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Special
Products & Practice spotlight
DCC-Enhancing The Evolution of Decorative Concrete
The Decorative Concrete
Council, and its contractor members, continue improving
durability, utility, and aesthetics
BY
BEV GARNANT |
Founded
in 1998, the Decorative Concrete Council (DCC)--a specialty
council of the American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC)--has
as its mission the advancement of the quality and use of decorative
concrete systems for both horizontal and vertical applications.
Decorative concrete isn't new. Concrete stamping tools have
been in use since the early 1950s, and coloring of concrete
began long before that. Yet, for as long as it has been around,
decorative concrete is still the fastest growing segment of
the concrete industry. According to concrete contractor Tom
Ralston, it is still evolving, offering designers and owners
new capabilities elements, and options for interiors and exteriors
alike. Ralston, who is President of Tom Ralston Concrete,
Santa Cruz, CA, believes decorative concrete has merely scratched
the surface with regard to applications and techniques. In
fact, all of the members of DCC perceive their industry as
booming and not yet close to reaching its peak.
EVOLUTION
AND MANSION
Jay Fangman, Sales Manager for Colorado Hardscapes, comments,
"The design community has come to realize the breadth
of the new materials and new tools that are expanding the
limits for floors, walls, and more. Decorative concrete is
really gaining momentum in that sphere."
The "Artistry in Concrete"
demonstrations at World of Concrete (WOC) 2003 revealed the
extent to which concrete finishing has evolved into an art
form. Ralston, one of the participating artists, embedded
metal objects,
colored aggregate, glass, and other
natural materials into a concrete countertop and diamond polished
its surface to a 3000-grit finish. At the same demonstration,
Dana Boyer, of ConcretiZen, created an exquisite ocean scene
on concrete, texturing it with overlay and enhancing it with
chemical stains, dyes, and tints. Other demos showcased metallic
epoxies, patterning with sandblasted stenciling, the cutting
of three-dimensional graphics and images, and the creation
of images with a diamond-blade angle grinder and
colored stains.
"So many intricate, elegant designs
can be created out of concrete at half the cost of stone or
other natural materials," says Ralston. "The selection
of finishes, textures, and colors is hard to believe. I would
guess that that there are now probably 800 colors we can incorporate
into a design." To get its message across, Ralston's
company takes 1/32 of a cubic yard of concrete, breaks the
color pigments into grams, and makes color samples for clients.
Doug Bannister, of The Stamp Store,
a distributor of decorative concrete tools and materials in
Oklahoma City, OK, explains that more people are beginning
to understand that decorative concrete contractors can improve
existing concrete as well and are not limited to treating
only newly placed material. "For a while, concrete had
to be new to be able to apply any significant decorative element,"
says Bannister. "With the advent of products such as
stains and overlays, old, gray concrete can be transformed
into a fantastic 'new' floor." Today, people are often
standing on concrete and don't realize it, Ralston adds.
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