The world's foremost resource on decorative concrete
Concrete is the ideal material to use to transform outdoor spaces into outdoor rooms surrounded by stunning hardscapes and equipped with all the comforts of home.
After Tom Ralston Concrete recently finished a handsome concrete wall for the Pacific Gardens Chapel in Santa Cruz, Calif., local skateboarders promptly began to destroy it while practicing their “railing” and jumping techniques. Tom Ralston got to work creating a unique and attractive solution.
Synthetic rock is commonplace at theme parks, zoos, aquariums, museums, resorts, hotels and many other places — and there’s a growing demand for residential applications.
Beautiful work, a comprehensive show-room and attention to the well-being of his crew have brought success to Joe Fettig and his wife Betsy.
Plenty of people can work with concrete and make functional and aesthetically pleasing interior and exterior structures. A skatepark, however, is a different animal. In addition to having a sound structural plan and fresh features, a great park needs a crew that understands motion.
The market for residential curbing is growing by leaps and bounds. It can be a profitable niche for a concrete contractor.
Skinner Butte Park’s 45-foot-tall basalt columns have attracted rock climbers for decades. So when the city of Eugene, Ore., decided to build Riverplay, an innovative playground in another area of the park, a replica of the columns, sized just for kids, was part of the plan.
Pebble-Flex Synthetic Rubber Surfacing System. When it comes to putting a soft, springy surface on top of a craggy concrete floor, Pebble-Flex is where the rubber hits the road.
Let’s say you’re part of a design and construction team that has settled on a stunning look for a high-profile exterior concrete project — the entry to a corporate office, a monument to fallen heroes or maybe a creatively upgraded pedestrian walkway for a downtown shopping district.
Complementing all the glitter and glam are concrete creations that make heads turn. A 144-foot-tall mountain peaks above the resort’s sprawling 192 acres.
Doing museum-quality work doesn’t always entail fashioning blank backdrops to show items of interest at their best. Sometimes, as is the case of a pollinator-themed playground at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., it involves colorful GFRC carvings that are larger than life.
