Slated For Finishing...

OK.  For some reason, this first photo wants the slate to be brown instead of gray...I am not sure why.

The left side of the floor has been sculpted with a ball stylus in all of the joints.  The right side has not.  The stylus gives the pieces rounded edges.

I do this step with any floor or wall that I do like this.  I also do it when using egg cartons.  This gives the edges a finished and sometimes even worn look.  That depends on how much you do.

After I knock down the edges, I start using  Prismacolor pencils to add some life to the slate.  You can barely see it in the photo, but it does make a difference. 

I use the flat side of the point and the color just catches on the raised parts of the paper. 

In this photo you can see the texture of the paper.  It really does look like slate.  I had about 4" square left of the paper....It will be missed...

I haven't installed it permanently yet.  I may still add more color.  I think it needs a bit of green to reflect the color of the walls.

I am going to have to do the hearth separately.  Another one of those quirks of the house.  The part in front of the fireplace was attached to the bottom of the fire box.  I actually slid the floor under it.  If I weren't adding the thickness of the floor, that part would be hanging about an eighth of an inch above the floor.  Can you imagine trying to get a dust mop under there to clean?  Not practical at all....

Anyway, there you have it.  The floor is essentially finished all except for gluing in down.  I still need to touch up the walls in the spots where Zar missed, so I don't want to stick it down yet.

Back to work now.  The living room definitely needs a larger rug.  Here we go again.

See you tomorrow.