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Concrete Artistry with a Competitive Edge

Concrete Surfaces Decorative Pavilion hosts innovative projects and exhibits.

World of Concrete attendees see a diverse group of artisans apply their creativity and skills to concrete.

 

Categories

 
 

Polishing

 
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    Installing Vertical Overlays

    Vertical overlay concrete or grout is used to complete vertical rock-work, thinset coatings on walls, stamped masonry unit patterning, free-standing art sculpting, and architectural detailing. They can be built up as much as 3 inches in thickness without sagging or slumping.

     
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    Turning Concrete into Art

    Brad Burns creates original pieces depicting construction, jobsites, equipment, and workers. These award-winning original paintings often juxtapose powerful heavy equipment with the fragility of man

     
  • Cleaning Up the Air

    When two sculptures were built for the new I-35W St. Anthony Falls Bridge in Minneapolis, the decision was made to use a new form of concrete—photocatalytic concrete—a mixture that removes carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides, and sulfur dioxide from the atmosphere.

     
 
 
 
 
 
 

CC Knows Concrete

  • Managine Customer Relationships

    How to work with customers and manage their expectations to accept realistic outcomes.

     
  • The step forms shown here are tiered and cantilevered with texture formliners included in both the cantilever and the inset section.

    Forming Concrete Steps

    Following up from last month's column, Joe Nasvik discusses materials and procedures needed to properly form concrete stairs.

     
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    How to Lay Out Steps

    Layout out steps isn't easy, so here are some guidelines to help with quick, accurate layout.

     
shown here are scratches made with different pick numbers. the #4 scratch is barely visible so the reading would be between #4 and #5.

Assessing Concrete Hardness Before Polishing

Performing the scratch test helps contractors decide which diamond tooling is best for the job.


 

Artistry in Decorative Concrete

Decorative Concrete Awards

  • Toucan Ridge

    The Conservancy set out to renovate the zoo's Tropical House.

     
  • Kidsville

    The playground is anchored by a realistic 20-foot-tall treehouse.

     
  • Twin Lakes Playground

    The play area celebrates the natural history of the site and the region.

     
 

Resources

  • ACI 310

    The committee develops and reports information on the application of artistic finishes of cast-in-place concrete.

  • Decorative Concrete Council

    DCC focuses on the issues, trends, and work of the decorative concrete industry.

  • WOC Bookstore

    A number of titles on decorative concrete, focused on finishing techniques, overlays and toppings, stamping, and more, are available.

  • WOC Education Program

    The Decorative Concrete track covers design trends and techniques on stamping, overlays, and more.