Vol. 15 No. 6 - August/September 2015

Nolan King, owner of King Architectural Concrete and Construction LLC in River Falls, Wisconsin, started his own construction business at the age of 23 after graduating from college in 2001 with an engineering degree. His business focused primarily on home remodeling work.

Like people, businesses often need a reset of sorts to re-energize and better position themselves for the future. For concrete contractors and suppliers, rebranding their company name or product logo can provide this fresh start.

Concrete is a material with great strengths but portability is not commonly one of them. Great photography helps overcome this obstacle.

The phrase “decorative concrete” means many things. Depending on your operation, it may mean specializing in one facet, such as concrete countertops, or it may mean everything from stamped concrete to polished concrete.

The lifestyle center addition to the Greenwood Park Mall on U.S. Highway 31 North in Greenwood was completed in spring 2008. The project, which involved more than 1,000 cubic yards of concrete, is significant because it reflects the growing use of concrete in Indiana’s public spaces.

Catty-cornered northwest of the Indiana Convention Center, the JW Marriott Art Plaza has become a city landmark and a tribute to Hoosiers statewide since its grand unveiling in March 2010.

Located at 6020 East 82nd St. in Indianapolis, the Castleton Square Mall had a lifestyle addition completed in 2008 that featured decorative concrete.

Dedicated to the brave men and women who have served in the Indiana National Guard, the Hoosier Patriot Memorial at 10800 E. Washington St. inside Washington Park East Cemetery in Indianapolis was completed in fall 2007.

Within walking distance of the convention center, this tilt-up building at 620 N. Delaware St. was originally Miller Photography Studio when it was poured and erected by Smock Fansler back in 2004.

Dancer’s company, Dancer Concrete Design, offered another solution to waxing the scuffed-up floor in the events center — polished concrete.

In the hills of Southern Indiana lies a massive steel and concrete structure steeped in history. The Viaduct — also known locally as the Tulip Trestle, the Richland Creek Viaduct, the Green County Viaduct and officially, Bridge X75-6, according to Bloomingpedia — was once the largest railroad trestle in the United States.

The hardscape around the Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center at 535 Barnhill Drive is a beautiful addition to the Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus.

Benesse Healing Garden at the Benesse Oncology Center, part of the Major Hospital system in Shelbyville, is an integral part of Benesse’s mind-body-soul treatment philosophy. The almost one-acre park has four water features, meandering walkways, lush plantings and several seating areas that allow for social interaction or privacy.

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, one of the largest children’s museums in the world, debuted a 7,400-square-foot exhibit in 2011 that features a replica of the tomb of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Seti l.

Being next door to the Artistry in Concrete competition at the World of Concrete 2015, Steven Ochs knew he had to bring his A game to the Smith Paint Products booth. Ochs, a decorative concrete artisan and chairman of the department of art and design for Southern Arkansas University, presented several designs to the Brunners, owners of the family-run business.

RicoRock Inc., a leading manufacturer of residential pool waterfalls in the U.S., has hundreds of dealers, but Margaritaville’s owners wanted to work directly with RicoRock because of the scope of the project and the company’s more than 30-year history of creating waterfalls.

When the construction industry was languishing nationwide and tilt-up concrete commercial jobs in Southern California were rare, Gregg Hamann of Hamann Construction in El Cajon, California, needed a project to keep his skilled workers employed between jobs.

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.

Concrete lounge chairs are one of the hottest applications of concrete furniture made with glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC).

Stamped concrete can be a beautiful addition to any property. However, poorly textured concrete can be an eyesore for the owner and a headache for the contractor.

In April 2015 the Concrete Polishing Association of America (CPAA) adopted a new position on the measurement of slip resistance of bonded-abrasive polished concrete floors.

Mix designs are always a little tricky. As most Concrete Decor readers are not architects or engineers, there is a lot of risk associated with modifying a designed and engineered concrete mix.

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.