Concrete Beam Repair

One wall in our kitchen is a concrete support wall so it was the only one we didn’t knock out all the plaster on. It was also the one most out of plumb; the room measures more than an inch wider at the ceiling than at the floor. There were some problems with the plaster surface over the concrete and we could feel some hollow gaps in between the 2 layers. That meant scraping the wall down, which lead to big chunks of the plaster falling off, all the way down to the rough concrete surface. Another repair not anticipated at the beginning of the renovation. 
Our contractor kept mentioning the steps we would be using to make the repair, but we were working on the other walls and when he left me on my own for a few days, I attempted the repair on my own. To fill those gaps back in bonding agent was needed to adhere the joint compound to the rough concrete. The concrete must first be clean & all loose particles removed. Then you coat the concrete with the bonding agent at full strength. Once it is tacky, but quickly before it dries, use an admix of bonding agent & joint compound and cover the raw concrete. You don’t try to fill the whole gap, but just cover the raw concrete. Once that dries then the next pass of joint compound will stick to the 1st coat.
Since the worst spots were at the corner joint, we needed to create a form on the underside of the beam to give a smooth edge to fill up to. My husband formed it up for me and I spread a very thick layer of compound across the wall and into those deep recesses. We had to let it dry for a day & a half before we removed the plywood form & even then, the underside of the mud was still damp and I even cut out a few big drips. Our contractor returned and decided to bring us a bag of durabond which is a dry mix of joint compound which is a bit more firm than the premixed stuff. Wish I had had it for the first layers; it was firmer & easier to work with. He had me add a few more layers of it to level out the corner as much as possible before adding the corner bead. Since the beam is solid, the plastic corner bead can’t be stapled into it, so I had to use the metal reinforced paper tape. Working again by myself, I smoothed on a layer of compound and climbed up ladders on each end of the beam to place the tape so that the bottom edge was level before I folded it under across the bottom side. There was of course a gap on the underside in the center that needed to be filled with joint compound too, but I’m pleased how well it came out. Now it just needs a few coats on each ace to smooth everything out nice & flat like the rest of the walls.

Powering Through the Old Floor

Well besides finishing up some mud on the drywall today, I spent my time with the hammer & chisel breaking away the bit of old floor adjacent to the brick wall. There's another section at the front of the wall that I tried hand sawing away (the grain is the opposite direction) but the oak floor was too hard for me to power through. Now I need a masseuse.

Work in Progress – Brick Wall

I’ve finally returned to my project of painting the brick wall. I thought I might be able to get it all done last week on my two days off, but it was a bit more work than that, plus I was utterly sore from those days of sitting on the floor and sponging on five different colors of paint. 
    
I’m thrilled with how well it’s coming along. Everytime I look at the side I completed I can’t get over how much more I love it than the white brick it used to be. Now that we have our financing together to finish the kitchen project, I’m starting to get back into the planning mode. Since the project has been delayed a year now, some of my material choices are no longer available, so I have to do some additional planning again. With working a job with a revolving schedule, it’s a bit of a task to find time to stay concentrated on the kitchen. I hope I get it organized soon so I can get a contractor hired and have the kitchen of our dreams.

Brick Wall Attempt 2

Wall attemp 2, a photo by b-a-boop on Flickr.

I've attempted 2 sections of brick painting. The 1st I tried a beige grout color, it came out OK, but I thought it still looked too close to the white. The 2nd section I tried a gray grout (think it's too dull and muddy) and tried to get a bit darker on the bricks. Will be experimenting a bit more in the future, I'm a bit persnickety, want it just so, although I'm not exactly sure what that SO is.

Faux Painting a Brick Wall

We have an existing brick wall at the edge of the kitchen which is painted white. We plan to add a counter on top of it when we renovate the kitchen. Today I’m attempting to paint it back to a reddish/tan brick color. I first used a beige color house paint on the grout lines. Then I’m sponging on some various shades of tan to terra cotta to simulate the brick. Hoping it will look good.

Existing Wall

Approximate Look I'm trying to achieve