"Thatched" Roof 2 & Staining Faux Bois Planters

Continuing work on the "thatched" roof using an asphalt emulsion mix.


Experimenting with staining a couple of efforts at faux bois planters. I've thus far experimented with a commercial dye called Smith's Color Floor, a manganese carbonate/potassium dichromate mixture (I didn't enjoy using this so much because of potential toxicity), and iron and zinc oxide.
No need to include muriatic acid in a mix of water and iron or zinc oxide. The oxide stains the concrete without acid. I'm unhappy with the finished product but feel like it's a start. Next plan is to make some "patties" from my mortar mix as described by the great Donald Tucker so that I can practice mixing the various colors of oxide, etc. A great starting point for infomation related to using oxides and other fairly inexpensive substances to stain concrete is here: http://www.stainedfloor.com/. I purchased my chemicals from various sellers on Ebay.
The small pot is made over a burlap/grout armature.

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