Did you ever have to install a pool deck with an aggressive pattern and then worry about cracking or breaking the fiberglass diving board mount because you were unable to set the mount on a smooth and level surface?
Concrete Placing
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.
How an Elegant Radius Staircase Was Created Step by Step
A play by play on an exquisite set of radius steps that was connected to a 3,000 square foot veranda outside a 21,000 square foot home.
Slip Resistance for Concrete Flooring
Make your concrete surfaces not only beautiful but safe to walk on as well.
Decorative Concrete Tips: Reducing Random Cracking Through Preparation
The creation of a high quality concrete job starts with proper sub-base compaction. Generally speaking, a minimum of 4-inch rock sub-base is required to support the concrete slab cast on grade. The rock sub-base should provide uniform support to the slab without any soft spots.
Kwik-Top: Polymer-modified Cement Specially Formulated to Renew Concrete
Kwik-Top, from Versatile Building Products, is a polymer-modified cement specially formulated to renew concrete. It can be used to apply broom, troweled, knockdown or orange peel finishes over driveways, sidewalks, pool decks, patios or any other floor surface.
A Primer on Polymer Cement: An In-Depth Look at the Basics
The use of polymer-modified cement products in the decorative concrete industry is common practice. Unfortunately, these products are also commonly misunderstood. What they are, how they work, what they do — “There are a lot of misconceptions about polymers,” observes Stan Stratton, director of technology development at L.M. Scofield’s West […]
Coloring Concrete in Winter Weather
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.
Forging A Bond: An Overview of Bonding Agents in Decorative Concrete
Bonding agents are a widely debated family of products. Some concrete contractors will tell you they have a favorite bonding agent, one that they use almost exclusively. Others say they evaluate every job and develop a unique solution, drawing from a wide range of products. And there are some contractors who swear by the oldest bonding agent of them all, simply using a mixture of portland cement and water.
Artistic Solution Prevents Skateboard Damage
After Tom Ralston Concrete recently finished a handsome concrete wall for the Pacific Gardens Chapel in Santa Cruz, Calif., local skateboarders promptly began to destroy it while practicing their “railing” and jumping techniques. Tom Ralston got to work creating a unique and attractive solution.
Creating Unique Concrete Form Liners
From skate parks to highway barriers, concrete walls are taking on a new look. Rather than monstrous monoliths of flat concrete looming on the horizon, extraordinary three-dimensional creations are popping up in cities and suburbs, along highways and beaches, next to mountains and in deserts — as one-of-a-kind works of art.







