After 18 years as a structural engineer, I have worked on numerous slab-on-grade projects and used traditional wet-cure methods. Most of these techniques, particularly synthetic curing blankets, were time-intensive, expensive, and they sometimes left discolored areas on the slab.
Concrete artists represent a variety of talents. Some creatively express themselves with a flare for a new tool or stencil system invention, some innovate with new concrete mix designs, and still others approach their work as multimedia artists. They bring an array of coloring agents, objects to...
An English and Spanish glossary of terms relating to decorative concrete.
Polyaspartic polyureas are fairly new in the marketplace and have great potential for decorative concrete because of their many unique qualities.
Although painting concrete is the term most often used, it's not correct. Coating is the proper term for products that provide decoration and protection for exterior concrete walls; sealers or coatings are the products used on floors.
One of the fastest growing markets for iron oxide pigments is in decorative architectural concrete. Iron oxide pigments (IOP) are the lifeblood of decorative concrete and the means for that architectural expression. Only IOP offer the combination of cost effectiveness, light fastness, durability...
The bathroom is an intimate room, not a place for cold, hard edges. So why is concrete increasingly used in bathrooms?
Concrete staining gives concrete floor the look of wood.
New technology, new systems, and creativity are changing the look and life of integrally mixed or seeded exposed aggregate hardscapes.
Handcarved shotcrete rockwork and timbers mimic indigenous rock structures.
When there is too much water in the concrete, there is greater shrinkage with the possibility for more cracks and reduced compressive strength.
Restaurant chooses acid stain for new location's floor.
I was hired by Hanley Wood as a senior editor, because I had been a concrete contractor for many years, had experienced many of the problems and challenges affecting concrete, and had learned hands-on the skills of placing and finishing concrete.
Learn the definition of what dyes are and how to use them.
Between 1890 and 1920 many companies, especially precast companies who produced members for building facades, used colors and stains to make their work more interesting. Some mixed pigment into fresh concrete for a casting; others submerged their castings in solutions similar to chemical stains...
There are different types of water-based stains on the market. Here is what they are and how to use them.
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Pick up the remote control, flip the switch, and the little green machine comes alive, skittering across the floor like a low-flying alien spacecraft or a high-tech dual-head lawnmower. Is this some toy maker's demonstration? a convention of wireless enthusiasts? No, it was the 2005 World of...
Decorative concrete work results from creativity and skill, learning the proper techniques, and using products that make a job even better.
Decorative concrete contractors have been working on ways to make pervious pavement more decorative as well as functional. Learning how install durable work remains the first most important step.
Learn how to use multilayered stencils to produce 3D images on concrete.