If you want it in, on, or of concrete, we want to work on your project. If you want concrete that doesn’t crack, that’s opaque or monochromatic, or that doesn’t age or weather and develop a patina, it’s likely our work isn’t for you. We provide custom decorative concrete installations. We produce beautiful one of a kind jobs. We have successfully completed thousands of projects including interior floors, backsplashes, flat work, patios, driveways, walls, ceilings, showers, stair treads and landings, water features, fountains, planters, fire pits, troughs, dining room tables, boardroom tables, bar tables, desks, fireplace surrounds, hearths, mantels, sills, lintels, pool decks, furniture, pedestals, columns and art. Our work lends itself to old world or leading edge design depending on the concrete, design, scoring, colors, and finishes. Our work provides a clean living environment which doesn’t harbor dirt, odors, dust or dust mites, mold, or allergy/asthma related materials. Concrete floors are environmentally friendly, energy efficient and produce less waste. No two projects are alike. Your project acquires its own unique patina, character, and personality through concrete mix, finishing techniques, trowel marks, burn marks, variance of texture, grinding, salt finish, imprinting, sandblasting, porosity, cracks, stains, scoring grids, patterns, and designs, colors, and finishes.
Contractor Awareness:
Never cover the floor with protection before the decorative concrete prefinish is completed to avoid ghosting images produced during curing. General contractors should allow for additional communications with subs, signage, and protection. We do not pour foundations. We work on the given slab or flatwork and create beautiful, long-lasting, durable, finished floors, patios, driveways etc. We work on concrete that’s placed and finished by others so be sure to specify the mix and concrete finishing you want (see concrete mix and finishing below) and do not allow contaminants to come in contact with the concrete until after we’ve completed the stain and or prefinish phase and it’s protected to avoid stains. Best case scenario is we do the job while it’s a bare slab before framing and after the concrete has cured for 28 days. If you cant wait, follow these suggestions for best results. Concrete is a porous material similar to wood or stone and is susceptible to staining. Do not write on the slab with anything except a pencil. Some contaminants that can penetrate and stain the slab are red chalk, permanent marker, adhesives, flux, caulk, PVC primer/cleaner, PVC adhesive, food, grease, beverages, coffee, sodas, metal, nails, rust, and sawdust. Lumber, plywood, insulation board and construction materials left upon the bare slab will draw moisture from the curing slab and transfer permanent resins, tannins and or water stains into the slab so place these somewhere else besides on what’s to be the finished floor. Oil from framers leaking compressors, hoses or nail guns will stain the slab. Framers should cut floor plates for doorways and cased openings as soon as possible. Keep the area clean by sweeping, vacuuming or blowing daily and be sure to warn all subcontractors that the slab will be the finished floor. Do not cover or store any materials, lumber, sawdust, scraps etc on the floor before stain and prefinish. After the stain and prefinish phase use breathable drop cloths, not plastic. Completely cover floor during primer, paint, stain or lacquer stages. Do not tape to the floor. To completely cover the floor, use only Ram Board overlapping by 2″ and taped with only RAM Board breathable tape at the seams. Do not tape to the floor. Never use 4 x 8 sheets of any material. Use only Ram Board and cut to fit. We offer Ram Board, materials including Ram Board breathable tape, and installation, after dry in, at 75c per SF, $1000 minimum. During paint touch up, punch out etc. painters may use green, (Frog Tape), and craft paper to protect floor around walls. Drop cloths should be used to protect the field. Do not leave Frog Tape on the floor for more than 24 hours. Due to the nature of the products and application methods used in the scoring, stripping, scrubbing, staining, neutralizing, sealing, waxing, grinding, densifying, honing, polishing and guarding of concrete, some “bleeding” of the materials onto surfaces other than the floor (i.e. mortar, stone, stucco, under wall plates, thresholds, base, walls, molding, trim, etc) is possible and touch up may be necessary. Please schedule us before masonry or finished materials are placed. Scoring, sandblasting, dry sanding, grinding, honing, polishing and mixing all create a fine dust. We are not responsible for minor touch up or dust clean up.
CONCRETE MIX: A concrete mix that will achieve the desired results is essential. Use at least a five-sacks mix (at least 3000 psi). Use a .45 water to cement ratio and don’t add any water for convenience while finishing. Do not use curing compounds or surface treatments. Do not pour below 40°F and rising. Additives (Fly Ash, Retarders, Accelerators, etc.) should be specified by the engineer or ready-mix concrete plant/supplier and they should know the concrete will be the finished floor and whether it will be stained or polished. Consider aggregates selection and or seeded aggregates for exposed aggregates polished concrete. Early AM placement allows essential time for proper finishing.
CONCRETE FINISHING INTERIOR STAINED: On interior scored/stained concrete applications to achieve a polished marble-like finish, the slab should be slick, hard, power troweled, burn slab finished by the concrete finishers. Pay particular attention to hand finishing edges, around plumbing, electrical floor plugs (set flush and plumb), treads and risers. Your concrete contractor should have enough skilled labor on the job to handle good smooth hand finishing in all these areas. Your concrete contractor can create a beautiful burn finish with power trowels and consistency is the key. Burn finish concrete as you would a garage. Create burn marks on the slab with power trowels in a sporadic fashion. “Consistently inconsistent”. The object is to slick trowel the concrete to a tight finish with burn marks to create mottling over the entire slab using power trowels and hand trowels.
CONCRETE FINISHING EXTERIOR STAINED: On exterior applications or wherever slip resistance is desired the flatwork can be textured by concrete finishing techniques such as rock salt finish, sweat finish, broom finish, stamped etc or can be sandblasted, ground or etched after placement and curing time. Whatever is decided, consistency is the key to a beautiful job.
Applications Schedual / Specifications:
SCORING: Scoring is cut after framers chalk off all walls (both sides) with blue chalk (no red chalk) and before framing on the bare slab. We need 110V on a 20 amp breaker within 200 ft. of the furthest point on the slab. We offer early entry concrete sawing, straight line shallow scoring of grids, deep scoring, radius cuts, diamond cuts, numerous patterns, sandblasting, templates, compass roses, etc. We welcome your ideas.
STAIN / PREFINISH: Stain / Prefinish is done immediately after dry in, before any mechanical trades, insulation, drywall, or masonry work. We need two 110V plugs on two separate 20amp breakers within 200 ft. of the furthest point on the slab. We need clean water on site. We offer a range of colors achieved with acid stains from Kemiko, Scofield, and others as well as dyes from Ameripolish and others. These colors are applied in various ways to create different effects. The stain etches into and reacts with the finished surface of the slab and lasts as long as the concrete finish. We have completed thousands of custom projects using multiple colors either individual or layered, intricate multicolored patterns, artistic staining, etc. We welcome your ideas.
FINAL FINISH: Final Finish is applied after all trades are completely finished (i.e. painters, carpet installers and clean-up crews). Any paint, stain, texture, etc. should be removed by the painters or cleaning crew prior to our arrival. They may use water, paint thinner, razor scrapers, wire brushes etc. We should be the last crew in. We need to complete final finish 24 hours prior to occupancy.
Bids:
All bids are done on a turnkey basis. All bids are firm if work is scheduled to the above specifications. Any variations from the above specifications are subject to additional charges. Some considerations that affect the bid are square footage, grinding, scoring, clean-up, samples, mockups, colors, finishes, custom work, job location, travel, job conditions, electricity, water, accessibility, furniture, protection, etc.