|
 |
An
ocean view from the living room of the remodeled Levitt
house; a portion of decorative concrete floor can be seen
in the foreground |
 |
| Placing stripping
prior to casting the floors will leave cavities that,
upon being fitted with seashells, worn glass, and aquarium
sand, will simulate encrusted natural rock fissuring |
|
The surface of
the concrete floor was seeded in strategic locations with
shells, sand, and worn glass |
The concrete walls, in their turn, were
formed and placed in stages at various random heights, and
seeded with rock and sand. We flowed the concrete somewhat
irregularly from one end of a wall to the other. As the mixture
set, this left behind a craggy, roiled interface with the
next lift of concrete placed above it. This replicated the
effect of sedimentary layering often seen within exposed rock
cliffs by the sea. We also employed various additional techniques
to produce natural appearances at the stairs, in the fireplace
surrounds, and on the radiant?heated floors.
THE
AMBIENCE OF A TIDAL POOL
For the floors, we thought it best structurally to use a low-slump
6-sack mixture, 3/4-in. (20 mm) aggregate, in a floor topping
of 3 in. (80 mm), embedded with No. 3 reinforcing steel placed
18 in. (0.5 m) on center. We did roll out first, however,
a fiberglass membrane to cover both the wood and the concrete
subflooring to separate the wood from the concrete in the
former case, and prevent crack reflection in the latter. The
successful blending of materials and techniques produced for
us the "unique" concrete that was our objective
from the start. One observer of the completed work commented
that its ambience was similar to a giant tidal pool.
Other materials used in the remodeling
included copper and natural granite. Their appearance added
to the openness of windows and doors that let in the salt
air-laden breezes and reinforced the shoreside sensation expressed
by the adjacent and contrasting acid-stained concrete embedded
with seashells, glass, and synthetic cracking.
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