Coating Concrete

When Jimmy Tubbs, owner of Concrete Graphix in Camareo, Calif., gets tired of coaxing the same boring colors out of concrete, the decorative concrete contractor turns to tinted epoxy to jazz up his work. "I've opened up the book to anything now," he says. "The sky's the limit."

To put the finishing touch on a concrete portrait of a hummingbird, he spread glittered epoxy on the stone bird's belly, giving it a shiny, natural look.

This is a new twist for a coating that is rarely celebrated for its artistic qualities. Epoxies have been used for years on concrete floors in factories, hotel lobbies and other commercial settings because of their adhesion, hardness and resistance.

But innovations that improve epoxies' performance have combined with a growing interest in their decorative capabilities to create a kind of renaissance for this industrial stalwart.

Tubbs is using it a lot these days in his less arty jobs as well. He's laid down epoxy at the Irvine Spectrum shopping center, on floors at a Fatburger restaurant and a Trader Joe's specialty grocery store, and to seal stamped stone on the shower walls of a house.

"It's such a strong cover," he says. "It gives so much shine."