Ever since we moved into this house, I have hated the natural stone windowsills in our house. They have a kind of beige color with specks and don't fit in our interior I think. I have always postponed refurbishing the windowsills, but finally I started with the concrete ciré and I am very happy with the result! In this blog I tell more about the concrete ciré that I have applied to the windowsills.
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I found it super exciting to apply concrete ciré myself, let me make that clear first. I had actually thought of refurbishing a toilet with concrete ciré and especially the floor. But after I contacted Patrick from Smartdeco, I changed my mind. He indicated that it is not so easy to lubricate a floor with concrete ciré and that it would be better to start with something else. And then it occurred to me that I had wanted to tackle the windowsills for a long time, but didn't really have an idea how. So now you do! Ps.. do you want to know what the old windowsills looked like? You can see that in this blog about our monkey lamp.
Anyway, that was the mental preparation for the start of my latest job; refurbishing the windowsills with concrete ciré. Once the barrel of powder and all other materials came in through the mail, I left it there for another two weeks. Where I normally like to start a job right away, I noticed that I pushed it forward a bit. I was just excited to get started. In retrospect, I can tell you that the beginning is indeed quite exciting, but that the final result is so astonishingly beautiful that I no longer have any doubts about tackling another job with beton ciré. I'm all over. However, you have to realize that it is quite a job, you don't do it quickly in between. Certainly not the first time.
Applying concrete ciré on the windowsills is, as mentioned, quite a job. In fact, you can just take a few days before your job is completely finished. Not that you're busy all day, that's not too bad. But you do need periods in between during which the concrete has to dry thoroughly before you can apply the next processing phase. That is why I spoke to the children every day that they had to be careful and not yet use the windowsills. So the living room has been a kind of DIY space for a week 😉 . I'll take you through the process so you know what you're getting into if you want to do this too.
In short, this is what should happen when you apply concrete ciré:
I worked myself through the steps with an extensive manual and read and followed in detail step by step. It is important that you in any case also take up the preparation properly to make it as easy as possible for yourself. So make sure that, for example, you tape the frames at the window sills well before refurbishing and that you also cover the ground against the concrete ciré. Once that comes up and dries up, you keep seeing it.
Tip:mix the concrete mortar with the color you have chosen in advance in the barrel and then only take that part of it each time that you need to dilute before use. For example, I also diluted all 3 separately when refurbishing the concrete ciré for the 3 window sills in the living room. This is because the concrete dries slowly and you cannot keep it. You have to work with it right away. In this way you work with freshly diluted mortar every time and that works best.
Note:I mixed the very first amount I prepared neatly until the mortar and resin were well mixed. I mixed the amount after that for a little longer with the idea that it would be even better. In retrospect, I think that because of this I 'beaten' more air into the mixture, so that there were more bubbles in the concrete ciré. I was eventually able to seal it, but I had to go over it a few times. Less convenient and for me a learning process:good is good enough.
Tip:Mix the concrete ciré for refurbishing your windowsills in a square container if you work with a flexible trowel. I had put the first load in a round bucket, not handy of course because the corners of your trowel don't get anywhere around the edges!
Want to get started right away without reading any further? You can find the beton ciré I used here.
This one is easy, just apply with a brush and let it dry
I especially liked the first layer. Because I've never worked with beton ciré before, of course, and I didn't know what to expect. I had therefore banned everyone from the living room. No snoopers in this work. I took the longest on the first windowsill. I kept smudging and smudging and I broke into a sweat thinking I wasn't applying it smooth enough. And while you are working longer you also feel that the concrete ciré starts to thicken, which makes it more difficult to lubricate. Work with a flexible trowel, then you can yield the best. I also used the sponge. You should not make it too wet. Just dab gently when the concrete ciré has dried for a while and you can apply even more effect, but also touch up a bit if necessary.
In addition, the corners of a windowsill are quite tricky. I got a corner drum for this, but I personally didn't find it useful. Maybe it's just me of course, but I ended up doing without it and that actually went well.
Only after I was done with the first layer and it started to dry did I think 'damn, that looks pretty nice'!
Tip:carefully remove the painter's tape from your frame before the concrete ciré has completely dried, that works best. For the next layer of concrete, apply ciré again, of course!
I did this with an electric sander with grit 80. Works perfectly! By the way, watch out for the corners, it is best to do this manually. Incidentally, the manual also warns about this, but then you know that that warning is not for nothing. In some places I sanded with the electric sander just a little too long near the corners and there it became a bit thin. So don't. I also unlearned it after the first layer 😉 .
But what a beautiful result after just applying concrete ciré and sanding, the windowsills are already refurbishing!
Repeat steps 2 and 3! Don't forget to remove the painter's tape at some point.
After you have applied twice a layer of concrete ciré to the windowsills and sanded you probably think the same as me. Looks super cool and why would I even do the rest. Well I can be brief about that. You will have to refurbish your windowsills properly. The concrete ciré itself is still too fragile without the other treatment, even if it is very hard.
I applied the color fresh with a cloth. Simply apply to the cloth and then rub in. Easy actually and you don't have to worry about the color of your concrete changing seriously, that's not too bad. There will be some deepening of the color, though.
Here too I first applied the painter's tape again so that the Pu wouldn't get on the frame. I found this phase of refurbishing the windowsills very exciting. Especially because the manual contains a number of 'warnings' that you should pay attention to. The Pu consists of 2 components that you have to mix well in a certain ratio (also really at least 2 minutes). In addition, rolling in the Pu is quite close. Not too wet and not too dry, because then you will get stains or 'it will 'roll up'.
You understand that I was immediately on edge with this action. In the end, this turns out to be much less exciting than it actually is. Yes, the Pu dries quickly. Prepare what you need, not too much extra, but certainly not too little. If you have to make extra in between, that is not useful at all.
I also put the Pu on the first window sill a bit thicker in the beginning. I saw it turn completely white and was shocked. Afraid I had done it too thick and my windowsill would turn completely white. Fortunately, after an hour I saw that most of the white had disappeared and in the end you can't see it at all.
I say go for it! I myself am very happy with the result and even though it is quite a bit of work, you are very proud of it. In the end, it turns out that the fear of doing it wrong is not necessary at all. You have to work meticulously, but don't be too hard on yourself. Go for the beautiful result!
I got the beton ciré from Smartdeco and got all my questions answered from Patrick, who thinks nothing is too much trouble. Very nice and I would certainly recommend you to get your things there if you are planning to do so. For € 18.00/m² you have all the necessary ingredients for the concrete stucco at home!
