Vol. 19 No. 1 - January 2019

About 20 people gathered together Sept. 27-30 in Manchester, California, a town about three hours north of San Francisco, for the third annual Mendo Mini Campout and Boat Build.

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.

In my experience, sealer issues caused by cold weather don’t occur in the northern “cold climates” but rather in the more temperate or “shoulder” regions that have transition seasons. They also tend to happen in warm climates that may experience cold weather for only brief periods of time.

As part of the Aagen Group’s renovation of its facilities in Houston, the Business Flooring Specialists refurbished the company’s shipping and receiving ramp. The ramp was showing wear and tear and also needed its traction improved — especially when it was wet.

Stained, integrally colored or other decorative concrete treatments will eventually need a freshening up if not a total do-over.

For years, Tyler Stephens, owner of Stephens Concrete Sealing in Indianapolis, used to use your typical film-forming sealer on his outdoor concrete projects. “It left a little sheen behind and had nice curb appeal, but it didn’t bead water the way penetrating sealers do,” he says.

Across the country, there’s a trend afoot when it comes to what people are seeking for their outdoor projects. “They want a natural look that delivers penetrating protection,” says Chris Sullivan, decorative concrete specialist for the American Society of Concrete Contractors and the vice president of sales and marketing for ChemSystems Inc. based in Houston, Texas.

When installing a metallic epoxy system, urethane can be detrimental to a project’s outcome or a welcome addition to its success.

Joints — both construction and control — are parts of almost every concrete project. Whether the job is a stained patio or a stamped sidewalk, good planning and a little extra care can help create a finished surface that’s both attractive and properly jointed.

When it comes to concrete — as with so many other things in life — people tend to judge a book by its cover. There’s nothing like a giant crack or a crumbling corner in a recent concrete placement to make an unhappy customer.

Mobile mixers, sometimes called volumetric mixers or metered concrete, offer a variety of benefits to decorative concrete contractors, including only paying for what is used, eliminating hot loads, readily allowing mix design changes on-site, labor savings, admixture additions and color batching.

A decade after he entered the concrete industry as an installer, Keefe Duhon is owner/president of three separate and successful companies based in New Iberia, Louisiana.

To be your best doesn’t mean you have to always do the most difficult concrete projects. It simply means you do your best work on every concrete project.