Concrete Coatings

There were even unbelievable benefits from a concrete contractor's standpoint. As Singapore is near the equator, temperatures are very stable and don't typically swing much or swing quickly. It's also quite humid. What this meant, from a concreter's standpoint, was great latitude as to contraction joints.

Audiences in France loved the comedy of Jerry Lewis in his Hollywood heyday. Go figure. So, should it be a baffling head-scratcher to learn about a billionaire Italian jewelry and luxury goods magnate being smitten with vintage Buicks?

An engineer for a manufacturer of machines that use ultraviolet light to cure coatings explains equipment options for contractors.

Experts have a lot to say about polyaspartics. We gathered some of our favorites from contractors and manufacturers.

A garage floor is one heck of a challenging place for the beautiful artwork and skillful craftsmanship of a decorative concrete application. Hot tires, oil, battery acid, brake fluid and strong coffee make daily assaults on an applicator’s masterpiece.

Our regular feature offers two step-by-step description of a unique floor that was created with good old terrazzo.

Through what Laticrete channel manager Jeff Bonkiewicz labels “connections,” a diverse group of Spartacote resinous flooring and Laticrete salesmen, company representatives and contractors teamed up to install a 13,000-square-foot floor for a new craft beer facility in Ogden, Utah.

The decorative industry grew up on the “one size fits all” high-gloss sealer which was the go-to coating for decades. While high gloss is still widely used, low-gloss and natural finishes in the decorative concrete industry have been gaining momentum as homeowners, architects and designers seek more ecofriendly, green and natural-looking sealing options.

When we saw these photos, we asked artisan Jason Thorn what was up with all the pennies. He emailed back, ““Cool client! Let me get creatively stupid.”

The request from JMC: Museum Arts LLC to Sundek of Washington was an odd one. “Can you make floors that look like dirt?” JMC asked. Not dirty floors, mind you, dirt floors.

The simple yet powerful design of this memorial included the piece of wreckage from the World Trade Center and a map of the Northeast coastline of the United States on concrete pavement that approaches the tattered beam. The map identifies the coastline and the three crash sites of that dreadful date.

Inspired by a desire to develop and utilize responsible chemistry for the environment, a group of scientists and chemists teamed up to create Evolution Surface Solutions. Now, after seven years of product testing, Evolution Surface Solutions has released their line of TruNano Sealers & Coatings, which is made up of five sealers, six coatings and two additives.

Jimmy McGhee, who handles sales and technical support for Versatile Building Products, here offers his own unique tips and techniques for distributing mica flake on a flooring job.

In his 40 years of working in the masonry and general construction industry, Dominick Freda has never been involved with a project of the magnitude of the St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, a traditional Roman Catholic facility situated on 1,100 acres in Dillwyn, Virginia, not far from Charlottesville.

The big national chain needed a ritzy floor for one of its new high-end home furnishing stores. A San Diego contactor brought the glamour, including metallics and a pearl finish.

However, is it possible that sealing necessity is not a necessity at all? Could it be that all the hoopla on sealing concrete is being motivated by glossy pictures causing new contractors to assume this is an industry standard?

Funny name, serious benefits: Polyaspartic coatings and sealers boast rapid cure times, UV stability, abrasion resistance and more.

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.

The techniques featured in this beloved annual feature may give you the look you’re after for finishing that one job. Or, they may provide the spark you need to come up with something new.

Inspired by the pro bono work done on the Bannister House last year during the Concrete Decor Show in San Diego, Jodi Cain of Quest Building Products began looking for ways she and her fellow employees could use their skills and services to give back to their community in Southern California.

When Chris McMahon sets out to rehabilitate a worn-out pool deck, he’s not satisfied with merely jazzing up the old slab. He likes to reinvent the entire swimming pool environment, using color, texture and elevation.

If you’re looking to expand your repertoire beyond stamping, staining and coloring concrete, there is a host of surfacing alternatives — some old, some new — just waiting to be explored.