Dollhouse Blogs

Saturday 20 August 2011

Entrance Black and White Marble Floor

Hello all,
I just finished the marble Floor for the Entrance Hall.

The floor was easy to make, but rather time consuming.
As with the firplace mantels, I strated by painting the illustration board a base color, let it dry 30 minutes, then took a wet sea sponge, squeezed out most of the water, dipped it lightly in the second paint color, then sponged it on making sure I turned the sponge to keep the pattern random.

When that was dry, I sponged on another color, very similar to the one before
When that was dry, I used tooth pics to create the veins. I looked at pictures of black and white marble online for help
I let the paint dry overnight, then I sprayed on 3 coates of clear glaze and let that dry for 24 hours. I then rubbed the marble down with a 0000 steel whool.
The next day was cutting day. I cut the black marble into 1 " by 1/4" tiles, and the White marble into 1" x 1" and 1/4" x 1/4" tiles using a metal ruler and a sharp utility knife.

The next step was to cut a subfloor in illustration board to the dimensions of the room. because the tiles are not perfectly square, it was important to have guide lines on the subfloor to make sure the pattern was as exact as possible. I took out some graph paper with 1/4" x 1/4" squares and glued it onto the subfloor. Next, starting with the very center of the room, I glued the tiles in place with a regular glue stick.
The glue stick works well. I put the glue on the subfloor and on the back of the tile. The bond is strong, but it takes a while to set so you can move the tile a bit to aligne it properly. I covered the floor with a piece of mdf and books to wheigh it down overnight.


The next day it was time to grout the floor. I like to use regular drywall spackle, the stuff that is used to fill small holes in the wall. With my finger, I went over the spaces with the spackle and tried to get into all the cracks. Then, I took a damp sponge and went over in circular motions to take off any excess spackle, and go over with a dry cloth. You have to make sure you don't apply too much pressure because you will push the spackle out of the cracks. The final step was to go over it with a steel whool, whipe it down with a damp cloth, and check the fit.

All in all, from start to finish, this floor section took about 16 hours of work. Thank God it's finished.

13 comments:

  1. Wow your floor is fantastic.I love the colour. Wonderful work well done. Greetings Maria

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello again Giac!
    Love the floor! I know all too well how time comsuming cutting and piecing together these patterns can be, not to mention painting the marble. The result was worth your effort and looks great with the panelled walls. Well done!
    Ray

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your hall floor looks very impressive and the instructions are very clear. So clear in fact, I'm tempted to try this myself!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Crazy work, meticulous and impressive ...
    I find it appropriate to the size of the project.
    Thanks for the detailed explanation: Even if I find it hard to have time now to devote myself to a similar job, here in Italy there is always the rule:
    "Learn the art and put it aside - impara l'arte e mettila da parte" (for the times to come ...)
    Mini hugs, Flora

    ReplyDelete
  5. Très beau ton marbre , bien rectiligne .Je suis allée voir tes parquets finis avec ta méthode , c'est superbe , bravo !

    ReplyDelete
  6. HOLA GIAC! VINE A SEGUIRTE DESDE VENEZUELA. MUY HERMOSO TU TRABAJO. FELICITACIONES. ES MARAVILLOSO TODO!! TE INVITO A VISITARME EN MI BLOG http://elpanaldelaabejita.blogspot.com
    TE ESTARÉ ESPERANDO. BESITOS. MARISELA:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you everyone,
    I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your comments. It's great to have feedback from friends and family, but it means a lot when it comes from people who are as talented as all of you and who understand and love the hobby.
    Thank you, merci, grazie and muchos gracias!
    Giacomo

    ReplyDelete
  8. I just found your blog, your miniatures are fabulous! Congratulations for the job! Now I am a follower. ;)
    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am laying a black-and-white checkered marble floor in the Entrance Hall of Merriman Park, and your tutorial was an inspiration! Using Spackle as grout is a brilliant idea! And using graph paper as a guide to make up for any imperfections in the size of the tiles was also a great idea. I was worried about that but not any more, thanks to you, Giac!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It looks very real good work. did you use acrilicpaint and vernisch?

    ReplyDelete