Concrete Decor's Current Articles

Concrete is going to crack and contractors should be prepared to handle certain issues when they happen.

A little-known fact about New Castle, Indiana, (for everyone not a Hoosier) is that it’s home to the world’s largest high school gymnasium. Basketball fever is so rampant in this small town of 18,000 that the community raised the money needed to build a high school gym that seats 9,325 spectators.

"Innovation" was the word of the day for Scofield’s 10th annual Decorative Concrete Awards which were presented during the 2018 World of Concrete in Las Vegas. Grand prize-winning “Scofie” projects in six categories were unique in their design and execution, with several recipients pushing the limits of their experience to try new things.

Achieving a realistic and "one-of-a-kind" look with stamped concrete requires a knowledge of colors and some help from the experts. Included are several exciting formulas.

With today’s ever-changing technology, it’s critical to stay on top of your options to achieve the concrete surface profile (CSP) recommended by coating manufacturers and to choose the right equipment for surface preparation.

Bud Stegmeier, co-owner of Stegmeier Corp. in Henderson, Nev., shares these tips for using channel drains and point drains in swimming pool applications.

A shot blaster is the tool of choice for concrete contractors when prepping a surface. Shot blasting gives the surface a rough profile so coatings and sealers will bond snugly with a floor.

Two of the participants that wowed the crowds with their talents share some insights on how they work their magic through texture and color.

If you’re doing anything with polishing, drilling or sawing concrete these days, you’re likely already using water in your processes. Those hedging on not using wet processes are staring straight at a mandate from OSHA that requires contractors to reduce the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica.

What began as the customer’s modest plan for a concrete slab to go under a jumbo-sized hot tub morphed into a three-tier, 2,700-square-foot stamped concrete patio that integrates a spa with two other focal points: an eating area with wood pergola to house an outdoor kitchen, and a recessed fire-pit area with sitting wall.

The Renew-Crete® Stamp Overlay Mix was designed exclusively for decorative concrete restoration and is the product of years of research and development.

Lately, I feel the industry has created a very busy design world. Many times I think people do too much design and they need to simplify things. Many interior designers want simple stain-and-seal floors because they want to focus on the furniture, lights and wall decor.

If you live above the Mason-Dixon line, chances are your winter months are cold and snowy. It’s great weather for skiing, but not so much for those who work with concrete.

Over a period of nine days, future students of the school were bussed to the site, where they cast their hands for posterity into the tilt wall panels, using almost five tons of plaster in the process.

What sets Patriot Spraysafe apart is carbon dioxide. The system uses carbon dioxide cartridges to propel liquid through its nozzle.

What it means to you.

The most important thing with maintaining good color across a large job is consistency. From the obvious factors (color, admixture and water-to-cement ratios, temperature, humidity) to the less-tangible ones (soil type and moisture content of the subgrade, amount of time the concrete and color spend in the mixer, slump at the time of placement), document everything thoroughly and keep it the same from batch to batch.

From American Decorative Concrete Supply Co.