MZ-HANDYMAN stained & Etched my driveway and walks

[pilytkid]

nice job

[tommydbest]

i think if you layed out 10-15 bricks into your patern and spray painted in between them, it might save some time in the layout ... i'm just sayin..

[phartattack]

@tommydbest Thats kind of the opposite of what I did, I'd still have to lay out the red then wait for it to dry and then do the white lines (costing more), but with the method I used I actually etched the grout lines with a mini grinder and they look like inlaid bricks instead of feaux bricks... Well they still are "Feaux bricks" but with etched lines.

[comk135]

I suppose you'd need to seal the stained area? Do you seal after etching? You only seal the etched area?

[phartattack]

I didn't seal it although I should have. My concern was that it would make the surface too slippery

[tommydbest]

@phartattack Maybe Pregnating it, like on a tile floor, once you're finished might help... Stuff costs alot though might not be economical for small projects

[phartattack]

@tommydbest I like it the way I did it

[comk135]

Some details: did you draw the lines two times--once before you stain it with a carpenter pencil, and the second time with chalk after the stain is set? If you draw with chalk before staining would it affect the stain from being set firmly on the concrete?

[phartattack]

@comk135 I started out using charcoal when I laid out the 11' dia. star but noticed that the stain was getting darker with the black charcoal. Most of the work was just done freehand. I'd draw it then erase it with a moist sponge but the staining was just length of a brick layed at each end and poped with a chalk line, then the whit chalk was used and then etched with the mini grinder

[queen20001]

What product do you use to make your etching white colored?

[phartattack]

Thats just bare concrete, once I etched it with the mini grinder it just looks white.

I did draw the lines with chalkboard chalk before etching. For longer lines use a straight edge to follow.

Afterwards I just washed it with my water hose, When you're drawing use a tile sponge as an eraser

[tonmagicwon]

you rock manuel z

[phartattack]

@tonmagicwon Thanks!