i know hardie makes a underlayment that seems to be about the same as the soffit sheets they sell except 4×8 vs 3×5 I’m about tempted to stain some with concrete acid stain & seal it and see if it’d hold up as flooring in some small 1/2 baths… any ideas?
pony
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Replies
not sure how a acid stain would work with the board, the board is more paper than anything. Maybe go with a solid pigment stain then seal. Just my thoughts but who knows till ya try.
Doesn't sound durable, asthetically pleasing, or a good use of money even for a rental. If the bathrooms are small then adding a layer of the cheapest tile would be worlds better. :-)
Best of luck,
Don
I have my doubts about durability too.
I seem to rememeber an article on a house in WA or OR in the FHB several years ago. Might have been the annual houses issue. It was on the coast somewhwre I think. Anyway, the builder used sections of cement board, probably hardie cuz it looked too smooth to be Durock, wet it slightly, tossed some granulaer fertilizer on it, let the fertilizer turn colors, then washed it and varnished. I'm sure I left something out. Anyweay, it left beautiful streaks of blue-green where the fertilizer had reacted with something.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
hardie is made of.... sand portland and fibers... it is set/manufactured with pressure and heat... much more dense than wonderboard besides siding... they make 3x5ft sheets in 1/4" and 1/2" thick what you are getting is a 100% void free concrete sheet... the soffit material is the same except aprox 3/8" and 4x8 sheets... very smooth on one side... a little texture on the other... the more i look at this product the more i like it for alot of uses... remember i do "urban loft" projects alot of steel big beam, and concrete...
some of the use's i'm looking at...
for the 1/2" material... vanity tops for vessel sinks @ less than $10 a 3x5 sheet i can get 2 to 4 tops per sheet...
for the 3/8" i like the look for a backsplash, shower & steamroom surrounds, as a finish material for kitchen island sides... and as a finished floor bathrooms...
in most of these uses i'd acid stain it and finish/seal it just like an exposed concrete floor or counter top...
worst case in the bathroom floors if it didn't hold up it's sold as a backer/subfloor/base for tile anyway... so it'd just have to be tiled over...
the 1/2" material says it can be used on walls as tile backer nailed/screwed directly to studs even 24" oc
even considering a light sandblast design to give it a tile or custom look before staining....
seems to be a pretty cool material... i've cast tons & tons of concrete for just about every use... simple & cheap to do but it does take time and mold building...
just float'n some ideas
pony
That sounds like some neat ideas.
My concern is, when I'm installing it, sometimes it tends to delaminate if I nail too clse to the edge. And it can break easily if not fully supported, or when the hired help tries to carry a 12 ft piece alone.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
I've thought about doing something like this several times. after looking at the product, i decided that it would be better to skim coat it with some mix of cement and sand to get a denser top coat with a more polished surface. maybe the hardie board that you have is better than what i have.
The other advantage of a skim coat layer would be that i could incorporate dry stains swirled in. Let us know how it turns out if you do it-- you're not risking much in materials and you can always tile over it, like you say.
zak
It won't rot, but it will soak up water. On a bathroom floor it would not be a good choice, I'd think. It is also not very abrasion resistant so it would not hold up well to foot traffic. I guess it would hold up to bare feet, though.