Concrete Decor's Current Articles

The 2019 World of Concrete has been held, and it topped the charts as the largest show in more than a decade. The annual extravaganza for the concrete and masonry industries attracted 60,511 attendees and more than 1,500 exhibiting companies spanning 776,800 square feet of space in the Las Vegas Convention Center in January 2019.

The issue of blisters and pin holes occurring on the surface of cast-in-place concrete and resin-based coatings and sealers is well documented, but surprisingly very little is published regarding the same issues in decorative overlays.

Shawn Halverson, CEO of Surfacing Solutions Inc.in Temecula, California, talks about the time some years ago when he took a break from construction after working in the structural concrete industry for about 21 years, beginning in the mid-1970s. Then, this phenomenon called decorative concrete emerged as a major player in the trade, and Halverson became intrigued.

Concrete is unforgiving. Surface defects and poor workmanship issues on stamped and textured concrete are difficult to repair, and in many cases there are no viable repair options.

In concrete construction, as in society today in general, being green is hip. And part of being green includes recycling. Recycling materials: Collapsed L.A. freeways are demolished, stripped of reinforcing steel, and crushed, to rise again as an aggregate component in their replacements.

Plenty of people can work with concrete and make functional and aesthetically pleasing interior and exterior structures. A skatepark, however, is a different animal. In addition to having a sound structural plan and fresh features, a great park needs a crew that understands motion.

Architecture and Design announced last week that a carbon-based concrete additive won the Civil Contractors Federation environment award. The technology uses carbon nanotubes to give concrete a flexural strength 200 to 300 times that of steel.

Penicillin, popsicles and the pacemaker are all great inventions that were created by accident. Now it’s time to add another one to that list: Glo-Kote from Super-Krete International Inc.

To make your concrete more distinctive, learn to think out of the box. The trick is to make your work unique and true to you. Put a signature on it.

Choosing the right mixer for casting countertops, sinks and the like is an important element of getting the results you want. The mixer must deliver a workable and consistent mix, in the quantity you need, at a speed that allows you to work profitably.

Julio Hallack isn’t really a magician. Still, what else can you call a contractor who pulls off the nearly impossible: completing a 25,000-square-foot pool deck restoration for the ritzy Claremont Hotel Club & Spa while the facility remained open?

One of the largest decorative concrete companies in the country is still finding plenty of room to grow.

Cleanliness is a definite selling point with water-blasting. Unlike shot blasting or grinding, it can be done in occupied spaces because a high- volume vacuum almost instantly removes the water and debris.

Consider the broom finish. Because steel trowel finishes are “slippery when wet,” the broom finish has been used for years to create nonskid surfaces on driveways, garage floors, sidewalks and loading docks. It’s not necessarily pretty, but it works — it’s a utilitarian texture.

Cross-pollination is one of my favorite concepts to think about. (Isn’t it odd that one could have so much time on their hands!) It’s when an idea or a product from one industry is taken and used in an entirely new way by a person from outside that industry. The person from outside the industry sees the idea or product from a totally different perspective — and also has his or her own set of unique talents to add to the process.

Question: The last two times I have acid stained existing, untreated, basement concrete floors, I’ve unintentionally created footprints in the acid stain finish. I didn’t create them by walking across the wet stain, as I always use spiked sandals when I apply stain.

Faster than a concrete finisher but more powerful than a cementitious overlay. It is able to cover surfaces with only one coat. It’s Spray-Top, a super new product from Concrete Solutions Inc.

The polished concrete industry has been plagued with a slew of maintenance systems that confuse and aggravate end users of polished concrete. Many suppliers of tools, equipment, chemicals and cleaning products rush to offer systems of maintenance, none of them adequately tested or proven.