The world's foremost resource on decorative concrete
To help avoid amine blush, Coatings for Industry, Inc. (CFI) now offers WearCOAT 440FS, a fast-setting epoxy floor coating in a blush-resistant formula. A common issue with cool-temperature floor coating jobs, amine blush is an oily surface imperfection caused by moisture or dew settling on uncured epoxy. While not fatal […]
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 […]
Throughout the course of its lifetime, concrete suffers many different forms of damage. Although concrete sealers add a protective layer to concrete floors and structures to help maximize their durability and minimize moisture permeability, concrete sealer problems can be a source of frustration among contractors. When a concrete sealer doesn’t […]
Imagine the perfect concrete sealing day — 70 degrees, sunny and no rain for the next 10 days. You just finished sealing a beautiful concrete pool deck. The homeowner loves it, and it looks so good that the next-door neighbor has asked for a quote. The homeowner pays you on […]
For both new construction and remodel projects, polishing contractors face similar issues when trying to get concrete not poured at the same time to aesthetically match. This is a major problem in the world of construction. From tile to epoxy, every other flooring material can easily cover the differences in […]
The air temperature is 97 degrees F, the concrete arrives late and it turns out it’s a hot load. A set retarder is added, which only makes matters worse. The concrete now sits for eight hours before you can do anything with it. Now what?
It’s no secret that most people think sealers are the Achilles’ heel of decorative concrete. You can do nearly everything perfectly while installing your concrete masterpiece only to have something like a sealer decimate all your good efforts.
In our home in Houston, we have a stained concrete slab-on-grade floor covered with white powder. We had the floor tested and the white powder was identified as salts escaping and clouding the floor.
“Just apply a decorative overlay and it will hide everything.” Or, “Use acid to strip that sealer.” These are just a couple of the myths or just plain wrong recommendations concrete contractors may have come across recently.
We’re in the middle of another winter season. While it’s not predicted to be as harsh as last year’s “polar vortex” winter, we still need to be thinking about all the possible causes and sources of winter damage and eliminate them.
