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Overlays and toppings typically range from 1/16- to 3/4- inch deep and are applied to structurally sound concrete slabs to improve aesthetics, protect surfaces and extend life in lieu of ripping out and replacing existing slabs. There are several types of overlays including spray applied, troweled on, self-leveling, stamped and microtoppings.
Self-leveling products vary widely in their makeup, so which one you choose may largely depend on what you plan to do with it.
The decorative overlay industry has grown exponentially over the last 10 years, and so has the number of failures and problems related to overlay installations.
The historical structure that now houses the Nashville Dinner Theatre has always attracted attention. During Prohibition times, people slyly used a tunnel in the building to transport alcohol to area nightclubs. Today, it attracts crowds for its dinner shows and performances by local vocalists.
Let me start by being blunt. Almost anyone can squeegee down a couple of coats of topping. But overlays and microtoppings are handcrafted, not generic flooring you buy on a roll. How do you go from doing what anyone can do to creating your own distinctive look and giving customers exceptional projects?
I was once a much younger concretist, really impetuous and passionate. I was working for L.M. Scofield Co., and as my wife told me, I worked way too much. So she left me. To be more accurate, she left me in charge of the kids for 10 days while she and her best girlfriend toured a bit of England and Scotland.
Ever notice the broad range of opinions that exist regarding concrete overlays and how they work? Take color hardener, for example — not everyone uses the product, but most agree that it is good and provides excellent results. Why then with overlays does such a spectrum of opinion and emotion exist?
Nailing the gold in the O that is the official logo of University of Oregon sports couldn’t have been easy. But here it is, on a dyed and polished cement overlay floor at The Duck Store in the Clackamas Town Center shopping mall, near Portland, Ore.
There are four different overlay systems used in creating decorative concrete floors: microtoppings, stampable overlays, multipurpose overlays and self-leveling overlays. All have different characters and makeups with which to achieve decorative looks.
Two recent decorative concrete projects on the Strip — for two very high-profile ventures, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and the CityCenter Las Vegas development — illustrate why working in Las Vegas is a unique undertaking.
What is the most important test when it comes to evaluating decorative concrete overlays? A case can be made that any test result can help better define how a product will perform, but when it comes to decorative overlays some tests are more meaningful than others.
