After 15 years of heavy tourist traffic along Las Vegas Boulevard, one of the first seamless texture projects in Las Vegas was ready for a facelift.
Originally stamped by Ron Garamendi of Vegas-based Contri Construction Co., the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino features roughly 30,000 square feet of textured concrete flatwork surrounding the exterior of the building. Over its lifetime, other contractors had applied a myriad of both colored and clear coatings to the surface, and they were starting to peel.
Wanting to restore the area to coincide with the 2009 opening of the nearby CityCenter complex, the Monte Carlo contacted Garamendi to see if he could return the concrete to its original beauty.
“They asked me what the options were to restore it,” he says. “We definitely couldn’t reseal over it anymore.”
With the help of Concrete Accessories Inc., another Las Vegas outfit, Garamendi was able to come up with the perfect solution. After the hotel signed off on a 10-foot by 10-foot test section, it was time to start work.
To begin the restoration process, Garamendi first had to remove layers of sealer through sandblasting. With the original work exposed, it was time to revitalize the original colors. He applied Proline Concrete Tools’ EZ-Tique, a water-based antiquing wash, in Java and Black colors. The area was then sealed with Arizona Polymer Flooring’s Polyurethane 250.
Unfortunately for Garamendi, the Monte Carlo wanted to keep the area open to tourists and pedestrians as much as possible, so he had to complete the process in phases. The workers would have to do the work inside a tent between 11 p.m. and 9 a.m. to be as unobtrusive as possible. They had to be finished with work each week before the area was opened to weekend visitors.
In all, the project took six weeks to complete.
Garamendi is quick to note the important role that other companies had in the restoration. “The Monte Carlo was great, Proline was great and Concrete Accessories was great,” he says. “They were instrumental in the job going so smoothly.”
(702) 289-1190 (Contri Construction Co.)
