A few years ago I adopted a "wait a week" policy on redoing any DIY I had screwed up. AND YOU SHOULD TOO. Maybe you hung a picture at the wrong height, or made a mess applying patio sealer or ate cat food straight out of the can thinking it was refried beans. Whatever it was, wait a week before redoing it! (and definitely don't redo eating cat food)
Immediately redoing things you bungled might be making your life harder than it needs to be. Chances are if you wait a week ... whatever your screw up was ... it won't bother you anymore.
I made the decision that whatever did something wrong, I was going to wait a week before redoing it. I was allowed to have a temper tantrum over the thought of having to do some stupid project not once, but TWICE, but I couldn't actually redo it. Redoing messed up DIYs is actually where the phrase The Terrible Twos originated by the way. True story.
Most of the time I found that after a week, what I originally thought of as a catastrophic mistake, didn't even bother me.
Last week for instance. Let's talk about that.
I sealed my flagstone patio last weekend (which you'll learn how to do properly in this post) and it went a bit sideways on me.
I've wanted to do it for about a year now because it was looking kind of .... I don't know .... can you describe patio stones as pasty? They were kindda pasty. Maybe anemic is a better word. Or gross. YES! GROSS! THEY LOOKED GROSS!
When I first installed the square cut Indian flagstone when I rebuilt my entire backyard, it was nice and relatively dark but it faded pretty quickly and became kind of dirty over the past decade.
So I went about researching what the best kind of sealant to use on outdoor natural stone is. I knew two things. I did NOT want a glossy backyard but I did want a bologna sandwich.
I now have a glossy backyard and do not have a bologna sandwich.
Trying to fix my glossy backyard could have ended up with me in the hospital with a case of the nerves if I'd tried to fix the problem immediately. Instead I immediately fell to the ground, pounded the pavement with my little fists and whined. Then I got up, walked in the house and vowed not to worry about it for a week.
So how did it all go down?
Firstly I had a good cry and sniffle because someone obviously looted my backyard over the winter.
I would never let my backyard get like this so it was a looting. For sure.
Maybe even I should call the police. Or some kind of tactical force.
Because the only thing that would be able to help me get this backyard cleaned up would be a bunch of men dressed in black wearing hazmat type suits. With weapons. If they've been featured in a calendar, shirtless, holding a kitten, even better.
Not a single S.W.A.T. team answered me when I whisper cried for help on the Saturday morning I started my clean up, so it was up to me.
TO GET YOUR NATURAL STONE READY FOR SEALING, FIRST SWEEP AWAY THE ICK.
SEE? No ick.
Once I moved what was left of last winter's wood pile I could start to power wash the stone.
But first let's admire the pizza oven. Which has many mistakes that I waited a week to redo, and therefore never actually had to redo.
Pressure wash the stone. I used to own a big, awful, gas powered pressure washer but I got rid of it for a smaller electric version. On the one hand it isn't as powerful. On the other hand it always, always starts and never makes me swear. Very much.
Once your stone has dried it's time to apply the sealer. If you want a NON glossy (stay with me here) patio you need to use "PENETRATING SEALANT". This is the type of sealer that will absorb right into the stone and not just sit on top. It's different than regular sealant so make sure you're getting the right thing if you don't want a shiny surface.
If you also want to enhance (darken) the colour of your natural stone it also needs to be a "Colour Enhancer"
So to darken and seal a natural stone you need ...
PENETRATING SEALER AND COLOUR ENHANCER
I spent a lot of time researching which one was the best and "511 penetrating sealant and enhancer", came out as the very best.
There are two ways to apply penetrating sealant. Either pour the sealant into a paint tray and roll it on or do what I'm doing, which is applying it with a fertilizer sprayer.
THE PROPER TYPE OF SEALANT TO USE FOR A MATTE LOOK ON NATURAL STONE IS "PENETRATING SEALER"
I did in fact use penetrating sealer. And yet my patio was shiny. Why?
I was in a rush and not feeling very much like following instructions that day. The can says to apply the sealant, let it sit for 10 minutes then wipe off any extra that hasn't absorbed.
Pftttt, burfffff. I don't need to do that. It'll absorb. I'm smart like that. I know things.
It didn't absorb. The excess sealer sat on top of the stones where it turned into a sparkly, shiny, unnatural looking disaster.
Pfttt, burfff.
The sealant also seemed to be a bit uneven so I applied another coat (just like the directions said). This time, I set a timer to 10 minutes, and came back and got rid of the excess.
I figured out the fastest, easiest way to do this was to wrap an old face towel around a squeegee mop. I went through 3 towels doing this, which I then had to throw directly into the garbage.
After my second coat the flagstone still had a definite sheen, more than I wanted, but I wasn't going to screw with it. Little bits from the first coat were also threatening to peel off.
Now, prior to my whole "Wait a Week" revelation I would have tried to scrape off all of the excess sealant with a razor blade and redone the whole patio from scratch. Because I have lunatic tendencies.
Instead I waited a week, and the patio is just fine. Great actually.
The penetrating sealant made the flagstone much darker, MUCH easier to clean because there stones have a bit of a coating on them so dirt doesn't stick and they look one billion times better.
If I hadn't waited a week for both myself and the flagstone to calm down chances are I would have created an insane amount of work for my lunatic self, PLUS I probably would have made the patio worse instead of better.
I love it with all my heart, this patio of mine now. I love it like a shirtless man loves a kitten.
If you want to see the full reveal of my cleaned up backyard, not just one photo, make sure you read Friday's post which will feature all kinds of photos of the whole backyard including tips and tweaks that I made. It'll be posted just in time to act as a bit of inspiration (ass kicking) for you to get your backyards cleaned up for the first long weekend of the summer.
Maureen
Looks so good! You are my amazing diy guru! Thanks for all of the sharing you do.
Marna
Wow I am so impressed! It all looks fantastic! Great job! :)
Karen
Thanks Marna! Yes, this will be the year I actually relax out there! Maybe! ~ karen
Benjamin
You did a real nice job there Karen. Prettied the place up so nice and fresh.
Karen
Thank you kindly Benjamin! ~ karen
Dan
Backyard is nothing short of awesome. Imma steal some ideas for the ideas we're coming up with to redo our backyard, which we won't actually do.
Also, I'm going to assume that propane cylinder beside your pizza oven is just there to be out of the way during this whole process. Because that's the only mistake I see in that pizza oven. Unless of course you're fishing for firemen in suspenders with kittens. That's actually a pretty good way to get them into your backyard.
Nancy Blue Moon
I love your backyard Karen...the stone looks great now!
Karen
Thanks Nancy! It does look better. ~ karen!
Ronda
we'll be getting our patio stones delivered very soon, so this is timely for sure! Thanks for being such a great guinea pig ... i mean product tester!
Karen
Hi Ronda! If you're going to seal your patio (and I highly recommend it at this point!) I would do it sooner rather than later. Some of my stones were so dirty after 10 years that they were stained so the sealer just had to go right over the stains. If you do it on new stones they'll look much better! ~ karen
Heather J Tebbutt
Well Karen, your excellent photos have motivated me to work on my 'crooked' fence this weekend...going to check out what I need tomorrow...I am going to use what I can of the existing fence. I was showing my staff this post & they were in awe of what you have accomplished...
Karen
Thanks Heather, lol. I hope your staff don't hate me now. :) Sealing the stone was nothing. Laying the stone? That was a bit of a "thing". Good luck with your crooked fence, and you're right! Getting what you need and having it on hand makes any project WAY more likely to be tackled. It's the number one thing I teach in my Get Stuff Done course! ~ karen
Melissa Keyser
It looks like the backyard looters passed up the failed fly trap.
Beautiful stone, either sealed or pasty.
Jan in Waterdown
My husband is the power tool owner, except for the pressure washer . . . that baby is all MINE! It is my fave. I love writing bad words on the side walk and it's amazing how well it cleans both stone and wood. After blasting the driveway, I'm covered in dirt and it's fun. Hmmmm, time to fire that puppy up for a little spring cleaning.
maggie van sickle
Nice! Now for a bottle of wine and a pizza. Wish I was your neighbour I would supply both, the wine and the ingredients for a homemade pizza. Enough for both of us. Just sayin.
Dale
Your statement of not following instructions, my mind clicked onto the famous quote from "unknown":
"Knowledge is reading the instructions. Experience is what-ever-the-hell happens if you don't."
I, unfortunately, tend to exist on the second half of this statement.
And definitely a penetrating sealer not a surface coating. Otherwise you'd be scraping away flakes of loose coatings after a year or two.
Linda in Illinois
very nice work Karen. Love the dark color the best, the color after a gentle rain. Anxious for Fridays post !!
Linda
I didn't even get the one picture. Just two ads. :-(
Karen
You didn't get the picture of my black table with white chair? You may need to clear your cache on your phone, tablet or laptop. :) ~ karen!
Jackie
Looks great, as usual, Karen. You do the best work.
Erin
I think someone looted my garage over the winter. And the sunroom. Lovely inspiration to get my arse in gear until the S.W.A.T. team arrives.
Jenny
This is a perfectly timed post for me, for several reasons. I recently installed about 650 sq ft of floating hardwood in my home. Ive been wanting to do it for awhile, our carpet was 5 years old and it was showing. I was steam cleaning it at least once a month (because it was white and Im a fanatic), so I figured it was time.
I found this great engineered wood floor at Home Depot on sale and I bought enough of it so I could get rid of our awful carpeting throughout the house.
My husband thought I was crazy, he said several (hundred) times, why dont we hire someone to do that, its a lot of work, its going to take forever. He is NOT a diy'er at all, so I ignored him, skimmed the instructions and got to taking off the baseboards! The living room/dining room took about 2 days to complete. When it was done I stood up and admired my work. It was then that I realized I had made a mistake, I had laid the floor in an H pattern. They call them H joints, its where every other joint lines up and its not a recommend way of laying flooring.
I called my dad, because he owns a flooring company (yup, thats where I get my mad skills) and he came over to take a look. He told me it looks fine, the wood is so dark that the H joints aren't even that noticeable. But I had 2 options, either take it all up or live with it. So I lived with it, and after about a week I stopped focusing on the H pattern and now I hardly notice it at all!
I can totally relate Karen, my first thought was to rip it all up, it would have been a ton of work..unnecessary work.
Your flagstone looks beautiful! Which brings me to the 2nd reason this post was meant just for me. I noticed that its laid in an H pattern, somehow seeing that just made me feel a whole lot better! :)
Dale
So, Jenny, can you explain what is wrong with the H pattern and what are the options?
We pulled the carpeting from three rooms on the main floor about ten years ago. I spent a week on my knees scraping, sanding, finishing, sanding, more finishing, more sanding. In the meantime the dogs and general foot traffic have shredded the varnish. My knees will not take a renewal of that action and am looking into similar wood flooring as you have done.
Jenny
So the rules of the wood laying road are, joints should be at least 6 inches apart from each adjoining plank and the joints should not line up with every other plank. If this occurs (in my case) it gives the appearance of an "H". The correct way is to stagger them, so the pattern looks random. There are 2 reasons for this, floor integrity and in my case the instructions clearly show a diagram of how NOT to lay the flooring and "H" pattern was one of those ways. If ever the warranty would come into play it would be void because I didn't follow the the manufacturer's instructions.
I cant say that it looks horrible and no one (not even my OCD hubs) minds the H pattern, I think being that I chose a dark coffee oak, the pattern is not very noticeable.
I ran the wood into our home office and at the doorway I did make a subtle transition to a staggered pattern, making sure that the joints were at least 6 inches apart and no H pattern. I cant say that I like it better, but it does look a little more natural.
Sheryl Powell
Love that all black shed. Thinking of painting my vaulted living room ceiling black. Hmmm
charlotte tataryn
Hi Karen, again a chuckle in the morning - I can't seem to stay up long enough to wait for your 11:30 arrival. In any case, WOW, what an awesome tree and a beautiful backyard. You are my version of superwoman and I like your clothes way better. Everyone has told you already about the change in the before and after photos of your newly finished stones so I can't expand on that but I do want to say thanks for the paint idea. I'm recuperating from surgery at the moment - again - and we are having our LR flooring redone while having our attached screen porch winterized and then floored to extend the visual space of the room. That's a lot of work as we have no place to move the 'stuff' except into our dining room where the flooring is. Good thing there was a goat or two somewhere down the family tree and I'm too stubborn to accept defeat.
YOUR BLACK SHED is the best thing I've seen in a long while. It's a) my favourite colour b) my favourite colour and c) it makes things appear invisible and I mean that literally. In any case, with a bit of scraping and a couple of cans of paint, my sad little used-to-match-the-house-colour shed will now match the window trim (black, that you can't see OR black that is a very dramatic accent) of the house, and will visually extend that part of the garden, while being unnoticeable. Keep on trucking Karen - you are by far the most fun and creative person I know or as I've mentioned before, "feel" like I know. Thanks for being who you are. Charlotte T., Winnipeg where there are no trees like that but we are beginning to turn green and hopefully the nasty frost 2 nights ago (my poor kiwi) is the last of it.
Attygreen13
Beautiful! Once used the same penetrating sealer/color enhancer, as recommended by my floor guy, on a slate floor. Looked like an ice skating rink after. So shiny I actually jack-hammered it up - after waiting a week ;)
WANT your garden balls (spheres?) in the 3 sizes! Been searching forever for some
- where did you find yours?
Karen
Hi Attygreen13! Those are 2 glass shades I got at a thrift store and a big plastic globe I found in the garbage walking home one day. I fill them with old Christmas lights to make Glowing Outdoor Orbs. One of my most popular posts. :) ~ karen!
Attygreen13
Dang! Thought for sure they were concrete balls (heh, I said balls). The search continues ... Thanks for the reply!
Sandy
I see you got your patio furniture all set-up just in time for yesterday's snow flurries!
Karen
Yes, isn't that wonderful? The furniture all looked so pretty covered in a layer of snow, out my kitchen window. :/ ~ karen!