Customer Reviews for Henry 549 7 lbs. Feather Finish Patch and Skimcoat

We used this project for our concrete countertops (over laminate). After sealing it, it has held up well.

The product does what it says. Dries in 15 minutes, all depending on how thick you apply. My thicker areas took several hours completely. Some areas I gave overnight to be safe. The product dries rock solid, literally. I wound it best to mix smaller amounts, apply, then mix additional smaller amounts… Also found it better mix a little wetted than instructions indicate, 1 water to 2 product. Got a smoother finish when mixed a little wetter. Happy with the product and the results.

I used this product to fix my patio floor which is made out of a stucco type material. I took up the old skimcoat area and replaced with this Henry Feather Finish. It takes some getting used to as you only have about 15 minutes before the product hardens

Used to make a faux concrete fireplace, easily to work with, just do small patches at a time

I have no idea what the unhappy folks are unhappy about. I patched a 16 sq/ft area in about 10 minutes. Clean up was super easy. Product went down like pancake batter. Honestly, this has to be one of the EASIEST home projects I've ever tackled. I can only assume the "unhappy's" didn't follow directions or didn't prep it properly. I used exactly 6 qts of cool water. Mixed it for two minutes with a paddle attachment on my drill...poured it out, moved it around a bit with a trowel for about 30 seconds and let it settle in...that's it. Hosed off the bucket and paddle mixer for about a minute...they look brand new.

We purchased the Henry 549 as a fix for skim coating a small bedroom floor. Rather than mechanically sand or chip off the uneven floor below, this was to be our “timesaver”. What a waste of money, time and tools. We followed the instructions EXACTLY and the end result is horrible. We also need a new bucket, trowel and paddle. This product does not trowel evenly, self level or smooth. It’s clumpy, lumpy and VERY hard to move. Never again will we buy Henry brand products. They need to update the instructions, which are very direct NOT to add more water. It will probably work in very small batches to cover holes, cracks or indents. But, be warned you have 6-8 minutes max time to use this stuff. DO NOT use it as a skim coat, or you will be wasting your money, just like we did.

Being a first timer, I have to say, it was very easy to apply. I like that you can choose the consistency, so if you're slow at spreading, or it's your first time using it, you can make it a little thinner, and won't have to rush when applying. I used this product to cover my tile countertops, it took 4 coats to fully cover the grout lines, which equaled up to 3 boxes, and it came out so beautiful! I was very happy with the results, and would definitely recommend.

Great product used to remake both of my bathroom countertops and master bath floor. Mix as directed 2/1 and there is no problem working with I only mix about 1 cup at a time to ensure its all spread out and smooth before it dries. 3-5 thin layers and you’ve got an amazing new counter.

Excellent product. Used to do diy concrete overlay, protect turned out perfect!

Easy to use ... great results

Excellent product. I’m a DIY novice but even I couldn’t screw this up. Used it for a concrete countertop laminate overlay. Easy to use and very easy.

We had the ugliest tile on our kitchen counters and needed a way to update it without costing a small fortune. After a lot of research, we came across Henry Feather Finish. Amazing product. Easy to use (mix small batches so it doesn't harden up on you to quick), very affordable and the end product is exactly what we had hoped for. A couple of important tips: 1) It only takes about 10 to 15 minutes to harden, so mix don't mix a large amount. Once it hardens in the bucket, you can't use it anymore. 2) Sand before you seal. 3) SEAL IT! Be sure to seal it and use the sealer that best suits your needs.

This patch compound easy to install, dries fast. I used to fix broken floor. I have never been disappointed with the product

I read lots of reviews and watched a number of videos on how to use this type of skim-coat for a floor I needed to level. Following the directions carefully, and mixing up small batches at a time (2 cups powder to 1 cup water), I found this was much easier to use than the ready-mixed stuff I tried first. I used a palm sander with 80 grit paper to smooth out any trowel lines and found the surface to be very smooth — almost polished! I’m very happy with the outcome, especially as this was my first time skim-coating anything.

Yes, this stuff is a little expensive and doesnt give you a whole lot of coverage but working with it was super nice in the bathroom remodel i was doing. A lot of people complained about the texture. PLAY WITH THE TEXTURE. I personally never go based off what the box says. I like to mix mine on the thicker side. So start with a smaller and work your way up. Biggest mistake you can do is dump the whole bag and have too much water in the bucket. I like my texture a little thicker than peanut butter for shaping.

Our project was installing luxury vinyl plank flooring over the existing glued down composite floor tile. The new flooring requires a level subfloor for 1/8 inch for 10 feet. After scouring the internet for solutions, this was it. Our 50's concrete slab foundation's high moisture content made leveling the old glued down composite floor tricky because it had to adhere to the tile, had to withstand moisture, and be easy enough for this first-time-at-the-age-of-60-mason. First, I marked all the low spots using a 4 foot level. I mixed it according to the directions, applied it with a 16 inch mason trowel, smoothing it over the dips in the floor. It dried super fast, and it appeared to be hard as rock. Cleanup was super easy- just rinse it off. In the places where the tile had come loose, I removed them, and did minimal scraping. I did not have to remove the underlying adhered adhesive because Feather Finish is designed to bond and coat over that. It was easy to level the bare patches to the height of the remaining tiles. I am not aware of any other product available in store that is so versatile for this type of job. Henry 549 was perfect.

Great stuff

Used this on multiple projects with great results. I bought it while trying to determine how I wanted to make concrete countertops. I had seen projects where this was used over concrete board instead of pouring concrete. The product dries quick and sold and I can see how that would work. I, however, used it over some 1x4s to make a mirror frame. I applied a layer, let it dry, sanded, and repeated. I also purchased a can of spray concrete stain. While my wife didn't love the spray finish, she love the color of the dried featherfinish and the patterns created in the process. I also used it to fill in some low spots and holes that occurred when pouring my countertops. It worked to level the low spots and provided a different finish in the sanding process. I still have some left in my garage and am constantly thinking of projects I can use it for.

While leveling a plank floor in a nearly 200 year old farmhouse, we first laid 3/4" plywood with shims underneath, then used Ardex self-leveler for any dips that still existed. Used the Henry's Feather Finish for the final finish layer. Has about a 15 minute set-up time, so it's better to mix up small batches and then work quickly. That's probably why it is sold in small 7 lb. boxes. You can add a little more water than what it calls for while mixing in order to extend the working time. The fast set-up time is good though if you need to be able to walk on the floor quickly. Troweling was smooth and easy. Edges feathered out pretty well, but not to the extent that they seamlessly blended into the surrounding surface, which was okay for us since we will be carpeting over this floor. Adhesion to the plywood and Ardex self-leveler was very good with no lifting or peeling. Henry products are made by Ardex, but are quite a bit less expensive. So, weighing the performance with the difference in cost, I would go still with Henry's Feather Finish.

Awful for Leveling Subfloor/Underlayment. Nothing like self-leveler. I was debating between buying this stuff and Henry 555 self-leveling underlayment to level out a dip roughly 1/8" deep, 3' x 6' wide. Went for this because it said there was no need for primer and could be 'feather-finished' with no minimum thickness. Since both products link to literally the same instruction sheet on the manufacturer's website, I figured they would be similar. Boy was I wrong. After mixing exactly according to the instructions, I was a bit surprised how thick this stuff was. Way thicker than peanut butter - more like clay. The instructions specifically state not to add more water as it can weaken the material so I didn't, although I was a bit worried. I got about halfway through troweling a rough coat over my floor area before this stuff started to dry and set (<5 minutes). Tried to skim it a little with a screed board and it just rolled up into lumps and did not spread evenly. Panic set in as I knew I had nowhere near enough time to spread this out before it set, so I just scraped it all off the floor and threw it back into the bucket. Sorry I have no pictures of that process because it was a desperate attempt to get it up and clean it off my tools before it dried completely. The worst part is, now I'm going to have to go back and sand a 3' x 3' area of floor where I started to lay this stuff down, so I can get back to a wood surface and prime it properly for the self-leveler. Giant waste of time and set my project back a week. Advice to the manufacturer: PLEASE change the instructions so they are different than the self-leveling product. These products are nothing alike. Also maybe leave SOME room for adding extra water in the instructions (like 'add up to an extra 1/2? cup of water if needed until mix is so and so'). Advice to anyone using this product for subfloor/underlayment: Only use it on very small patch areas less than 1sq.ft. Do not try to skim coat this anywhere close to the 24 sq. ft. that the instructions claim. I don't see how that is possible given the consistency and set time of this product.

I have used this product before for leveling out small (1-2 sq. ft) of flooring before and ran out. So I bought a second box to finish the repairs before laying new flooring in my rental apartment kitchen and bathrooms. It allows a smooth, feathered finish. I will usually use a belt sander afterit dries a day to remove any high spots and to really feather the edges.

Easy to use!! Coated over my existing counter top!! Love it!!

This product is easy to mix and use. We are enjoying making concrete coated countertops the easy way. Have only done a mock up sample so far.

This product is so very easy to work with. Read the info, and use a sponge to finish. Once dried it barely needed any sanding at all. The finish is perfect. I used it to cover an old sink and vanity.

Goes on as thin as you want, and it's easy to work with. I was kind of testing for concrete countertops in the kitchen/bath, so I put it on my shelf in the garage (over some Cement-All). I really did NOT try hard to make it look nice - by this point I was just trying to make it smooth. I also bought a used kitchen countertop to test with, and it went on well. Don't add to much water - it gets weaker if you do so. I'll probably actually use the rest on my basement floor for some leveling, the way it's designed to get used.

We used two skim coats of this product to cover our laminate countertops for a faux concrete look. Reading over the directions and coverage information we thought we would only need 4 boxes total. We ended up needing 7.5 boxes. We used the directions to mix entire bags at once, but each batch came out with a different consistency so we had to start mixing 1/4 bags at a time. The final look came out like we imagined minus the one area with a bad consistency.

We used this product to "overcoat" the concrete counter tops we built. I used a 3/4" piece of plywood, covered with aluminum grating screwed to it. Pre-drilled holes for sink and faucet and plugged them. Installed trim on the front to hold in the concrete. Poured concrete and let it dry. At that point we used the Featherfinish to fill in the remaining area to make it level with the top of the front trim sanding as needed in between. After 30 days, stained and sealed it. Looks great! The only advice I will give for the featherfinish is that it is easier to use in thinner layers. We did 3 counters and the thinner you do it the easier it is to work with. You can do it thick and you can stain and seal it.

had to apply quite a few more coats than anticipated but i am happy with the end result. even with having to purchase more product than i was planning, it was much cheaper than purchasing all new countertops right now and it gives it a cool industrial look. backsplash is being redone now! :)

This product works very well for patching and repairing subfloor surfaces before installing any type of flooring. It is easy to mix—add water. Be sure to add water before mixing and mix slowly to reduce air bubbles.