The world's foremost resource on decorative concrete
“The house looked a lot like a barn,” says Wells, 36, owner of Wells Concrete Works in Los Osos, California. “The clients kept some of the old architecture and appliances and fixtures inside and out. With the outside kitchen they wanted to be able to come back from the beach and entertain lots of people.”
It all started when I got a call from interior designer Julie Doran. Been a long time. Where you been? “Second career as a flight attendant, third career as a full-time mom. Now, I’m back into design.” What’s up? “Got a new client. I’m designing a tricked-out outdoor kitchen. I think you may be just the guy to do the countertops.”
Looking at it today, it’s hard to imagine that the focal point of the Weiner family’s backyard used to be a $300 aboveground swimming pool from Walmart. Now, the award-winning residential resort is more in line with the likes of Neiman Marcus with its outdoor kitchen, water slide, conversation area with fire pit, and concrete swimming pool and spa with a Baja shelf, two in-pool tables and a shaded pavilion.
The Concrete Promotional Group of Greater Kansas City has announced its annual Excellence in Concrete Awards. The awards recognize outstanding work in concrete construction in the greater Kansas City area, comprised of parts of Missouri and Kansas.
Decorative concrete is more than an occupation or a career for Cory Hanneman. It gave him direction at a time when he needed a compass.
As for Hileman’s original vision of using actual coco logs in construction, remember “termites” and realize it is nice to fool Mother Nature — and human guests — in the name of maintenance.
Outdoor kitchens are a popular request no matter where you live, but typically when you read a book or see a television show featuring outdoor kitchens, the contractor is doing them in a warm climate.
Troy Lemon, founder and president of Cornerstone Decorative Concrete in Holland, Mich., starts his story with a familiar admission. “I was a concrete guy way before I was a decorative concrete guy,” he says.
Unlike water and oil, glass and concrete do mix and can marry well under the right circumstances. On the other hand, the union may not remain solvent if the chemistry isn’t there to deter the main reason this coupling would meet its demise: alkali-silica reaction (ASR).
Outdoor kitchens are becoming more and more popular, and special considerations must be made in order to ensure concrete’s durability, longevity and aesthetics in these applications.
