Staining Concrete Pavers

Last year, I decided our family needed a professional looking walkway from the deck to the lakeshore.  A quick analysis of the budget showed that paying a professional was out of the question. Another quick analysis of the budget showed that purchasing pavers was also out of the question.

I  looked at the husband in despair.  And then I looked at the children in despair.  And then I started thinking.  And the husband starting getting worried.  And the children starting running for cover.

Why buy pavers when we could just make our own?  Quikcrete makes a concrete mold for pavers.  It's pretty simple.  Buy the cement and the mold.  Mix the cement.  Pour the cement into the mold.  Pat down the cement.

Thing I didn't consider: The reason 44 bags of cement are so cheap is because they're wicked heavy to carry and back-breakingly awful to mix.

The children and husband were in charge of hauling cement and mixing cement and pouring cement.  They were extremely grumpy and unhappy.  I was in charge of sitting in the grass and gingerly patted the cement into the mold.  And supervising.

Cost of material: 44 bags of cement and a Quikcrete mold. $124.68

Cost of labor: 3 general laborers and 1 foreman for 26 hours. $0.00

Despite the children's slight resentment at not being paid, we have all enjoyed the walkway very much.

Until this fall, when it occurred to me that I was a little bored with the way our walkway was bleaching in the sun.

The black cement coloring we had added at installation had begun to fade.  Our path was starting to look like plain old cement.

I looked at my husband in despair.  And then I looked at my children in despair.  

And then I started thinking.  

And the husband starting getting worried. And the children starting running for cover.

Time to add some color!  But on a budget.  

Home Depot sells quarts of concrete stain for $9.  By choosing three colors, I was then able to mix my own variations so I ended up with many colors.  I suppose I could have just bought more quarts, but it wasn't in the budget.

While I was mixing stains, the children were madly texting friends looking for invites elsewhere and the husband decided to go grocery shopping.  By the time I was ready for our project to begin, I was the only Fortin remaining in a 30 mile vicinity of our homestead.

 I started with a Redwood stain

Added a Dark Grey

And a Steel Blue

Then a Slate Green

     

And a Dark Brown

     

And finished with a Light Brown

About this time, the children returned from their hiding places with little comment of where they had been.

It was probably pure relief that my little adventure was almost over when they provided overwhelming support of the project.  They even offered to help, but I think they knew I was done.

A suggestion that the sidewalk was "too new" got me thinking that it was time for a little distressment.

So I took an almost dry brush of dark brown stain and swiped some of the more majestic colors.

I also added variations to some pavers, applying additional coats of stain in raised spots.

The husband then returned from his three hour trip to the grocery store and gave a big thumbs up.

The total cost of this project was $26 in stain and a few old paintbrushes.  The total time of this project was 3 hours with one person.