The world's foremost resource on decorative concrete
When your country calls you to do a job, how much should you charge? That was the predicament Dick Krach, CEO of Sundek of Washington, came face to face with when his secretary fielded a call from someone at a “white house” concerning a pool deck that needed repair and some sprucing up.
This posh campus of office and parking structures, located in the western Los Angeles neighborhood of Playa Vista about one mile from the Pacific Ocean, contains polished concrete floors and board-formed concrete walls and pillars, but that’s just a taste of what decorative concrete has brought to the 15-acre campus.
ick Fischer’s technical knowledge and artistic abilities make him a double threat in the decorative concrete world. He began his career in custom automobile painting and restoration, then moved into decorative paint finishes in commercial and residential spaces.
A How To feature that offers step-by-step instructions for casting statuary and other fine-featured pieces.
Almost all manufacturers of decorative concrete systems and equipment offer some sort of training on their products. Whether it is a one-hour watch-and-learn or a three-day hands-on class that people pay to attend, these programs have become mainstream in our industry.
It’s a fact we have to face — everything ages. And colored concrete is not immune. Sometimes it fades to a soft, mellow color, but often it just becomes dull and lifeless. Or worse, later repairs and additions don’t match.
I went through this transition as a polishing contractor, so I thought that I would give you a few helpful tips and things to think about before you embark on this journey.
Compaction of each thin layer of backer is a critically important step in the fabrication of GFRC.
The popularity of glass-fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) has grown in the past few years as more and more people discover its versatility, strength and relative ease of manufacture. GFRC makes it possible to create stronger and lighter elements and complex 3-D pieces easily.
The decorative concrete industry is driven by fascination. Inspiring this fascination in customers is only possible when you connect first and foremost. Unfortunately, this is the number one aspect I see missing within our talented artisans today. Just like your ability to create with color and concrete, there is an art to connecting with architects, designers and owners.
