Concrete Decor's Current Articles

There are a lot of questions that don’t always have easy answers. Fortunately, plenty of people have headed out in different directions within the concrete industry and found the journey has taken them to a pretty good place.

Exposed aggregate concrete is a decorative concrete look that will enhance the curb appeal of driveways, pool decks, sidewalks and patios. It’s achieved when the top layer of concrete has been removed to expose the rocks underneath.

The more things change the more they stay the same. This is an adage I’ve heard my entire life without ever really giving it any serious thought. What does it even mean? Well, in the context of this article let’s take a closer look.

A stupa is one of the most venerable icons in Buddhism. It's a structure steeped in symbolism, and building or maintaining one is said to bring a person close to enlightenment.

Identifying some of the basic building blocks of polishing and examine them in terms of “myth” or “accurate perception.”

Texas Christian University’s football program has emerged as a national power over the past few years, and for a smallish university (enrollment under 10,000) that’s quite an accomplishment. It stands to reason that a big-time football program would want to play in a big-time stadium.

The one universal truth about the polished concrete industry is that, sadly enough, there is no universal truth. We don’t agree about what defines polished concrete, what steps are important, or what is the best way to steer the industry.

Years ago, Cindee Lundin took a leave of absence from her job as a preschool teacher and enrolled at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota to work on her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. She already had two associate degrees — one in art and the other in child development. It was there that her passion to pursue art full time began.

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.

Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue under the flag of Spain, a country ruled in the 15th century by the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. But do you know what nation Columbus called home?

Not that tough on the scale of trivia challenges, right? Columbus hailed from Genoa, now part of Italy.

As we come out of the winter, I always deal with multiple polishing projects where the concrete was placed during cold temperatures. Although there are ACI standards for cold-weather placements, I still experience quite a few slabs that have issues related to cold weather.

Many contractors believe that their workmanship will sell itself, but too often, they depend on referrals. Decorative concrete contractors are artisans, not necessarily salespeople.

One of the glitches of combining glass aggregate with portland cement is that the combination may trigger alkali-silica reaction (ASR).

When raw soil or aggregate needs to be compacted before a pour, what do decorative concrete contractors use to pound the ground? Rollers are too much machine for smaller jobs. So generally, the choice is between rammers and vibratory plate compactors.

I think we can all agree we’d be happy if the decorative concrete industry were bigger. You know, if the pie were just a little bit bigger. What are we doing as an industry to positively influence the decorative market? What are you doing as a contractor, material supplier or manufacturer to help grow the pie?

Do you remember the last time you saw a hashtag? Chances are it was in the last hour but at least sometime today, and it may not have even been on a social network. Hashtags are everywhere these days, from your favorite TV show to highway billboards. As such, they can and should be a part of your social media strategy. The key is using them effectively.

When installing a metallic epoxy system, urethane can be detrimental to a project’s outcome or a welcome addition to its success.

DP-600 Concrete Repair products from 3M offer a fast way for concrete repair people to get their fill.