2015 Readers' Choice Winner
The design of this project was developed by artisan Mark Womack dba Monster Constructors; and, through discussions with Brent Pennington, president of Charley's Concrete, as well as the general contractor, Jordan Key of Key Custom Homes. The concept evolved from Brent’s desire to have a lodge-style lobby to include trophy mounts from hunting. Mark collectively molded the ideas into a concept of creating the stimulating aesthetics of a lazy river running through sand and aggregate while weaving throughout the office floor plan. Monster Constructors was then contracted to design, construct, and install a custom, scenic concrete floor. The project was to be completed in two phases spanning approximately six months (September 2014 – March 2015).
The stain chosen for this project was SS DYE-namic UV Formula by SS Specialties due to its UV stability and the versatile color pallet that allows custom blending options. The UV product was a crucial component for success during the two phases of the project, with phase one being exposed to the elements for six weeks as the slab cured and construction began.
Green Umbrella (GU) was the selected polishing system for its ability to enhance and speed the process of polishing as well as offering added protection to the concrete surface. Not only is the product environmentally friendly, the system chemically reacts to the concrete, providing a high-quality, durable floor.
Phase one was to design, stain, and put an initial polish on the slab prior to the construction of the building. This process included stones that were meticulously placed where embankments and currents of the river would flow while simultaneously creating shallows, rapids, as well as deep water effects. Throughout the project, an intricate technique using various metal cup wheels to hand-grind and expose various levels of aggregate was applied. This was then hand-honed with diamond resins 50 and 100. The complete river scene was feathered out avoiding deep trenches or grooving from the metal cup wheel application. Next, two StoneKor G&P grinders were used with 100 metal followed by 100 resin. Custom formulated stain colors were then applied to the floor. GU Dry Shield was applied followed by Shield & Enhance. The floor was then polished with 800 resin and left exposed to the elements awaiting the building construction. Once the building was dried in, Ram board covering was placed for protection.
Phase two was initiated as the building structure neared completion and consisted of removing the protective Ram Board covering, reopening the concrete flooring with 400 resin, touch-up staining and reapplication of GU Shield & Enhance. The floor was then again polished to 800 resin followed by GU Microfilm and then burnished utilizing a propane Eagle 27” with a black pad. The second application of GU Microfilm was burnished with a black pad as well, followed by 1500 and 3000 burnishing pads. While utilizing the GU system, we were able to achieve a super durable, high-gloss surface with a gloss reading of 76/77 edge-to-edge. The finished project was a complete success.
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