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No matter what industry you’re in, whether it’s massage therapy, concrete staining or stamped concrete, you have to consider yourself as being in sales.
A good set of tools goes a long way. When it comes to applying urethanes, epoxies and other concrete coatings, it’s a necessity. In a world where you have to constantly monitor moisture issues, pH, efflorescence, and constantly changing weather conditions, the last thing you need to worry about is an underperforming tool.
It all started when I got a call from interior designer Julie Doran. Been a long time. Where you been? “Second career as a flight attendant, third career as a full-time mom. Now, I’m back into design.” What’s up? “Got a new client. I’m designing a tricked-out outdoor kitchen. I think you may be just the guy to do the countertops.”
You’ve worked hard, become skilled at making things, developed relationships with architects, gotten specified on a commercial project, bid to all of the generals involved and been told the winning bidder is going to go with you. Now what?
The winners of the seventh annual Decorative Concrete Awards competition sponsored by the Decorative Concrete Council were recognized in February 2015 during a ceremony at World of Concrete in Las Vegas. DCC is a specialty council of the American Society of Concrete Contractors.
After being in the decorative concrete business for a more than a decade, Paul Huneck, owner of Hudson Concrete,is in a spot that many other decorative concrete professionals would envy. High-profile clients come to him with interesting projects. He makes his entire living in a territory 13 miles long and 2 miles wide — the island of Manhattan.
With its 1,149-foot “space needle,” the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower is a Las Vegas landmark. When its owners, American Casino & Entertainment Properties LLC, remodeled it inside and out in fall 2012, they asked Owen Ondrisko, of Stampco Concrete, Henderson, Nevada, to design landscaping and concrete for the approaches to the building.
There’s one key point on which architects and decorative concrete contractors agree: “The architect needs to have a contractor who knows what he’s doing,” says Marley Porter, AIA, who operates Living Architecture & Construction Management, located in Texas Hill Country at Cottonwood Shores.
An expert’s tips on how to use these common household items to make your decorative concrete work easier and more beautiful.
It’s all about branding with the big-name consumer retail companies these days, and Nike is one of the biggest brand names around.
