Thanks to both of you.
Warning: Details to follow, sorry I can't do this in 20 words or less OK, the tape was a very difficult thing to deal with when we got started. Had to look around a bit to find 1/4" masking tape. The way the process was "supposed" to work is this:
1st you clean the surface the best way you can . TSP or Mur. Acid , and/or both. Of course one after the other. I took a chance and just used TSP. A year later it is still doing fine.
2nd. You would normally put down a base coat of an off white floor and porch latex and allow that to dry for several days.... Did that too...
3rd. It is not difficult using a t-square and then a chalk line to lay out your squares. Followed by putting down the 1/4" tape. Our first project was the back porch.
4th Create your faux tile look with several colors of very very "watery" faux paint that you make yourself. Then, when that is dry, you pull up the tape and you have your off white faux grout lines which you can paint with an artist's brush , if you want.
That's where things didn't go as planned or as predicted. You can probably guess what happened. Even though we gave the base coat extra time to dry, as I pulled up the tape, it started pulling up the base coat with it. That might have been OK, but it did not pull up the base coat evenly. It was going to become a mess. So, I stood back looked at the tape, which looked like real grout lines and said to myself, "what's the worst thing that can happen if I leave the tape down?" So I left it down.
5th After I gave everything plenty of time to dry, I covered the whole thing with this:
BEHR WET-LOOK SEALER is a clear, non-yellowing, high solids, acrylic-based masonry sealer. It is formulated to seal, protect and beautify concrete and masonry surfaces with a hi-gloss, wet-look finish. BEHR NO. 985 WET-LOOK SEALER is also an excellent topcoat for paints and stains. Plus it is a water base sealer.... Nice and easy too.
I happened to talk with the Behr Paint Factory Rep here at the local Home Depot a few weeks later and told him what I had done. His reply was: " what?? and you expect that to keep the tape down? As soon as the adhesive dries out, that tape is coming up." He might be right, and if it does, I'll just paint in the grout lines... Well, it has been a year now and I've put on 3 coats of the sealer, each coat makes it look even better. The tape have not come up at all, anywhere. even at places where the patio furniture has been drug across it. Also, my back porch is covered. That might be one reason it has done fine. In my next post I'll tell you how we did the study (
red floor) and we were able to get the tape up without pulling up the base coat. We did it a bit different.... after what we learned.
Wow, this has become L O N G. Sorry 'bout that.
See ya, Tom