Product Features

Bestselling How-To Books:

Contractors, architects, builders, and designers can benefit from the practical, in-depth information about how to stamp concrete in Bob Harris Guide to Stamped Concrete. This 144 page book covers surface preparation, forming, coloring, the stamping process from A-Z, and much more. Also available is Bob Harris Guide to Concrete Overlays & Toppings. At 133 pages, this book provides detailed, step-by-step treatment procedures for a variety of different systems, including stampable and self-leveling overlays, microtoppings, underlayments, and spray-applied toppings. Bob Harris Guide to Stained Concrete Interior Floors is a 100 page, full-color resource containing valuable, detailed information, including tips and tricks from Bob Harris, for contractors staining interior concrete floors. Click here to purchase.

How to Choose the Right Diamond Saw Blade
A step-by-step approach to sorting through the options

Whether youre sawing control joints, enhancing concrete with decorative scoring, or cutting out existing concrete for patching or replacement, you cant do the job without a top-quality saw blade. But like a master chef who needs an assortment of knives to prepare various gourmet specialties, you cant rely on just one type of blade to do all these cutting tasks well, or even to perform the same task in different types of concrete.
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Surrounding Fireplaces With Beautiful Decorative Concrete Work
Sierra Concrete Design, Inc.

A fireplace is not only the centerpiece of a room, but also a wonderful gathering place for friends and family. The elements surrounding a fireplaceincluding the mantel across the top of the fireplace opening, the legs up either side of the opening, the sub-mantel or riser (a sort of lip on the bottom front), and the hearth (which can be on the floor or raised)can alsocomplementand add to a rooms dcor.

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Water-based Stain from Smith Paints Gives Concrete Contractors a Full Palette

Water-based stain created for concrete offers concrete artists the chance to push the envelope when it comes to color. When concrete artisans expressed an interest in paints, Chuck Brunner, the owner of Smith Paint Products, Harrisburg, PA, found out what they wanted to achieve and then found the formula that worked. His goal was to reduce opacity, increase penetration and adhesion and create UV resistant color. With a new formula, Brunner launched Smiths Color Floor and Color Wall. He recently added, the Old World Series that offers additional options of transparent color, and metallic.

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A New Way to Stencil Concrete

Adhesive masking patterns offer unlimited options for artistic creativity

In the early 1980s, manufacturers introduced heavy-duty paper stencils for concrete as an alternative to pattern stamping. Designed to be lightly pressed into the concrete surface, they offered a fast way to put repeating brick or stone patterns in large slabs, such as driveways and patios.
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Milestones IncPaul Nasvik, a Decorative Precast Innovator

by Jeanne Fields, The Concrete Network

Paul Nasvik, who describes his education as the school of hard rocks says, I left college quickly in order to learn. Nasviks learning is deep, comprehensive and always project driven. His learning results in products like patented decorative form liner systems, precasting concrete countertops, unique mix-designs for concrete countertops, and thin concrete rock boulders. Nasviks interest began early while working for his fathers small remodeling company in Minnesota. He is full of stories about his Dad and his highly individualistic brothers, all involved in the Decorative Concrete industry. Nasviks creativity is as a molder and a precast concrete manufacturer in Wisconsin with his company Milestones, Inc., Hudson, WI.
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Epoxy Terrazzo Toppings Blend Beauty with Function

Anne Balogh, The Concrete Network

Invented by the Venetians in the 1500s, cement-based terrazzo is one of the oldest types of decorative flooring systems. This mosaic-like floor toppingmade by embedding small pieces of marble or granite in mortar, followed by polishingis still highly prized for its timeless beauty. But a newer type of terrazzo has entered the scene, offering a host of benefits that threaten to shrink the market for traditional cement-based systems.
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A DEFINITIVE POLISHER FOR CONCRETE

THE DS 301 PLANETARY POLISHER
From A Stone Equipment and Supply HouseBy Jeanne Fields, The Concrete Network

If you make concrete counter tops, pour concrete floors or steps, the DS 301 Planetary Polisher is for you. This hand-held polishing tool is unique in the industry, accomplishing flat, smooth concrete surfaces quickly. It is a true planetary polisher. With three small heads mounted on a large wheel, it moves like the earth around the sun the small heads spinning in one direction and the large head traveling in the opposite. What makes this polisher unique is that the heads are powered from the side rather than from the centeran improvement in polishers that is the genius of its creator, Dennis Stoscher, co-owner of Intertool and its sister company, Leitch & Co.
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Barths takes faux finishing to a new level

By Anne Balogh, The Concrete Network

With over 15 years of experience in decorative painting, master craftsman Barth White began dabbling in faux finishing long before the technique became all the rage. From beginnings as a wallpaper contractor in the 1970s, he branched out into the faux finishing and decorative painting of walls in the 1980s. He soon became one of the premier faux and decorative painting contractors in the Las Vegas area, and in 1995 he opened his own decorative painting studio, Barths Faux Finishing.
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Roller produces realistic salt finish without the salt

By Anne Balogh, The Concrete Network

A popular textured finish for concrete flatwork, particularly in the western and southern regions of the country, is a rock-salt finish. As the name implies, the look is traditionally achieved with the same coarse rock salt sold for use in water softeners or as a deicer in winter. Concrete finishers broadcast the salt particles over wet concrete and then press the grains into the surface with a float or roller. After the concrete sets, they power wash the salt away, revealing a speckled pattern of shallow indentations left by the dislodged salt particles.
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FloorPix- Changing the Flooring Picture

ByJeanne Fields, The Concrete Network

In very early times, people placed art on floors. Greco-Roman mosaics and frescoes on floors are classic examples. Now, in the 21st century, there is something entirely new a patent-pending digital imagery revolutionFloorPix.
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Concrete Walls Display Eye-Catching Artwork

By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

The first time you drive down the Pima Freeway in Scottsdale, Ariz., youll find it impossible to keep your eyes on the road. Off to your side, youll see a wall 8 miles long displaying larger-than-life images of desert flora and fauna. This roadside mural delights and educates by presenting a visual history of the native species and geography of the local surroundings. But in this case, the images are actually molded into concrete, providing a permanent display to be enjoyed by travelers for decades to come.
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Tek Gel for Profiling

Environmentally safe gel takes the guesswork and hazards-out of surface preparation
By Anne Balogh, The Concrete Network

The patented technology, called Tek Gel for Profiling, is a surface treatment with a gel-like consistency that can be applied with minimal run-off to flat, vertical, and even overhead surfaces. It offers the dual advantages of uniformly profiling concrete while cleaning it. The high-viscosity gel can effectively strip efflorescence, rust, mineral and salt deposits, algae, and other unwanted organic gunk from concrete. When applied to smooth, dense steel-troweled floors, it opens up the surface to improve bonding with subsequent coatings.
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This 5-foot unique stencil design that was etched into an entryway slab. The slab was prestained, and then the design was etched into it. The picture above shows the stencil in place with Tek Gel for Stenciling applied to the exposed areas of the stencil.

Design Pro engineers forming solutions for excess concrete

By Anne Balogh, The Concrete Network

What to do with returned concrete is a recurring problem faced by many ready-mix producers. Rather than letting it go to waste, they can now turn that overabundance into highly marketable cast concrete products, thanks to the wide array of steel block forms manufactured by Design Pro Inc., Duluth, Minn.

Gene Luoma, the companys founder and president, is the person responsible for devising this practical solution to ready-mix excess. Luoma has a long history of inventing products that solve peoples problemsranging from a handy little household device, called a Zip-It, that clears clogged drains to a solar-powered mobile sign for warning motorists of highway problems. He came up with the idea for Design Pros first productthe V-Interlock block formabout 5 years ago.
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SAW-CUT MASTER:

A Decorative Concrete Contractor Armed with Soff-Cut Saw and Beveled Blade! by Jeanne Fields, The Concrete Network

Before the cracks are there, you make the cut. You bevel edges, round corners, and achieve the perfectwell, close to perfect Tooled Joint look! You create grids, curved designs, edgings, graphics, and wonder where there are additional places to use that saw! Soff-Cut International, Inc., based in Corona, CA, makes this all possible with the introduction of their Ultra Early Entry Concrete Cutting Saws and Diamond Blades that cut control jointswith the option to add chamfer joints, radiuses or V-shaped patterned joints.
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Building Energy-Wise Homes with ICFs

ICF walls are the "Ferrari" of exterior wall systems for cutting home heating and cooling costs By Anne Balogh, The Concrete Network

If Richard Rue, CEO of Energy Wise Systems, Mansfield, Texas, had his way, most new homes being built in the country today would have exterior walls constructed with insulating concrete forms. "You can heat and cool three ICF houses for every one house thats typical 2x4 wood-frame construction with fiberglass insulation," he claims.
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Fortress Stabilization restores strength

to bowed basement walls By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

Unstable soils are a basements worst enemy, whether the antagonists are expansive clay or compressible or improperly compacted fill. They launch a sneak attack by leaving foundations unevenly supported, triggering settlement and cracking. They can also barrage basement walls with lateral loads, causing the walls to bow inward. As many homeowners can attest, the battle scars from all of this damage can be devastating to real estate values.
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Turning Concrete Into Metal: The New Alchemy

PlateAll Metal Coating, a relatively new, one-of-a-kind product, can be applied to virtually any surface wood, glass, foam, stone, plastic, and, of course, concrete to achieve a seamless metal finish with the appearance of solid cast metal. The cold spray process, which can be applied with a conventional spray gun, can be applied, cured and polished within hours from start to finish to give the look of brass, bronze, copper, nickel-silver, stainless steel and aluminum.
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Sawtec Grinder-Vac

Sawtec's surface grinding equipment provides a safe, convenient, and cost-effective method for preparing concrete surfaces while keeping the air free from concrete dust and other contaminants. The Sawtec Grinder-Vac line of equipment includes dependable 5" and 7" hand-held models, and a 10" walk-behind model for concrete cleaning, planing, coatings removal or other floor finishing preparation work.
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Concrafter design stamps produce eye-catching borders and insets

By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

For decades, pattern stamping and exposed aggregate have been popular methods for adorning concrete surfaces. Now theres a simple design technique that marries the two looks, and multiplies the "wow" factor. Just one look at the stunning results will make it clear why this new approach to decorative concrete is catching the attention of contractors, architects, homeowners, and municipalities alike.
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Slip Industries makes finishing tools that last, and last and last

By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

For more than a decade, concrete contractors seeking sturdy, dependable finishing tools for everyday use or that special tool to complete a one-of-a-kind project have turned to Slip Industries of Manheim, Pa. The small family-owned business, run by Charyl Dommel and her son Sam, was started in 1989 by Charyls father, Charles Herr.
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Adjustable Kicker: A reusable, labor-saving alternative to wood form bracing

By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

Most concrete contractors would rather spend their time and energy placing concrete instead of sawing lumber to brace forms, only to end up tossing out the wood bracing after a couple of uses. That was certainly true for Tim Colatruglio, a third-generation concrete contractor from Ohio. A few years ago, when he was working with his father placing concrete perimeter walls and curbs for apartment complexes, he got fed up seeing so much discarded lumber at the end of the day. By the time we were done with a job, we had accumulated a tremendous amount of waste lumber used for form bracing. I thought: There has to be a better way, he says.
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Colormaker Uses Concrete as the Canvas for Artistic Flooring

By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

Great art doesnt just hang on walls or sit atop pedestals. You may also find it underfoot, in the form of a beautifully crafted and detailed concrete topping meant to be walked on as well as admired.
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HoverTrowel finishes polymer floor toppings with ease

By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

The use of toppings and overlays to decorate, protect, or restore concrete flatwork has exploded in the last decade. Behind this trend is an influx to the market of newer polymer systems that offer outstanding performance and aesthetic qualities. Until recently, however, equipment for finishing these state-of-the-art floor toppings has not evolved at the same rapid pace.
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FossilCrete Takes a Walk on the Wild Side

By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

Concrete is a material for the ages, derived from the earths oldest natural elements and designed to endure for decades. So what better medium to use for the fossilized renderings of our planets flora and fauna, from prehistoric dinosaurs to animal footprints to fern fronds and bamboo leaves?
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Creating Excitement with COLOR

New polymer stain for concrete comes in a palette of bold, vibrant huesBy Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

For decades, designers and decorative concrete contractors have been using acid-etch chemical stains to dress up plain concrete floor and slab surfaces. The rich, earthy tones of these stains produce a variegated look that resemblesnatural stone, marble, wood, or even leather. The luxurious effects possible with this coloring technique are truly remarkable. But what if subtle drama isnt what youre after? What if you want to energize a drab concrete surface with colors that are bright, bold, and lively?
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Fritz-Paks prepackaged admixtures offer first aid for concrete

By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

Anyone who has worked with fresh concrete knows how time-sensitive and perishable it can be, especially when unexpected delays occur. Fritz-Pak Corporation manufactures and sells admixtures that can restore loads of concrete that might otherwise be rejected due to delays or other complications. They can also improve the performance of problem concrete by modifying its characteristics and enhancing workability.
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Stamped Concrete Overlay Revamps Walls

By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

Youve seen how decorative stamping can add beauty and drama to concrete floors, sidewalks, driveways, and other horizontal surfaces. Wouldnt it be great if you could use the same process to enhance vertical surfaces, such as the walls inside your home or building, a fireplace front, or an exterior privacy wall?

Now you can with a new cementitious wall overlay material called Flex-C-Ment. Only about one-third the weight of a conventional cementitious overlay, the material can be applied directly over primed drywall, wood, masonry, and other vertical surfaces, indoors and out. And its specially formulated to go on thickly so you can create various rock textures and other designs using stamps or hand sculpting techniques.
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Museumrocks concrete rockscapes offer a glimpse into geologic history

By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

Forest Boone, president and owner of Museumrock Products, Louisville, Ky., is a professional sculptor with a passion for geology. He has combined his interests and talents into a very successful businessone that allows him to replicate millions of years of geological history in artificial rock formations molded in concrete.
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Flattooing Twenty-First Century Graphic Design from Surface Gel Tek

By Anne Balogh, The ConcreteNetwork

Surface Gel Tek (SGT), Mesa, AZ. a five year old innovative company is revolutionizing the use of acids for decorative concrete work and surface preparation. SGT just added Flattoosthe art of tattooing images and graphics into concrete surfaces. It is a great new tool for contractors that enriches decorative options, expands the use of intricate designs and incorporates graphics, logos and text. Flattooing is easy to do and inexpensive. It makes the contractor look like an artist and increases profit potential!
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ULTRATEX COATINGS LTD - Concrete Systems that Meet Contractor Needs

By Jeanne Fields, The Concrete Network

Ultratex Coatings Ltd is a manufacturer of modified cementitious materials for new construction or older structures. They offer decorative self-leveling topping, underlayment, repair mortar, and sealer at competitive prices. Ultratex maintains a hands-on connection with general contractors, builders and owners through its trained installers. Ken Hamid, President of Ultratex Coatings LTD, based in Toronto, Canada, says, Ultratex strives to maintain a strong connectiondown to the jobsite level.
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