The world's foremost resource on decorative concrete
Imagine building your dream home. All of the right elements are in place: hardwood floors, granite countertops, marble tile in the bathrooms and kitchen, exterior brick siding, flagstone pool deck, rock retaining walls and exposed aggregate driveway. Now imagine taking that plan and replacing all those elements with concrete.
You don’t need me to tell you how tough today’s market is for contractors, and few will disagree that the ball is in our customers’ court. Razor-thin margins allow no room for error in one of the many things we used to pay little attention to.
Starting a business is a challenging process no matter what the circumstances, but starting a business at 19 years old, while holding down two other jobs and working on a degree? Now that’s a challenge.
People have enjoyed sitting outside around a fire since, well, since they discovered fire. Besides the practicalities of fire for warmth, light and cooking, the comfort and romance of fire make us want to pull our chairs up to the hearth and turn our backs on the daily grind.
In the women’s shoe department in London, decorative concrete and fashion make a fine pair. Eight concrete display tables in one of the six rooms of The Shoe Galleries show off the latest shoes from brands like Carvela, Nine West and French Connection.
As the concretist, we’ve worked both internationally and nationwide. But some of the jobs are in the smallest, quaintest towns. They might not be major population centers, but the concrete in those places are that much more sweet, The people are warm even while the weather often isn’t.
A beach house floor Ralston’s company recently refurbished in Monterey Bay, Calif. The floor’s crown jewel from a decorative standpoint is a pattern created when randomly placed seaweed stamps, made from real seaweed, were laid in a 3/8-inch fast-setting overlay.
Mike Branch, owner of The Rental Branch in St. Joseph, Mich., had a vision to create the most concentrated display of decorative concrete anywhere. Mission accomplished. Mostly finished as of late 2010, it’s been nearly a year in the making, though it felt more like 10 years.
For years, it seemed to me that people thought stenciled concrete was the bastard child of decorative concrete. I never really understood that.
L. M. Scofield Co. has announced the winners of the third annual Decorative Concrete Awards contest. This contest is open to any contractor, architect or designer who uses or specifies Scofield systems.
