Vol. 13 No. 6 - August/September 2013

Just about any coloring material or tool can potentially be useful on a restoration job. However, some manufacturers have targeted this growing niche with specially marketed materials. Here are a few of those products, with some descriptions from their suppliers.

At first, everything seemed perfect as my salesman and I finished setting up our booth for the annual home design and remodeling show in Visalia, Calif. Our exhibit location was ideal, our stamp and stain samples strategically located. The weekend crowd was near maximum capacity and everything seemed ripe for booking plenty of new accounts.

At just 34 years old, Perez is the owner and manager of Custom Concrete Designs Florida, in West Palm Beach, Florida. The relatively new business is making its mark in South Florida and beyond.

Unlike a fine wine, decorative concrete does not always age well.

And a decade or two after the first massive surge in popularity of decorative concrete, plenty of owners of residential and commercial property are realizing that their patterned, textured and colored concrete does not look like it once did.

A concrete floor polished up to 3,000 grit, stained, guarded and burnished can be a sight of sheer beauty. For many customers, a polished concrete floor is the perfect fit. The only problem is, many concrete floors are far from perfect slabs. There are pinholes, cracks, pop-outs, gouges, and spalling joints, just to name a few flaws.

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.

Choosing the right mixer for casting countertops, sinks and the like is an important element of getting the results you want. The mixer must deliver a workable and consistent mix, in the quantity you need, at a speed that allows you to work profitably.

We just had a large stamped concrete patio completed, and we chose a light buff integral color with dark tan release powder. The resulting color of the concrete surface looks entirely different from the color we chose -- it's more like an antique rose color.

In terms of decorative options, existing concrete slabs are limited to topical color systems. In many cases these coloration processes are subject to fading and wear and are sensitive in high-moisture environments. You’ll find more versatility in 3/8-inch concrete overlays. Not only do you have a choice of UV-stable integral colors, but you can also choose from several types of aggregates.

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science, which opened Dec. 1 of last year, is billed as providing visitors with a living science lesson full of hands-on learning experiences.

This mission extends to the building structure itself, by way of the concrete.

In our industry we are often asked: What’s the gloss on the floor? Or, did you hit the gloss readings that are in the specification?

Colloidal silica was introduced as a concrete densifier many years ago, and it has proven itself a reliable tool for concrete polishers and others needing to harden or densify cured concrete surfaces. However, there is widespread confusion about what it is, and this confusion can lead to misinformation. This article attempts to bring some clarification.

Forging ahead with the “shop-within-a-shop” concept at J.C. Penney stores nationwide, wave three of the stores’ remodeling makeover took place this spring across the country. Polished concrete is still part of the plan … at least for now.

In most cases, concrete made from standard gray portland cement will do the job nicely. But sometimes, especially when a pastel color takes precedence in the overall picture, decorative concrete contractors need to think outside the gray.