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2010 Concrete Restoration Contest: Honorable mentions

You've seen the winners. Now, Concrete Decor wants to recognize a few other contest entries we liked.







Deckcrafters of South Carolina, Charleston, S.C.
Project: Porch restoration
Products used: Supercrete microtop, Benron microtop sprayer, L.M. Scofield  color packets mixed into the microtop, L.M. Scofield color hardener to shade the color
www.deckcraftersofsc.com









Sculpture by Design Inc., Nisswa, Minn.
Project: Resurfacing of 27-year-old Formica countertops, Pequot Lakes, Minn.
www.sculpturebydesignusa.com







Unique Concrete, West Milford, N.J.
Project: Porch restoration, Pompton Plains, N.J.
www.uniqueconcretenj.com

Concrete Restoration Contest, Exterior winner: In the artisan's words



Here's more about the 2010 Concrete Restoration Contest winner in the Exterior category - in the artisan's own words.

First Place, Exterior: Unique Concrete, West Milford, N.J.
Project: Pool restoration, Pompton Plains, N.J.
(973) 697-0659

By Todd Fisher
This restoration project took place in Pompton Plains, N.J. The pool was more than 35 years old and had the old, wide metal coping. The original deck area around the pool was 4 feet wide. Additional concrete was poured at a later time to accommodate lounge chairs and tables. Repairs for upgrades to the plumbing lines had also been made over time. All of this previous work provided a functional and structurally sound surface that was in dire need of an upgrade. Our objective was to eliminate demolition, create continuity to this area, minimize the dated look of the coping, and preserve the landscaping as much as possible.





We considered the existing surfaces to be a superior base for our resurfacing technique and created an unbonded concrete overlay based on a minimum thickness of an inch and a half. We set up the coping as a separate pour in order to be able to finish the vertical poolside edge in a more controlled manner. This procedure created the look of individual coping tiles and also honored the different substrate. All cracks, repairs and pour abutments were covered with an isolation membrane and additional reinforcement. The remaining area of the pool deck was then resurfaced with our integrally colored concrete.

This concrete was then stamped to create cast in place concrete tiles guaranteed not to delaminate. This random patterned resurfacing technique relies on excessive internal reinforcement, both three-dimensionally and horizontally. We used 2 1/4-inch fibers from Forta Fiber and 3/4-inch PVA fibers from Nycon. The 1/2-inch steel reinforcing rod and wire mesh were purchased locally.







Stamped impressions were made in the concrete with the old style concrete stamps and hand chisels. We rolled on a texture to create a slip resistant surface and enhance the visual appeal. The entire area was ground with a rubbing stone to eliminate any sharp edges and to make the concrete comfortable for barefoot traffic. This concrete was mixed on-site by a four-man crew. With the addition of Anti-Hydro in the mix, we create a product that is moisture-impermeable, extremely durable and guaranteed not to delaminate.

Concrete Restoration Contest, Interior winner: In the artisan's words



Here's more about the 2010 Concrete Restoration Contest winner in the Interior category - in the artisan's own words.

First Place, Interior: Premier Veneers, Frankfort, Ill.
Project: Soccer Madness, Buffalo Grove, Ill.

by Jeff Donius
This flooring project is a new sporting goods store in Buffalo Grove, Ill., called Soccer Madness. It is a 2,650-square-foot existing concrete floor in a retail shopping plaza under renovation and restoration for the new owners to use the storefront. The maintenance company employed by the plaza owners was not properly equipped to do the specialized work, so they allowed the new tenants and owners of the store to hire a concrete flooring specialist to do this work.

The owners called my company, Premier Veneers, of Frankfort, Ill., for an on-site consultation to determine what work would be involved in the renovation and restoration. I performed the consultation, including an evaluation of the adhesive on the floor, the depth, and the best means of removal. The owners knew they wanted the look of acid stain, but they didn't know how to achieve it, realizing the state of the concrete floor could be compromised during the adhesive removal process.





During the consultation, I ground off some adhesive with a handheld grinder. I found yellow, water-based carpet glue on the surface, with black, solvent-based, cutback adhesive underneath. I determined the most efficient method of removing the adhesive to be a 220-volt walk-behind grinder with polycrystalline diamond cutters (PCDs) and then 20-grit L-segmented diamond discs for the interior of the floor, followed by a handheld grinder around the walls with a 24-grit ZEC sanding disc and then a 40-grit segmented, diamond turbo cup.

It also became apparent that the floor would require extensive concrete repair. The repairs would be best made by using an epoxy mortar and fiber-reinforced grout, followed by a cement overlay that would not only hide the repairs, but cover the exposed aggregate from grinding, and provide a new surface for staining. After the consultation, I told the owners I would prepare an overlay sample board so they could envision the final appearance of the floor. The owners approved the overlay board and hired me for the project.



I spent three days grinding the adhesive off the floor. This meant two days with a 230-volt, single phase, walk-behind Terrco concrete floor grinder, combined with a Blastrac dust containment system, to remove the adhesive on the interior of the floor, and one day with a Porter-Cable Flex handheld grinder to remove the adhesive along the walls, and to remove remaining, recessed areas of hard-troweled concrete that couldn't be reached by the walk-behind grinder. These hard-troweled areas were too dense to allow for proper adhesion of the overlay.

After grinding the concrete, I filled three isolation joints on the floor with a semirigid epoxy mortar from Sika, then applied a fiber/rubber flexible cement membrane from Mapei over the surface to absorb and deflect any settlement movement from below and to prevent the overlay from cracking. Later, the styrene butadiene adhesive in the cement overlay would help to absorb and deflect any additional subsurface movement.

I also ground out several nails, screws, bolts, and pieces of metal attached to the floor with a Metabo 4-inch angle grinder and carbide cutoff wheel. I filled in the remaining recessed areas with another epoxy mortar from Sika and a fast-setting cement from CTS Cement. Finally, I coated the corners of the project space, where the adhesive was difficult to remove, with an epoxy saturated with silica sand to provide further traction for the overlay. I also used a water-tolerant epoxy to coat areas of the floor near the entrances of the storefront that wouldn't dry due to snow-related moisture.

Once the concrete repairs were done, I acid-etched and neutralized the floor to remove leftover dust from grinding and to dampen the substrate so that the overlay could dry slowly and draw additional moisture for hydration. The etching process helps to ensure proper bonding and long-term durability of an overlay. Once the acid etching was done, I used an electronic pH meter from IQ Scientific Instruments to test the pH. The resulting values were approximately 7.2 on average.

I then applied two skim coats of a natural colored cement overlay from Decosup. Each of these two layers was applied at a depth of approximately 3/32 inch. These two layers were intended to provide durability and hardness to the overlay system. Once these layers dried, I applied a white microtopping to the system at a depth of 1/16 inch, to provide a high-content cement surface for the staining portion of the project. In all, the entire overlay system turned out to be approximately ¼ inch thick.

Next, I sanded the microtopping with a rotary floor machine from Oreck, using 100-grit silicon carbide sanding screens from Norton Abrasives. This revealed part of the natural colored overlays and created a two-tone surface that would intensify the marbling effect of the stain. I also recut the control joints, and did additional saw-cutting to create an overall rectangular tile pattern that would incorporate the control joints into the overall design. The hardest part of the whole overlay process was using fiberglass plastic dividers (8 by 2) in all of the saw cuts so that they would not be completely filled in with cement.

The owners wanted two colors on the floor: gold and Jacobean brown. I accomplished this by using two different colors of stain from a single manufacturer: an amber and walnut from EZChem USA. I started with a base coat of amber diluted 2 to 1 with water, a second coat of walnut three hours later at 8 to 1, and then four more coats of amber and walnut three hours apart at varying mixes and dilutions. I used pump-up sprayers from RL Flomaster, changing nozzles and tips several times in the process. Overall, the project required only three gallons of stain. After the stained dried overnight, I rinsed and neutralized the floor with a warm solution of ammonia and water.

This time when I tested the pH, the values were approximately the same: 7.2. This accuracy was important because of the type of sealer I used, a water-based epoxy from Decosup. Water-based epoxies will not properly cure or adhere at pHs above 7.5. I applied three coats of this water-based epoxy with an 18-inch roller cage and 3/8-inch roller covers from Midwest Rake, allowing for dry times of 12 to 13 hours in between. I was forced to use the water-based epoxy because of the confined breathing space of the project, the restaurant next door, and the desired sheen and gloss of the floor.







I applied the epoxy in thin, even, uniform applications. Water-based sealers go down milky white in appearance and do not clear up, if applied more than about 2 mm in thickness. But here was still a problem with blushing by the front and rear entrances of the store because of the cold winter temperatures, moisture from condensation, and icy near the floor. I worked around these problems by using fans to dry these floor areas and then dry the water in the sealer quickly.

Finally, I applied four coats of a high-solids floor polish from Spartan Chemical, called On an' On, to bring a higher gloss and optical clarity to the stained concrete and to ensure that the sealer on the floor would not be scratched or damaged by customers, workers, or delivery personnel. Using this polish from Spartan, the new floor of this store could also be easily cleaned and maintained by the owners so as to last indefinitely.





The overall renovation and restoration of the floor took 18 days and went completely according to plan. This once structurally deficient concrete floor, laden with adhesive, is now the beautiful foundation and backdrop for this successful sporting goods store in Buffalo Grove, Ill. My company, Premier Veneers, performed every element of the renovation and restoration: evaluation and assessment (3 days), cleaning and renovation (3 days), concrete repairs (2 days), cement resurfacing (5 days), and stain and sealing (5 days).



In this last picture, you can see how well decorated and organized the entire store is. This store is a good example of how the ancient Eastern art of feng shui can be incorporated into the architecture and construction of American buildings to bring harmony and peace to a business. Feng shui has grown greatly in popularity in the Western world over the last 33 years, and its principles are now mainstream in American architectural and design, and the world of corporate consulting.

Growing up in a family business: One decorative contractor’s story



Domenic Mattei is owner of Custom DesignCrete Inc., in Crescent, Pa., and a fan of Concrete Decor magazine. He has chosen to share his story with us (along with a photo of some top-notch work), and we're passing it along to you. We hope it inspires you. Enjoy!

Growing Up in a Family Business
By Domenic Mattei

Wanting to work within a family business is challenging to say the least, especially when the business is concrete construction. The dynamics of any family are complex, but when you throw concrete into the mix, a whole new perspective on the word "family" comes into play.

Even some of my earliest memories have concrete at their foundation. Sitting at the dinner table I used to smooth out my mashed potatoes as if they were a newly poured concrete slab. Most of the dinner conversations were interrupted by the phone ringing and usually ended with my father (who is my hero) talking but mostly yelling at the person on the other end.

Every summer I used to beg him to take me on a "ride-along" so we could visit the various job sites that the company he owned, Aspen Construction and Concrete, was responsible for. This was a treat for me because at an early age, I was exposed to a world that most people are not privy to. Concrete mixers, pump trucks, and guys nicknamed "Moose" were the norm. I was even privileged enough to attend the 1979 World of Concrete in Atlanta, Ga.

As time went by, my interests in ride-alongs turned to actually wanting to become one of the crew.

Well, I got my wish; at the ripe old age of 13 years I finally had convinced my father I was ready to work as one of the crew members. I remember my first day vividly, standing in a ditch with a shovel without a clue as to what to do. After some tutelage from my uncle -- well, not so much a tutorial but an all out extremely stern lesson -- I understood I wasn't in Kansas anymore. This was my whole summer, getting yelled at by everyone and learning some choice words that a 13-year-old should not know.

Even if I wanted to sleep in for an extra five minutes, I couldn't. All my father had to do was walk eight feet to my room. Believe me, this was enough motivation for me to start my day.

As time passed and the summers went by I became more proficient at each task. Learning how to operate equipment and finishing concrete were quite the life experiences. Working within a family-operated business is also very rewarding, although I didn't think so when I was told I was working overtime on a Friday night without any warning!

With the insights of my past, I can incorporate the lessons I have learned as I continue on a family tradition, owning my own concrete company. Operating a business is a daunting task but with the work ethic and drive that was instilled into me at an early age, I'm sure success will follow. My father has since retired to Florida, and I sure do miss seeing him on a daily basis. He was my mentor, and to this day, when I find myself confronted by a troubling business problem, I think about what he might do in that situation and his wisdom usually sheds a positive light.

Well, I guess not all family-operated concrete businesses were run with as much color as my father's, but I suspect a great deal of them are similar.

Now it may seem that my experiences were all bad, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I was fortunate to learn the greatest business in the world from a master. The lessons my father taught are priceless. My greatest wish is to run a business with the integrity and success that my father would expect.

With the lessons that I have learned from my past, I certainly do incorporate the word "family" into my business philosophy.

As I sit hear trying to think of ways to tie my past lessons into my current business philosophy, I am sidetracked with the lack of craftsmanship that is hurting this whole industry.

Let me begin to explain -- with the economy being as it is today and fuel prices eating away at any profits, I am forced to rely on our local cement masons' union to earn a living since our work volume has decreased due to the economic downturn.

As I venture from job site to job site working for several different contractors, I am physically sickened by the lack of enthusiasm -- or should I say, craftsmanship -- when it comes to installing a quality slab of concrete.

There is virtually no organization on any of the job sites. Sometimes, there aren't even sufficient tools to install a floor slab. Who ever heard of only having two straight edges when there are six or seven cement masons on the job?

And when it comes to placing concrete with a pump truck, I just have to laugh, because this can be a real fiasco. Recently I was involved with a floor pour of 90 yards that needed to be pumped in place due to the proximity of the floor slab. Normally a pour of this size would only take two to three hours to place and maybe four to five hours to finish. Well. this was not the case in this instance. We started pumping at 8:30 a.m. and did not finish screeding off the slab until 4:30 p.m. (Please keep in mind the starting time was 6:30 a.m.) This was a case of the wrong supplier, the wrong pump company and a project manager setting up this disaster. To actually explain why some of this occurred is a topic for another day.

While sitting at my desk writing this article, I realize that the way I was taught in this business is the right way. I may not have realized this at the time I was being screamed at, but I sure do appreciate it now.

I believe that organization is the key to any business, especially the concrete industry. Not wasting any moves and surrounding yourself with quality personnel are the other two ingredients for success. Concrete is a specialty trade and treating it with a sense of urgency is essential for success.

As a business owner, I am forced on a daily basis to stay three to four steps ahead of everything just in order to survive. I believe that this all comes from the three key components: organization, efficiency, and surrounding yourself with quality personnel that share the same goals as the company.

The work ethic that I was born with is the driving force behind my business philosophy today. I wholeheartedly believe that tradition and a strong work ethic is what motivates me today. I sure am thankful that the older generation taught me the right way, because striving for anything less than perfection would be unacceptable.

Writing this article has forced me to think back to when I started in this business, and I am thankful for all of the lessons that my father taught me. Always do your best, and you always have to wake up early every morning and work as hard as you can. This is a simple recipe, but I think it is one that we all should follow.

(On a side note, I would like to dedicate this article to my father, Domenic Sr., and thank him for teaching me all that I know!)

The work of Domenic Mattei and his company, Custom DesignCrete Inc., can be viewed online at his Web site.

ASCC Decorative Concrete Council: 2010 Concrete Artistry award winners

The Decorative Concrete Council, a specialty council of the American Society of Concrete Contractors, announced the winners of its second annual decorative concrete awards competition at World of Concrete, Las Vegas.

Here are the winners for Concrete Artistry -- More Than 1,500 Square Feet:

1st Place: T.B. Penick & Sons Inc., San Diego, Calif.. for San Elijo Nature Center








2nd Place: Bay Area Concretes Inc., Livermore, Calif., for Del Monte Shopping Center, Fountain Plaza





More 2010 award winners, including the WOW! Award winner for best overall project, can be found in our Online Exclusives and Breaking News blogs.

ASCC Decorative Concrete Council: Polished, cast-in-place award winners

The Decorative Concrete Council, a specialty council of the American Society of Concrete Contractors, announced the winners of its second annual decorative concrete awards competition at World of Concrete, Las Vegas.

Here are the winners in the Polished and Cast-in-place categories:

Cast-In-Place/Special Finishes -- More Than 1,500 Square Feet

1st Place: Bay Area Concretes Inc., Livermore, Calif., for Fillmore Center Plaza (this project also won the WOW! Award for best overall project).






2nd Place: Bay Area Concretes Inc., Livermore, Calif., for Del Monte Shopping Center, Fountain Plaza






Polished -- More Than 1,500 Square Feet

1st Place: Colorado Hardscapes, Inc., Denver, Colo., for Colorado Mountain College Summit Campus








2nd Place: Hyde Concrete, Annapolis, Md., for Wallace Presbyterian Church







Polished -- Less Than 1,500 Square Feet

1st Place: Angus McMillan Concrete, Mayfair Hastings, New Zealand, for Plus Rehab Taradale







Cast-In-Place/Stamped -- More Than 1,500 Square Feet

1st Place: Hyde Concrete, Annapolis, Md., for Srour Apartments






2nd Place: Rowland Concrete Services, Tottenham, Ontario, Canada for Inman Residence









Cast-In-Place/Stamped -- Less Than 1,500 Square Feet

1st Place: Lloyd Concrete Services Inc., Forest, Va., for Lloyd Residence Steps





More 2010 award winners, including the WOW! Award winner for best overall project, can be found in our Online Exclusives and Breaking News blogs.

ASCC Decorative Concrete Council: More 2010 award winners

The Decorative Concrete Council, a specialty council of the American Society of Concrete Contractors, announced the winners of its second annual decorative concrete awards competition at World of Concrete, Las Vegas.

Here are some of the winners:

Overlays/Spray Texture -- More Than 1,500 Square Feet

1st Place: Sundek of Austin, Austin, Texas, for Austin 360 Building







Stained -- More Than 1,500 Square Feet

1st Place: CSolutions, Atlanta, Ga., for Boys and Girls Club






2nd Place: CSolutions, Atlanta, Ga., for Railroad Depot, Stone Mountain Park







Stenciled -- More Than 1,500 Square Feet

1st Place: Sundek of Washington, Chantilly, Va., for Omni Shoreham Hotel





Vertical Application

1st Place: Deco Illusions LLC, Roanoke, Indiana for Cool Waves






2nd Place: Palatial Development Corp., Calverton, N.Y., for Loscalzo





Overlays/Stamped -- More Than 1,500 Square Feet

1st Place: Sun Surfaces of Orlando, Winter Garden, Fla., for The Vineyard Wine Co.








2nd Place: Sundek of Washington, Chantilly, Va., for Maryanne Everett Residence







Overlays//Stamped -- Less Than 1,500 Square Feet

1st Place: Rowland Concrete Services, Tottenham, Ontario, Canada, for William Residence Wine Room






Winners in the Concrete Artistry, Polished and Cast-in-place categories were announced in other Online Exclusives blog posts.

The WOW! Award for best overall project went to Bay Area Concretes Inc. for the Fillmore Center Plaza. View images of this project in our Breaking News blog.

State-of-the-art lab takes acid stain



From Concrete Coatings Inc.: Nelson Laboratories, based in Taylorsville, Utah, specializes in microbiology testing for the medical device, pharmaceutical, and dietary supplement industries. When looking to remodel their facilities, they turned to acid staining.

Nelson contracted with Lepore Custom Coatings, of Syracuse, Utah, to apply the acid stain. The project included 7,400 square feet of patio and dining space and 17,000 square feet in laboratories and commons areas. Project manager Michael Lawton used Concrete Coatings' VIVID Acid Stain in Mahogany to achieve a deep rustic color.

To attain a high-gloss, epoxy-looking finish on a tight budget, Lepore Custom Coatings applied Concrete Coatings' SuperSeal 2000 acrylic sealer with multiple coats of DuraWax. The results were a classic, rustic floor with a very high-gloss sheen.




Faux koi pond at Children's Museum of Phoenix

The massive decorative concrete project at the Children's Museum of Phoenix continues. These shots come courtesy of Andrew Watt of Crossfield Products. Note the difference in texture between "water" and "stone" -- eye-popping stuff.





The transformation is scheduled for completion to coincide with the Concrete Decor Show & Decorative Concrete Spring Training, March 16-19 in Phoenix.

If you want to learn more about the Children's Museum, here's where you ought to look.

Floating stairs and more at a Silicon Valley mansion

A three-story, 15,000-square-foot home nearing completion in the wealthy town of Los Altos Hills, Calif., is enjoying the decorative concrete treatment courtesy of Dave Pettigrew and his Capitola, Calif., outfit, Diamond D Concrete.

Pettigrew has installed several countertops in the mansion, all made with his signature bland of cement, silica sand and integral glass, and he's also stained floors. Perhaps most impressively, he's installed floating concrete stairways in two light wells at the house.





Each step of each stairway was cast in place, step by step, using a network of scaffolding. Formwork shaped steps that were 5 1/2 inches at one end, 3 inches at the other, and steel holds them in place. The initial plan called for precasting the steps, but they would have weighed 170 pounds each, Pettigrew says.




The stairs are stained with an auburn-colored acid stain that Pettigrew has custom-made for him by a chemist. Pettigrew turns to this chemist for many of his decorative concrete materials.






An outdoor BBQ table was created with cement, glass materials and shell fossils. An acid stain treatment colored the grout lines around each piece of glass, a contrast with the color visible through the glass pieces.






A "candy counter" was cast with cement and glass, but contains no rock or sand. It's in an entry room that leads to a 30-seat home theater in the basement. Pettigrew says his glass-based countertops are relatively good at resisting some foods, such as wine, that damage cementitious counters. "You don't have so seal them as much. Sealers cause me to get callback after callback after callback."








Floors in the house were inlaid with radiant heating, microtopped, troweled to get the swirly finish, and stained.






Pettigrew also delivered a counter made out of gray pigmented cement and clear glass for a back bar. The clear glass telegraphs the color of the cement throughout the piece.


Once his work at the house is finished (within the month) Pettigrew will be supplying Concrete Decor with more photos of Diamond D's work at this house. Watch for them.

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