There's no post. The photo says it all.
Professionally stained and polished concrete floors in a high-end home. (Compare with my painted concrete at the end of this post)
1. For the first step, (I lost the pictures), but you’ll need to thoroughly clean the floors. This means using a heavy duty scraper if you have carpet glue on the surface or whatever gunk might be on it. Once all the debris is loosened and swept up, you’ll want to shop vac the surface multiple times to remove the dirt and dust. Then, you’ll want to go over the surface at least a couple of times with a mop and a bucket of water and concrete cleaner. I did not acid etch mine. They were so old that the surface was not shiny at all and was rather rough. Plus I had no drain nearby for water to drain into. Once this is all done, you might want to shop vac again. After this, you’ll want to put two coats of Behr concrete/masonry bonding primer down. It goes on clear and dries tacky. Just use a pan and a roller. It goes very quick and will only take you a half hour. Rolling floors is much easier than rolling walls.
2. Now that your floor are primed, you can put down your first basecoat of paint. I used Behr concrete paint tinted to a camel color. I can’t remember the name, but any camel color will do. (And I lost those pictures as well for my first basecoat. But you’ll be able to see the basecoat in the following pics)
3. After your basecoat has dried (it’s up to you if you want to put an additional coat on), you can put your first textured effect on. I went with a Chocolate Cupcake color. I simply used a textured roller, and then lightly rolled the floor so that it looks like tire tracks. 
4. Next, I applied the Apple Crisp color to get the glaze effect. I did not add any glaze to the mix. All I did was dip the textured roller in the pan, and then lightly rolled a small area. With very little paint still on the roller, I rolled a thin transparent film on the surface. Since there wasn’t much paint on the roller, the Chocolate Cupcake textured pattern showed through.
5. Once this dried, I then went over it with an English Saddle Brown color using the same technique I did with the Apple Crisp. By this point, it will really start to look good. You will get the “Faux Suede” effect and the lighter colors underneath will show through. I rolled the floor twice with this technique using the English Saddle Brown. The second time gave me a little bit of a darker more brownish effect that I was looking for while still allowing hints of the lighter colors underneath to show through.
Completed with black border. Wet Look sealer has not been applied yet
6. Since I did not want to install quarter rounds on the base moulding, I decided to paint a 4 inch black border all the way around the room. This has been done before with concrete stained floors. Sometimes a black border will be painted with a black epoxy around the perimeter of the room to cover tack strip holes left in the concrete that have been filled in. It also seems to give the floor a nicer effect. For mine, I of course used Black Behr concrete paint. Not epoxy.
7. Once everything is good and dry after several days, I applied 3 coats of Behr concrete “wet look” sealer. It adds a nice barrier protection to your painted surface similar to polyurethane for floors. Maybe not quite as good as polyurethane, but definitely adds extra protection to help your floor resist foot traffic and it gives it a nice glossy shiny look. Otherwise, without it, your floors will look like…well….like they have been painted and will scratch easier. One tip is that the “wet look” sealer will go down milky but will dry clear. However, the downside, is that I did experience a small tiny area where the “milkiness” did not clear and it left a little bit of a white haze over my nice floors. Unless I find a solution to this problem, I will just leave it. The rest of the floors look great regardless. So the Behr “wet look” sealer isn’t absolutely perfect. I had perfect luck with it on my last project, but this time wasn’t as lucky.
Completed (compare to the high-end home with professionally stained floors in the first photo of this post)
In case the economy happens to completely crash, there is yet another food to add to your arsenal. Canned foods and non-perishable items are great. Nuts are great. Bottled water is a must. Can’t go without ACV (apple cider vinegar). But if you find yourself living in the wilderness, but still want to take a little piece of civilization with you, stock your gear full with as many McDonalds hamburgers as you can. They can last up to 10 years and are perfectly good to eat at any time. And this is no joke.
I have invented the best drink ever. So what’s so good about this drink? In my opinion, this homemade beverage is more beneficial to your body than any beverage you could drink. And best of all….it hardly cost anything to make.
What do I call my new drink? I call it CranSeltz-ACV.
Here’s basically what goes into it:
*Approx 4 ounces of Organic no sugar added Cranberry/Pomegranate Juice
*Approx 8 ounces of Seltzer water (carbonated)
*1 tbsp of (Braggs organic unpasteurized) Apple Cider Vinegar
*4-5 ice cubes (on the rocks!)
*A dash of Agave Nectar (not necessary)
At first, I was thinking the same thing you probably are: Ewww….apple cider vinegar. I bet that would taste nasty! Well, I gave it a shot using all the ingredients above for my cocktail, and I was blown away! The taste was great. It was very comparable to a cold organic drink sold at Whole Foods called “Synergy”. It tastes almost like that stuff. I used Braggs ACV from the grocery store organic section. I’m not sure just how much better the organic kind is over the cheap pasteurized versions, but I would assume the raw organic unpasteurized kind is probably the best to use. I’m going to give raw organic a shot due to the possible ineffectiveness of the cheap pasteurized grocery store version. From what I’ve heard, the enzymes are destroyed in the pasteurization process. So, to get the maximum effectiveness, I’m going with organic.
Why apple cider vinegar? First of all, my own personal conclusion is that ACV was given to us by God. In my opinion, it’s one of the most beneficial things you could possibly put into your body. Apple Cider Vinegar is cheap, easy to use, and can benefit your health in numerous ways. Hippocrates, the father of medicine thought of it as a powerful elixir and a naturally occurring antibiotic and antiseptic that fights germs. Ancient Egyptians, Roman’s and Greeks used it. And Apple Cider Vinegar is mentioned in the Bible as an antiseptic and healing agent. Even Columbus had barrels of vinegar on his ships for the prevention of scurvy. Indeed, Apple Cider Vinegar has been used for thousands of years, as both a health and cleansing agent.
I drink it 2-3 times a day. The only thing to be careful of is to rinse your mouth after drinking my special cocktail, or at least do not brush your teeth. ACV can weaken your tooth enamel, so if you brush directly after drinking it, then you’ll harm the enamel on your teeth. It doesn’t seem to really cause any problem in that department as far I can tell. But I take precautions anyhow.
Other than that, having this stuff flowing through your veins acts as an antiseptic, replenishes energy, aids in weightloss, fights cancer, cleanses your system, fights high blood pressure, food poisoning, and the list goes on and on.
ACV rocks!
Check out these links if you want more info: ACV Benefits and
More ACV Info
It’s time for another “my favorite things” articles. Another one of my favorite things is Agave Nectar. Agave Nectar is both organic and kosher and is made from a plant found in Mexico, known as aguamiel, or “honey water.” So why do I like Agave Nectar? First of all, it tastes similar to maple syrup. It can be used as a sweetener in drinks such as tea or coffee, cold drinks, and smoothies. It can be used in place of maple syrup that one might use on pancakes, muffins, or breads. But is yet neutral enough to be used in many other culinary applications.
Ok, so it tastes good, so what’s different about it?
The best thing I like about Agave Nectar is its Low Glycemic index. Even though Agave Nectar is similar in sweetness and calories of Honey, it has a much lower glycemic index. Similar to that of brown rice. So when this “sweet” sweetener hits your blood stream, even though it’s mainly made up of Fructose, your body doesn’t see it any different than brown rice. Additionally, even though I’ve heard plenty of negative things about fructose, the fructose of Agave Nectar is un-refined and is in its raw form. Aside from that, fructose does not stimulate digestive insulin secretion as do other sugars such as glucose. It is an excellent sweetener for those who are watching their weight or are diabetic.
Click here to see what Dr. Oz says about Agave on the Oprah Show
How is Agave Nectar made?
This is the cool part: Agave Nectar comes from the Agave Plants. The plants are in the same family as the Blue Agave, from which tequila is made. So this makes sense of why Agave comes from Mexico, because so does tequila. Fine tequila that is. The tequila that you find in bars that will make you sick, is cheap tequila that is mixed in with high fructose corn syrup. Good fine distilled tequila is clear and won’t make you sick. But it’s hard to find in bars or night clubs.
Additional benefits of Agave are:
* Agave Nectar can be used for baking, cooking and anywhere else where you would normally use sugar or a chemical, artificial sweetener.
* Agave Nectar is low calorie* Agave Nectar does not contain processing chemicals.
* Agave Nectar is safe and recommended for children.
* And it does not crystalize!! Meaning, if you leave a bottle of honey in your cabinet for a long enough period of time, it becomes thick and nasty and crystalizes. Not Agave Nectar! Agave stays smooth and light no matter how long it is left in your cabinets. It’s always ready to be used and is my first sweetener of choice to use on my organic french toast or in my smoothies.
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