How to restore shine to 1 ton of polished black rocks?
Dinah V
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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bossyvossy
7 years agoDinah V
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Another native restoration (photos included)
Comments (7)I also have a horde of Vinca growing happily in the side yard under a large Norway maple. I've removed tons in other parts of the yard to make gardens, mostly via digging and smothering. Digging is hard, smothering is relatively easy. First I scalp it by mowing it down as low as possible, then smother with cardboard topped with layers of organic material (i.e. lasagne gardening or sheet composting). Be sure to overlap the cardboard well or it will grow through. This does indeed kill the Vinca and as the layers decompose it will create a nice rich bed for planting. In defense of Vinca minor, it can be useful in a hard to grow and contained location, and it's attractive. But in my experience it is very aggressive and will choke out pretty much everything except for mature established shrubs and trees, native or not. I also had 5 large Norway maples, but have had 4 of them removed (1 huge one left). Even for a maple, they are particularly difficult to grow underneath, as they cast a dense shade, and have mildly allelopathic roots that will suck all the moisture out of the ground. Some natives that will grow in dry shady or open woodland include White wood aster (Symphyotrichum divaricatum), Blue wood aster (S. cordifolium), White snakeroot (Ageratina altissimum), Woodland sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus), Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), Viola, and possibly native Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). I'm sure there are others. You should conider moving the Juglans nigra as they have very allelopathic roots and are difficult to grow under. They also eventually grow into very large trees with wood that is quite valuable....See MoreFinally, 1 remodeled bath and 1 new one
Comments (42)pps7, I'm sorry I didn't see your post in April. :( Thank you for your comments! labocki, the master is real marble called Gioia and I bought it from DalTile. I was originally going to do a patterned floor and subway in the shower, too! Then I saw the marble and decided to use it everywhere. I thought a 'tile rug' with patterned tile in the middle of the floor would be the star of that bathroom until I realized I would probably have a real rug covering that cold marble tile floor and it would cover any tile rug so I just did 100% 12x12 polished marble everywhere. That was a short story made long :) but I wanted to tell you I had your vision also (Mrs. Limestone-ish). Having said all that, I would be very happy with the Carrera Star on all of the surfaces in the master. The shower floor can be your basketweave. Or maybe the shower floor plus a row on the wall similar to the bubbles in our hall bathroom. The faucets in the master were bought at Home Depot about 10 yrs ago and I think they are Delta. I did see similar faucets in either HD or Lowes. Good luck! maggie200, thank you! Personally, I would not use vessel sinks now and glass block would depend on how you are using it. I'm going out of town tomorrow morning and still have to pack after work today but if I have time I'll find your posts....See MoreHelp restoring newer finish
Comments (9)Well, looked at the one table I have in the house again last night, definitely solid, I'm thinking the shallow dents/scratches show so light b/c maybe the manufacturer just tinted the lacquer? Except that the underside is fairly dark too (not the practically white wood that's showing in the dents) but flat. The top/sides/legs are a satin finish. I touched up the marks a bit with a stain marker, I can live with the slight damage (it's "Arts and Crafts" style so a little distressing is OK with me). But what can I do to buff out the swirls from dusting that show when the lamp is on? Since (if this is tinted lacquer) the finish looks very thin, I really don't want to take any steel wool to it - I'm afraid of going right though the color. I think I might have to put a new coat of lacquer on, but how do you prep the surface of these modern post-catalyzed lacquers (esp if it's a tinted one)? And any idea (if the color coat is just on the surface finish) how to clean up the white scuffs, milk splashes, etc. from the legs without going through the color? I definitely don't want to have to relacquer the whole thing (all 3 tables), just the top(s) if I can get away with it....See MoreI need trim/door advice tons of oak
Comments (64)You asked for ideas so here are mine (based on quick and cost effective) Use old english scratch cover FIRST on all the woodwork scratches and see if that does not solve your problem immediately. We JUST refreshed a 1960's home and it was AMAZING. Took minutes. take the chair rail out of the hallway, paint a warmer FLAT paint. FLAT will make a huge difference as not as reflective. I'd go with a bit of a neutral greige because the wood won't look as stark and you have so much light. Also take off what hardware you can and clean, spraypaint a matte black finish or bronze to update and refresh and match your lighting. Keep those mid century details! I'd so love to see you take out the carpet but I'm thinking you just put it in. Lucky you! This before and after was Old english Scratch cover for dark wood and then some walnut stain sorry for the poor photo quality I do not have the after photo to show what a difference! The door was put on and it is a small bath but looked completely clean and smooth finish - under 5 minutes....See Morebossyvossy
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoDinah V
7 years agoTaraMaiden
7 years agoStephen Giachin
6 years agoDinah V
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoHU-136286297
5 years agoDinah V
5 years agoKarthik Veni
4 years agojoiebird
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2 years ago
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