The world's foremost resource on decorative concrete
Trying to manage ultraviolet light exposure in California isn’t an easy thing to do, particularly when it comes to its effect on concrete sealers. For Napa, Calif., homeowners, contractors were able to get a handle on the situation, creating a countertop for an outdoor kitchen that still looks great more than a year later.
Compared to working on deadline with Christina Aguilera, Phil Collins and the Spice Girls, decorative concrete is a breeze.
Concrete fireplaces and their architectural elements are quickly becoming one of the hottest trends in decorative concrete.
Jeremy French doesn’t sound like a big fan of delayed gratification.
"I never finished high school," he admits, before explaining his transition from landscape designer to the owner of Mandala Design, the high-end concrete design firm he founded in 2004 in Asheville, N.C.
No one’s more passionate about their art than the hard-working members of your typical undiscovered garage band. They can put in a full day at work before jamming all night whether or not there’s a remote possibility of a paycheck.
As Bob Chatterton, co-owner of Surface 519, puts it, "Countertops are just a sealing nightmare. It’s asked that they be resistant to everything under the sun."
So it seems a natural correlation to make a stain- and scratch-resistant coating that uses the sun – or at least the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
Many concrete countertops are plain slabs with square corners. This solid farmhouse look is simple to achieve by pouring a concrete countertop mix into a simple form. Wood forms lend themselves to shaping square corners, but it is difficult to use wood to achieve rounded corners and curved edges.
