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You’ve just finished a three-month polishing project. You went the extra mile to deliver a floor with great clarity. You left no residual scratch patterns. And your edge work blends flawlessly with the main body of the floor, and if dyed, it’s perfect. You’re excited to meet for the final […]
Five on-the-job tips for a concrete contractor on the job site.
I have identified six steps that all successful hunks of stamped concrete have in common. Bypassing one of the six steps will leave a stamping professional a rung short of a true level of potential. Perfection starts well before any color broadcasts across a wet concrete’s surface, and even well before a ready-mix truck arrives.
Some mistakenly view the decorative concrete world as 100 percent committed to overlays, stain and polished concrete, but counting out concrete stamping is a mistake. Stamped concrete is the cornerstone of decorative concrete, and my belief is that this will not change anytime soon.
The substrate that is used in a work of art has a lot of control over the finished product. Polished concrete is no different. We have seen the beautiful pictures of floors that show fantastic color, reflectivity and clarity. What we don’t see are the shots of poorly finished column block-outs or spalled control joints that were cut with dull saw blades.
I was once a much younger concretist, really impetuous and passionate. I was working for L.M. Scofield Co., and as my wife told me, I worked way too much. So she left me. To be more accurate, she left me in charge of the kids for 10 days while she and her best girlfriend toured a bit of England and Scotland.
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.
To get the look, Ralston scattered rock salt here and there on the fresh pour, along with drops of retardant. Photo courtesy of Simple Solutions/Salt Roller Inc. Tom Ralston, president of Tom Ralston Concrete, Santa Cruz, Calif., has a client who requested worn, craggy-looking concrete for his bathroom, fireplace and […]
Identifying some of the basic building blocks of polishing and examine them in terms of “myth” or “accurate perception.”
No matter how good your technique is, you won’t get an attractive, consistent pattern if your brush or broom has bent bristles. Here are some ways to avoid —or ?x — the “bends.”
