Concrete Decor's Current Articles

Using recycled and natural material, artisan Cindee Lundin worked her magic once again during Decorative Concrete LIVE! at the 2019 World of Concrete.

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.

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.

The best training and the best products mean nothing if we can't find projects to prove our talent, right? I'm not going to sugarcoat our plight - I have been peddling decorative concrete for nearly 20 years and have never seen as many challenges as the ones we face today. Having said that, my goal is to have the best year possible, and I'm going to let you in on a secret as to how this will be done.

Along the Willamette River's eastern shore, where it cuts through the heart of Portland, Ore., there stretches a long walkway, a favorite spot for locals to run or ride along the riverfront.

There are many regions where the weather does not seem winterlike but is cold enough to affect concrete placement. This is where cold-weather placement practices become very important. Not following the rules because it does not seem that cold potentially leads to concrete that is weak and substandard.

Sometime in the early 1980s, a concrete contractor named Ed Chiuminatta pulled the wheels off a board and attached them to a Skilsaw. The result? A saw blade that could roll across green concrete, slicing a control joint in a fraction of the time it would take to carve the groove by hand.

Polishing concrete, not unlike other new industries, begged, borrowed and stole from others in its infancy. Equipment came from the surface prep, stone restoration and cleaning industries, and as one can imagine, nothing was a perfect fit. It is still evolving today, but here is a look at where it came from.

Nathan Giffin's Vertical Artisans hosted its second weeklong teraining at its West Coast Training Center, an underground "hobbit house" in Lorane, Ore.

Let’s face it, working concrete is a hard job. It’s hard on the hands, the back and especially the knees. Fortunately, for some contractors there’s an option that allows them to stand upright and still complete their jobs.

Our economy has taken a dive into the deep end, affecting some regions more than others, but generally affecting us all. So now is a good time to reflect on what exactly polished concrete is, and where polished concrete came from.

Chris Rousseau, manager of Hotwire Direct, shared with us his experience making a nicely molded concrete chair with the help of one of his company’s performance CNC foam-cutting machines. He measured different parts of his body to dial in the chair’s measurements and banged it out in just about 24 hours.

ConScape Inc., a commercial, architectural and decorative concrete firm in Fort Worth, Texas, seemed like a godsend to the parishioners. With decorative concrete as its intervention, the company transformed part of the church’s landscape from a tired terrain into a radiant and peaceful panorama.

Nanotechnology is everywhere. It seems to be the new buzzword in the decorative concrete industry. Now, nanotechnology has become the magic ingredient in any number of sealers, coatings and stains. I This article explores exactly what nanotechnology is and what benefits it brings to the decorative industry.

Decorative concrete makeovers make ideal pro bono projects. A recent press release from Concrete Coatings Inc. describes a perfect example, in which contractors donated time, labor and materials to improve a northern Utah retreat camp for kids facing challenging circumstances.

Looks are just about everything when it comes to a decorative concrete company’s website, so make sure you have quality images that will help drum up business.

If you’re new to sawing concrete, or if your business only requires you to do the work occasionally, you might want to acquaint yourself with the Blade Application Code for Diamond Saw Blades from the Concrete Sawing and Drilling Association based in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Decorative Concrete Council, a specialty council of the American Society of Concrete Contractors, recognized the winners of its ninth annual Decorative Concrete Awards competition Jan. 17 at the World of Concrete in Las Vegas.