The Concrete Network

Progressive Hardscapes, is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and owner Mike Riggs has seen the company evolve, decade after decade. The company, started by his father Webb in 1954, had humble beginnings, primarily pouring foundations for tract houses in the Phoenix (Arizona) area.

But in 1970, after becoming a Bomanite licensee, the company began to focus more on architectural concrete. "In those days, architectural concrete was maybe a stamping technique that made a red-brick pattern," explains Riggs.

The next few years of the company begat a decorative concrete evolution into sophisticated finishes, color hardeners, chemical stains, textured concrete, micro-toppings (colored and stained), and thin-set stamped overlays.

Riggs, who grew up around concrete, has been involved with the company since his high school days. He started in the field, studying in an apprenticeship program, and continued to garner field experience for six years before turning to estimating for the company. Riggs officially took over running the company 10 years ago.

With 70 percent of the company's business focused on architectural concrete -- the remaining 30 percent includes foundations and flatwork (both commercial and high-end residential homes listed at over $1 million in areas such as north Scottsdale, south Phoenix, and the west valley) -- the company continues to grow steadily.

Riggs says though the company offers services mainly in the immediate area, including Phoenix and Prescott, they also occasionally serve some outlying communities such as Tucson, where they are currently working with Crate & Barrel to create colored interior concrete floors.

Designers and architects, as well as homeowners, can peruse Progressive Concrete's many offerings both on their comprehensive website www.ProgressiveConcrete.com and in their showroom, which is 1,600 square feet and boasts over 200 samples (each 2 feet by 2 feet). The showroom includes a stamped overlay floor that displays multiple patterns and textures, as well as stained concrete and displays of concrete countertops.

Riggs says that one of the main goals of his company is to help architects and designers become very creative. "I love to help architects become familiar with material, then let them use (it) to be creative and use us to accomplish that creativity," says Riggs.

"A lot of times I will meet an older architect who thinks all we do is red-brick stamped patterns still," he adds. "The older (architects) are amazed at what business is like now...it's really an eye-opener for them."

Just some of the services Progressive Concrete offers are Bomanite® stamped and imprinted colored slabs in a variety of colors, textures, and patterns including slate, granite, limestone, sandstone, cobblestone and used brick; Patène Artectura®, a system of flexible options using specialized coloring, patterning, staining, texturing and finishing techniques to create unique and dramatic special effects on concrete; Micro-Top®, a paper-thin, troweled-on cementitious topping that tenaciously bonds to virtually any substrate, including concrete, wood, metal, or plastic and provides a coloration system like no other to create custom logos, unlimited graphics, swirls of color or marbleized hues; PCW Thin-Set, a specially formulated polymer modified topping mix that allows the installation of a thin, imprinted concrete topping 3/8-inches thick used for interior or exterior applications; and Grasscrete®, structurally sound porous pavement used extensively for erosion control and fire lanes.

They also offer structural concrete, foundations, and flatwork for both residential and commercial use, and have received several distinguished awards, including the 2002 American Concrete Institute Excellence In Concrete Project for Hayden Ferry Lake Side; the 2001 Bomanite Silver Award for Best Patene Artectura Project for the Haddad Residence; First Place from the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association in the 1999 Residential Category; and the Bomanite Gold Award for the best residential Patene Artectura project worldwide.

Their varied project portfolio includes work for the St. Thomas Moore Catholic Church in Glendale, Arizona, where they installed over 24,000 square feet of interior architectural concrete. The 100 percent concrete sanctuary floor includes isles, an alter, and main traffic flow areas all done with a Bomanite slate texture in a gray base with a dark gray release agent. The floors under the pews were done with a contrasting gray color in a steel trowel finish.

At a home in Paradise Valley (Scottsdale, Arizona), the interior floor was Patene Artectura stained and saw cut in natural variations similar to an aged copper roof. The color palette ranges from blue-greens to earth tones and red ocher. This project won the Bomanite Gold Award Winner Worldwide for the best Patene Artectura project and second place in the National Portland Cement Associations 1997 indoor/specialty category.

For the Sky Harbor Airport Terminal in Phoenix, Micro-Top and Patene Artectura were combined, creating a dirt background, asphalt, striping and Route 66 logo. Then the floor was polished and sealed using the five-coat Patene Artectura sealer system. That project won the Bomanite Gold 1999 for best Micro-Top Retail/Restaurant Project and the Honorable Mention National Ready Mixed Concrete Association 1999 Commercial Category.

The company's last few years of projects reflect what Riggs has to say about where the industry is headed as a whole. "(We are) growing architecturally as an industry," he says. "The biggest changes are in overlay products. (With) micro-top and the other products available today...I couldn't have imagined them 15 years ago."

As Riggs continues to create with concrete, his company's reputation-- that of being a company capable of delivering high-end, quality projects on time -- continues to spread. "The fact that we can pull tricks out of a hat," Riggs says, "and incorporate textures and colors to create new looks, that's what it's about."

Progressive Hardscapes
Michael Riggs
Pheonix, AZ 85027
(623) 582-2274
Send Mail Now - Click Here
http://www.progressiveconcrete.com

More Contractor Features

Find Decorative Concrete Contractors
Or: