The world's foremost resource on decorative concrete
Concrete’s natural color can be altered with powder or liquid stains, dyes and colored hardeners, as well as aggregates such as ground glass and stone.
Acid-stained concrete has been popular for decades. The process of acid staining is well documented, as are the key precautionary items to look for before and during application. Thanks to real-world experience, continuing education and better specifications, issues with acid stains have been greatly reduced.
Surface Gel Tek (SGT) has introduced a new process called Flattooing, the art of tattooing images into flat concrete surfaces. The Flattoo process uses Flattoos — vinyl adhesive designs — and Tek Gel for Stenciling Micro Etch.
There is a famous paperback called “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White. Many writers treasure it as a guide to writing clearly and succinctly while avoiding common grammatical errors. The handbook itself is a model of clarity.
Robert Salinas, 58, jokes that he has 50 years of concrete experience. That’s not too far off from the truth, because as a youngster he recalls helping to place concrete for the pool company his uncle and father worked at in San Antonio, Texas.
Contractors, construction companies, architects and designers are eligible to submit, and projects are judged on skill of installation, creativity, artistic expression and integration with the overall design intent.
Colored release powder is a blend of pigments and hydrophobic (water-resistant) powders. Release powder’s primary purpose is to allow stamping tools to release cleanly from the concrete surface without sticking.
Terry Keener Jr. of TNT Resurfacing Concrete in Lodi, California, helped oversee the decorative transition of a children’s hair salon in Chico, California. When he started the job, the salon’s existing 1,900-square-foot floor was vinyl composite tile.
Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, often makes it onto lists of the nation’s most livable cities. But for a slab of concrete, Overland Park is a bad place to be.
I got into acid staining as an extension of my former life as a painter on canvas. In fact my earliest works were not on canvas, but on hardboard panels mounted on stretcher bars and coated with plaster of Paris.
Standing alone, a color is amoral — entirely relative to what surrounds it. This extends not only to the colored border around your design, but also to the walls and ceilings in your peripheral vision when you glance at the floor.
