The world's foremost resource on decorative concrete
Countertop artisans have many considerations to weigh while setting up their fabrication shops – location, size, work flow and equipment, to name a few. And they all have the same goals in mind: to create quality products and run a successful business. Experts from across the country have plenty of advice on how to achieve these goals.
Evil allows you to appreciate good. The occasional really bad customer makes you appreciate all the more the even more occasional really good customer. Night makes you appreciate the day. Cool makes you appreciate warm.
From the playground to the locker room, decorative concrete is inspiring teachers and school administrators across the country.
So we’re in the early stages of a polishing project after the old VCT (vinyl composition tile) has been removed. We’re progressing with initial grinding diamonds to open the floor, only to have the building owner walk through and complain, “What happened to my floor? What are all those lines? Is my floor ruined?
Most decorative concrete contractors know that consolidating concrete is as essential to a quality finished product as mix ratio or proper finishing and curing. Consolidating forces air out of the concrete and encourages aggregate to rotate and fit together tighter, creating stronger concrete.
From department stores to convenience stores, decorative concrete is turning up in retail spaces across the country.
The products and finishes in the decorative industry are becoming more sophisticated – polymer-modified toppings, nanotechnology sealers, and sustainable stains and dyes to name a few. But all need to remember the old tried-and-true products that still make up a large portion of the industry, and refresh ourselves on the right way to use them.
Our regular feature offers two step-by-step description of a unique floor that was created with good old terrazzo.
The one universal truth about the polished concrete industry is that, sadly enough, there is no universal truth. We don’t agree about what defines polished concrete, what steps are important, or what is the best way to steer the industry.
To accommodate the manufacturing robots that do the bulk of the work, the floors of Solyndra’s two plants must be very flat, level and durable, says Jonathan Williams, president of Diacon Inc., in Manteca, Calif. “We couldn’t have any ridges or valleys that would cause them to offshoot.” The task at hand was to produce functional factory floors that were also pleasing to the human eye.
