The world's foremost magazine on decorative concrete
Instead of pouring concrete, concrete installers place concrete where they want it to go. And there are right ways and wrong ways to do this.
Although most perceive concrete as a dry dense substance, the inherently porous material more closely resembles a hard sponge. Microscopic voids and capillaries make up much of concrete’s matrix. As the material is poured and placed, these voids allow air and moisture to flow through it. This could lead to […]
When properly installed, concrete is one of the most durable and long-lasting products construction pros can use. When used as finished flooring, concrete should have control joints saw cut into its surface shortly after placement. Control joints can be thought of as deliberate cracks cut into concrete floors. They allow […]
Concrete is one of the most durable building materials on the market. However, there are many factors that come into play when maximizing concrete’s strength and longevity. In fact, the steps taken after pouring the concrete have just as much impact on its durability as the concrete mix design and […]
Work on Globe Life Field — the Texas Rangers’ brand-new retractable-roof baseball ballpark in Arlington, Texas — was nearing completion when BEAM Concrete Construction, the decorative concrete subcontractor, hit a snag, color-matching concrete. Try as it might, the company couldn’t produce integrally colored concrete that would match the expanse placed […]
Twenty-first century methodology, with its advanced tools and state-of-the-art technology, has successfully constructed today’s looming cities. With skyscrapers growing taller by the day and buildings getting fancier, we’re neglecting the generation of an enormous pile of construction scrap in the form of concrete waste. Here are some benefits of concrete […]
ASTM has established a new standard for glass pozzolans, ASTM C1866/C1866M-20, that covers two chemistries of glass, soda lime and E glass. Soda lime, which is used to make bottles and windows, is called Type GS. The other chemistry is E glass, made from glass fiber used for reinforcements, called […]
All concrete cracks, but still it’s the most used paving material in the world. Why does it crack? And what steps can you take when preparing for concrete cracks? For those of us in the industry, we know why but explaining that to an owner who just paid a bunch […]
Photos courtesy of Drakeley Industries Decorative shotcrete is not a physical product. It cannot be touched or held in your hand. Shotcrete is a process or verb. It is the action of placing concrete to achieve high strengths and low permeability. Shotcrete is defined by the American Concrete Institute’s ACI […]
Transforming more than 5,500 square feet of flooring surfaces, creating a vertical sculpture and constructing a waterfall is no small task, especially when the majority of the work is done over just two days. However, that’s exactly what happened at SAY Sí, a teen art center in San Antonio, Texas. […]
Decorative concrete contractor Michael Dahl talks about how one company, Airspeed Skateparks, incorporated decorative concrete into the design of their skateparks. Creating a unique place for skateboarders and a unique piece of art was all part of the plan.developing the theme for this skatepark.
