Carlton Concrete, Visalia, California
Carlton Concrete offers three core services - concrete stamping, staining and overlay.

Doug Carlton says he tried his darnedest to stay out of the decorative concrete market. With both his father and grandfather traditional concrete contractors, he was quite content to maintain the status quo when he started his own company back in 1987. But so many clients kept asking for colored and “printed” concrete that in 1992 he “took a leap of faith” and entered the decorative realm. “It was the right move at the right time,” he says.

Today, in addition to the basics, Carlton Concrete offers three core services — concrete stamping, staining and overlay.

When he started flirting with the prospect of offering stamped concrete, he cut his first eight to 10 customers great deals. “If I had a patio that was going to be a broom job, I’d offer to stamp it at the same price,” he says. “This allowed me and the crew to learn on the job, to gain experience without a huge weight on our shoulders. It really took the pressure off.”

If there was one thing he learned then that still rings true today, it is that you’ve got to realize you aren’t going to produce a flawless creation. “It’s impossible to do perfect work day in and day out,” he says. “This line of work is meant to have imperfections. It’s not about going out and trying to do a perfect job. It’s about fulfilling the expectations of the client.”

He urges newcomers to the business to start off with a small project and take good pictures of the perfect areas and the imperfect areas. “Show them to everybody you can,” he says. “People relate to visuals.”

That’s the reasoning behind his latest business venture, a 5,000-square-foot design center that should be completed next spring. “People need to see decorative concrete, to feel it under their feet. They need to be able to visualize a mocked-up room and to see how it will fit into their home or office,” Carlton says.

Plans for the center include outfitting four offices with different treatments that will illustrate stamping, staining and overlay possibilities. Outside, there will be a fully landscaped area with different forms of stamped concrete so people can see what concrete will look like as it weathers and wears. Showing clients only newly placed concrete is like showing a bride only on her wedding day, Carlton says. “It’s just not a realistic picture.”