Restaurants

by Natasha Chilingerian

Photo courtesy of Robert Oswald Jr., Bomanite of New Orleans Inc.

Jerk's Island Grill, Covington, La. Contractor: Bomanite of New Orleans Inc. What started as merely a floor stain job quickly turned into a four-part project when Earl Mylie of Bomanite of New Orleans, located in St. Rose, La., got to work at Jerk's Island Grill, which opened on Jan. 26 in Covington, La. After applying a chemical stain in a terra cotta and amber color to the Caribbean-theme restaurant's floor, Mylie and his crew completed a stamping project outside of the restaurant, a bar showcasing embedded tropical paraphernalia such as seashells and bottle caps, and a 5-by-7 floor logo at the restaurant's entrance, all within a one-month period.

General contractor Cal Lemoine of Lemoine Family Builders recommended Bomanite of New Orleans to the owners of Jerk's Island Grill, and after a bid for a floor stain was accepted, Lemoine and the restaurant's owners discovered the decorative concrete company could do much more.

Stamped tiles in gray, cream and green cover the sidewalk outside the restaurant in an ashlar slate pattern, creating "a New Orleans look that you'll find throughout the French Quarter," Mylie says. For the bar top, island-theme items - bottle caps, drink stirrers, postcards, seashells and coasters - were glued to the bar's pine surface and covered with approximately 15 gallons of Envirotex Lite, a transparent, reactive polymer compound that cures to a thick, glossy coating.

Finally, a custom Flattoo vinyl stencil from Surface Gel Tek depicting the restaurant's name among palm trees and broken wood planks was placed on the floor atop coatings of moisture-barrier epoxy and primer, then enhanced with hand-painted details and sealed with a urethane coating. Using a moisture barrier product was crucial to the logo's durability, Mylie says, as the floor...

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Vol. 10, No. 3
April 2010