenmore Elite Dishwasher Review

• The highs: Ultra-quiet; excellent washing; energy-efficient; stainless-steel; adjustable rack; cycle-status display.
• The lows: Very sensitive control buttons.
• The verdict: This is an amazing dishwasher; highly recommend it!

Installation

Installing this dishwasher took about 2 hours, including a quick trip to Big Orange. Kenmore made it very easy to install and included easy-to-understand instructions. Click here for the full post about how to install this dishwasher.

Features & Performance

Jocie and I have been using for about a month and here’s what we think so far:

Energy Efficiency
This dishwasher is ENERGY STAR compliant, utilizing the Ultra Wash® HE system to save water and energy. But lets put some meaningful numbers behind that:

• Estimated yearly operating cost (electric / gas water heater): $31 / $23
• Estimated yearly electric used: 290 kWh

You can also select a 4 hour delayed start. This is an important feature because it makes it so easy to run the dishwasher during off-peak energy hours.

Washing
We’ve been really impressed with how well this dishwasher cleans. It gets all the dishes spotless- even flatware with peanut butter! It could be the optical soil sensor or maybe it’s the TurboZone rotating spray jets that remove stuck on foods. In addition to the normal cycle, there are also several targeted cycles to choose from.

• Eco wash – This cycle increases water and energy savings by extending the cycle time.
• Pots & Pans – Great for casseroles and baked on grime.
• Smart Wash – This cycle is setup to optimize cleaning while conserving water and energy by sensing the load size and soil amount.
• Quick Wash – Runs a 1 hour cycle at the cost of some additional water and energy.

Controls and Status Display
The controls are found on the front side of the dishwasher. They enable you to select from the different cycles and options like heated dry or sanitizing rinse. They are simple to use and will even persist if you open the door to add one more dish. We really like the status display that indicates what cycle and remaining time. I mentioned that the controls are sensitive because you can inadvertently press a button just by leaning against the dishwasher. We quickly adopted the habit of locking the controls- a good idea for anyone with small children (who like to press on buttons).

Ultra Quiet
At 49 dba it is very easy to forget that this dishwasher is even on. Our old dishwasher was so loud you couldn’t even hold a conversation so it’s really refreshing to eliminate another noisy appliance.

Loading
A huge benefit of this dishwasher is the capacity. We can fit so much more in every load! There’s a couple features that make it easy to load this dishwasher even with large pots and pans. The upper rack is height adjustable so you can fit very tall items. Several rows of tines can be moved to accommodate large glasses or big pans. The flatware slots help make sure all the utensils are separated and each piece of the basket can be removed.

Specifications

• Rack Material: Nylon
• Tub Material: Stainless Steel
• Automatic Temperature Control: Yes
• Filter Cleaning: Manual-clean filter
• Built-in Design: Yes
• Control Type: Electronic
• General Warranty: 1 year limited
• Heated Dry: Yes
• No Heat Air Dry: Yes
• Control Lockout: Yes
• Cycle Status Lights: Yes
• Quiet Package: 49 dba
• Detergent Dispenser: Yes, dual cup
• Rinse Aid Dispenser: Yes
• Start Button Memory: Yes
• Height: 33-3/4 in.
• Width: 24 in.

Price & Where to Buy

If you’re looking for a quality appliance that will last a lifetime, this is an excellent choice. All Kenmore appliances are available at Sears or on Sears.com. This dishwasher is priced at $999.59. Here’s the link (but check our Sears coupons page first!):

• Kenmore Elite Dishwasher

What do you think? What’s your experience with the new Kenmore Elite line?

We’ve Switched Wordpress Hosting Providers!

There’s a good chance that if you visit our site in the next 24 hours you might see some articles or comments disappear and reappear (or never reappear).

If that happens it’s because we’ve recently switched our hosting from Dreamhost (where we’ve resided happily for three years) to a six-node VPS.Net cloud server. Depending on which server you get in this transition period, you might see slightly different content as the databases are slightly out of sync.

We’re hopeful that this change will have a dramatically positive effect on user experience going forward, as our cloud provider is much faster than our prior shared hosting solution. Along with this change, we will be implementing some advanced caching and the use of a content delivery network to further speed our connection to cyberspace.

If you notice any problems in the next 48 hours, we’d very much appreciate an e-mail to oneprojectcloser@gmail.com with a description of the problem. If you notice that the site loads faster, we’d love to hear that too!

Extend a Soffit (Bulkhead) for Kitchen Cabinets

You might have noticed after our hardwood installation that none of our after pictures showed shots of the kitchen. We purposefully avoided those angles because the kitchen isn’t finished yet. We had to tear out the base cabinets for the hardwood install since we were planning to change the footprint of the new kitchen. The good news is that we’re finally off and running on the kitchen portion of the remodel (albeit about a month later than we had hoped) and we’re excited to share the details of the remodel as they unfold.

In our new layout, we’ll have some floor-to-ceiling 24-inch deep cabinets (one for an oven and one for a pantry). Unfortunately, our kitchen has soffits (also called bulkheads) above the existing wall cabinets that are only 12 inches deep. We would love to have had floor-to-ceiling cabinets that used all 90 inches of space, but like in many kitchens, these bulkheads hide plumbing and electrical wiring servicing the second floor. So we can’t remove them, but we can extend them so they’ll look natural over our new cabinets.

Simple Steps to Extend a Soffit / Bulkhead

Extending a soffit is actually a very simple task that involves framing out a box, mounting the box to the wall or ceiling, and re-finishing the drywall. In the picture above, the old cabinets are still hanging under the existing soffit. They’ll be removed before we start the drywall work.

Step 1: Determine the size and location of the new soffit. In our case, we need to extend the existing soffit about 11 inches but we’re keeping the width of the soffit the same.

Step 2: Measure and cut 2×4s in a frame for the new soffit. Assemble the frame using 2.5 inch #10 screws with at least two at each joint. Remember to leave space for 1/2″ or 3/8″ drywall to match the surface of the existing soffit.

Step 3: Mark the joists above using a stud finder. Use 2.5# #10 wood screws to attach the frame to the ceiling.  In our case the soffits are going to be purely decorative. If you plan to hang cabinets from these, you want to make sure it is well fastened to the ceiling above. Use at least two 2.5-inch #10 Wood screws per joist in this case.  You may also consider screwing it into the existing soffit for strength.

Step 4: Cut and hang sheetrock on the frame. Sand the adjacent edges and then tape, mud, and sand them finished.  You may have to mud 2-3 times to get a clean edge, especially where the new soffit meets the existing drywall.  Depending on the depth of the drywall, you may want to remove the existing corners to get an easier-to-tape solution.  (The corners will likely be metal and if you don’t remove them, you may be left with a bump in the wall over them).

That’s all there is to it!

Before & After: Patio Makeover by Traci @ Beneath My Heart

This week’s Before and After is a really great transformation. I love it because of how amazing everything turned out and because it’s a great project for do-it-yourselfers. Today, we showcase a concrete patio makeover from Traci @ Beneath My Heart. Traci and husband took a plain looking concrete patio and really turned it into a great space to entertain or just kick back and relax. Read on for this great story, our Habitat Quick Fact and to learn how to enter your own Before & After project.

For winning this week’s Before and After contest, Traci gets a $50 gift card to the home improvement store of her choice, and we’re making a $100 donation to Habitat for Humanity in her honor.  She’s also entered into our end-of-summer contest for a $150 gift card where the community will vote for the best.

Staining Concrete, Patio Makeover by Traci

Well, we finally finished staining our concrete patio to look like tile!

This was is what our concrete patio looked like before.

Dull and dirty.

It doesn’t look as bad in these pictures as it did in person, but believe me…it didn’t look good.

As I was trying to decorate the patio with furniture, I just couldn’t get pass how ugly the floor looked.

So I wanted to tile it, but we couldn’t afford it.

My friend, Richella, suggested that we stain the concrete to look like tile. This seemed like an option that we could afford, so we went for it.

Here are the main steps to staining concrete.

• Clean the concrete.
• Stain the concrete.
• Seal the concrete.

Not bad, huh?

We used Quikrete products from Lowe’s for this project.

The pamphlet suggests to prep the concrete with Quikrete BondLok.

However, my hubby insisted that Muriatic Acid would do the same thing. It would clean the concrete and open up the pores for staining. Since we already had some of it, we used it instead.

WARNING: Muriatic Acid is extremely dangerous!!! You do not want to get this on your skin!

You want to be sure to wear protective goggles and gloves. You may even want to wear a mask to cover your mouth and nose so you don’t breathe in too many fumes. My hubby did not since we were outside. I also thought he should wear some pants since the acid can burn through your skin! But luckily, he didn’t get anything on him.

If you use Quikcrete BondLok to clean the concrete, just be sure to read the directions carefully.

Here’s my man…ready for the job…

He carefully poured the acid into a large bucket. Then applied it with a large stiff broom.

You can’t see it in the picture, but the acid would actually bubble up on the concrete as it was applied.

We let it dry overnight before we began to tape the concrete.

Now you can skip this step if you don’t want your concrete to look like tile. But since we were going for the “tile look”, we used 1/2 inch tape to make our design.

It is not easy to find 1/2 inch tape. They don’t have it at Lowe’s or Walmart. We had to go to CarQuest and KOI Motors to get our tape. It is used a lot in painting cars.

My husband measured and made our starting point in the corner by the steps…

We wanted our tiles to measure 18 x 18 inches.

My husband also suggested we make the tiles on a diagonal. I am so glad he did! It looks so much better on a diagonal!

We used a large piece of trim molding that we had left over from another project, a tape measure, and pencil to draw our lines every 18 inches.

I did most of the taping by myself while my husband was at work. Many of you ask how I get so many things done around the house with four boys.

Well, one thing I do is to keep them busy doing something else…like a “slip and slide”.

They played on that slide for 3 hours straight! And Mama got a lot of work done.

And then I filled up their bellies! They loved that the table was in the grass under the shade tree. (I loved that I was able to get more done on the patio!)

After I finished taping in one direction, I started in the other.

This step was not hard AT ALL! It just took a little time.

I would suggest knee pads though. I didn’t have any, and now I have blisters on both of my knees!

Oh well, it was worth it.

Now the concrete was ready to apply the stain.

Picking out the color of the stain was the most stressful part to me!

There is a color guide in the pamphlet which includes solid stains and translucent stains.

We liked the look of the translucent stains because they more closely resembled the look of tile.

However, they do tell you that each stain can look very different when applied to the concrete since each concrete surface is different.

We went with the color Vaquero Brown. You have to take the can of stain to the paint desk for them to mix the color for you.I was expecting it to look lighter on our concrete than in the picture, but I was wrong. It actually looked darker.

The pamphlet suggests to wet the concrete before applying the stain, but we did not. This may have made the stain a little lighter. Don’t really know.

We applied the stain with a roll brush.

Don’t cha love my hubbies black socks? Too cute.

We let it dry overnight, and we weren’t real happy with the results the next morning because you could see where all of the brush strokes were. Some were very dark and very noticeable.

So I got on my sore knees again, and applied a second coat of stain by hand with a rag to try and cover up the brush strokes.

We let that dry, and it definitely looked much better. Now with two coats of stain, it is definitely darker than what I had wanted, but I still think it looks so much better than our dull old gray concrete.

I peeled off the tape and here is what we have now…

It really looks like tile! Some of the stain bled through the sides of the tape, but it really just makes it look more like real tile to me.

The last step is to applied the sealer. We went with the High Gloss Wet Look Sealer.

It looks exactly like milk and leaves a white film on the concrete when you apply it with a roll brush.

But it dries to a clean shiny finish…

Can you see the difference in the picture above? The top half of the pictures has the sealer on it and the bottom half does not.

The sealer helps protect and seal the stain.

We have let that dry overnight. I was wanting to get a picture of the patio with our furniture back on there this morning, but I decided to wait a little longer. I want to make sure that it is completely dry and that the furniture does not mess up all of our hard work.

Overall, I am VERY pleased with how this turned out. It gives our patio a very finished look.

Here is the breakdown of the costs:

• Muriatic Acid – free (we already had it)
• Stain-$24.00
• Sealer- $24.00
• 2 rollers – $6.00
• Rubber gloves -$3.00

We already had the roll brush, the glasses, and bucket, so this whole project cost us less than $60.00!!!

Much better than the $300.00 it would have cost my husband to tile it himself! Plus, it was a lot easier!

One more time, the BEFORE…

Here is what my patio looks like now…

Thanks from One Project Closer

Traci, this is such a great Before & After! Thanks sos much for sharing your story with us!

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