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.
When weary travelers pull or carry their bags across the plaza and into one of the lobbies of the Consolidated Rental Car Center at Lindbergh Field at the airport in San Diego, they probably won’t give much thought to the decorative concrete and terrazzo beneath their feet.
Jason Geiser, owner of Deco-Crete Supply in Orrville, Ohio, thought a broad, sloping hill at his three children’s new school needed something to transform it from a virtually unusable space to an inviting outdoor classroom. He and the school officials came up with a project that revolved around Geiser building an amphitheater.
Portland cement consists primarily of calcium silicates. When mixed with water, a chemical reaction known as hydration creates calcium silicate hydrate (CSH). Needle-like crystals of CSH interlock to hold concrete together, almost like a glue.
There were even unbelievable benefits from a concrete contractor’s standpoint. As Singapore is near the equator, temperatures are very stable and don’t typically swing much or swing quickly. It’s also quite humid. What this meant, from a concreter’s standpoint, was great latitude as to contraction joints.
Just because a slab requires control joints doesn’t mean the joints have to be straight. Here’s how to bend them to your will.
Sure, radiant-heated concrete is warm and comfortable. But before you get too comfortable, there are underlayments, insulation and other factors to consider.
Place decorative aggregate by hand instead of mixing it in, and beauty is just a stone’s throw away.
As a child, who wasn’t thrilled to see the wood forms come out indicating a new sidewalk, driveway or even basement was about to be poured? Today, we know concrete can do so much more, and certainly the forms that helped shape it have changed, too.
Have you come across clients who are considering polished, stamped or stained concrete flooring, but who hesitate because concrete is a naturally cold surface?
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.
