OUTDOOR ROOMS
GROW IN POPULARITY
HOMEOWNERS
ARE REMODELING AND RENOVATING LIKE NEVER BEFORE. MANY WHO
LOVE TO SPEND TIME OUTSIDE ARE INTEGRATING DECORATIVE CONCRETE
INTO THEIR OUTDOOR RENOVATION PROJECTS.
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| Decorative stamped concrete often costs less to install
than stone, brick, or tile while permitting endless color
and pattern combinations. |
Today people want their own private vacation spot, somewhere
they can retreat to every day," says Mike Boeddeker
of Pristine Concrete, Paso Robles, Calif. He says residents
in the central California area are clamoring for home improvement
projects conducive to outdoor living. He is receiving a lot
of requests for outdoor kitchens with barbecues, sinks, burners,
wormers, refrigerators, and even storage areas. "Homeowners
often want an extension of their house: they want an exterior
surface that flows with the indoor flooring materials they
have used."
AMCON, located in Gaithersburg, Md., is seeing a large increase
in pool related projects. "Many homeowners not only
want a pool, but a total package—a backyard retreat
in which they can escape and relax at the end of the day
and on weekends," says Mary Amaro of AMCON. "We're
seeing more homeowners getting away from dull, gray concrete.
They're becoming familiar with what's now on the market."
Homeowners are learning about the aesthetic options with
decorative concrete by seeing installations in restaurants,
stores, and salons. "People don't know anything about
it, Then they see (a decorative project) in a magazine
and they have to have it," says Bill Guthro of Distinctive
Concrete, Rowley, Mass.
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