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With the housing market in recovery, business is looking up for concrete contractors involved with stamping and texturing.
However, it’s not just the residential market that’s driving stamping. Thanks to its low price compared with other outdoor options, more commercial developers are turning to stamped concrete.
Stamped concrete can be a beautiful addition to any property. However, poorly textured concrete can be an eyesore for the owner and a headache for the contractor.
Novice stampers are prone to making a few common mistakes. Some have to do with planning the job. Others have to do with misunderstanding the materials, while still others are simply a lack of familiarity with manipulating stamps and skins. Here’s an opportunity to learn the easy way.
Steve VandeWater, 51, was a Fine Arts major at Indiana University Bloomington, studying sculpture, drawing and printmaking. This artistic background informs his approach to concrete and also gives him skill and success with different styles and techniques.
Popular Concrete Decor columnist Chris Sullivan explores ways to fix a stamped concrete job that came out looking like a patchwork quilt
Concrete is unforgiving. Surface defects and poor workmanship issues on stamped and textured concrete are difficult to repair, and in many cases there are no viable repair options.
Surely you’ve heard the phrase “concrete jungle,” but what about concrete in the jungle? In this case, the jungle is the Rainforest Habitat at Discovery Place, in uptown Charlotte. The exhibit boasts wildlife ranging from birds and reptiles to vegetation such as palms and epiphytes.
For father-and-son team Marshall Barabasch Sr. and Jr., concrete is not just a job, it’s a vocation. As president and vice president (respectively) of MB Concrete Systems Inc., they power their company with a shared passion for the business, craft and artistry of decorative concrete.
Unique Concrete, a family-run business out of West Milford, N.J., stamps concrete without the stamp and texture mats of today. Instead, they use old-fashioned tools to create a layer of what they call “cast-in-place concrete tile or stone.”
It’s doubtful that any homeowner has found a more elegant way of decorating a neglected piece of land whose main feature is a septic tank field than the owners of the “Hidden Oasis,” a tropical-themed project that blossomed in a residential backyard in Stafford, Va.
