After
Tom Ralston Concrete recently finished a handsome concrete
wall for the Pacific Gardens Chapel in Santa Cruz, Calif.,
local skateboarders promptly began to destroy it while practicing
their "railing" and jumping techniques. Owner Gary
Benito rapidly became frustrated and turned to Tom to brainstorm
a solution.
Neither Ralston nor Benito were thrilled
with the solutions around town that use bent rebar or metal
plates to deter the skateboarders.
Tom got an idea and within hours went
to the Santa Cruz wharf to buy a seashell that was quickly
made into a mold. From there an Ardex polymer concrete was
used to cast a replica of the shell, adding a piece of rebar
in the mold that could be used to fasten to the wall with
epoxy. Ralston went one step further and coated the concrete
shells with copper epoxy that-was polished with steel wool
and "antiqued" to give a bluish hue for effect.
Finally the walls were drilled and the
shells attached.
The wall hasn't been bothered
since the attractive "shells" went up, and Tom Ralston
Concrete has since received a number of inquiries from other
building owners looking for an attractive fix for their own
problems with skateboard damage.
A