Decorative Concrete - Concrete Arts

Streeter and Associates

2011-07-28T09:06:00.006-05:00

Bomanite is redoing its color charts and they had asked that I send over some photos of our past projects that we've used colored dyes. So I went hunting for some in our files upon files of photos (which is a never ending task to organize.)

I love what I found!

Here are some photos of a project Concrete Arts did back in 2003 or 2004 for Streeters and Associates.

And yes its Concrete. We applied a Microtop which is a concrete topping about a thickness of a credit card. We used Bomanite dyes and sealed it. Wild, right?!

Pattern Spotlights

2011-07-18T12:55:00.005-05:00

As I've mentioned before, we are a Bomanite franchise company. Bomanite has been great to us especially with providing great literature and marketing. One things we've started taking advantage of is its Pattern Spotlights. Pattern Spotlights are basically email blasts that we can send out to our customers of a stamped patterns. A little write up is done and great photos are displayed, usually a close up and an overall image.

What we've done at Concrete Arts is save those pdf email blasts on our iPads. This allows to provide homeowners an image when we're out at their home doing an estimate. It's worked great. Homeowners appreciate the technology that Concrete Art's has integrated into its process so they can better understand and picture what their Decorative Concrete project will look like.

Below is just one example of a Pattern Spotlight. Visit our Facebook album to see more.

Makeover!

2011-07-13T14:28:00.005-05:00

We've had Cemstone's Product Vision Imaging software for quite some time but it has yet to be integrated into our sales process. Until now, (we'll see how long it lasts.)

We had a couple come in to our showroom to check out all the patterns and colors we have displayed in a parking lot. Because of the magnitude of options available, Mike, sales employee, thought it was about time we brushed the dust of this software and put it to good use. As it is still in the works to perfect the design skills of the user, the images are a little rough but what a great tool!

Concrete Arts Featured In Local Paper

2011-06-27T09:26:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to share a quick article that was written in the Hudson Star Observer.

Link to Article

More recognition for UIU

2011-06-21T08:42:00.003-05:00

The University of Upper Iowa has been a popular project! Bomanite Corporation did a feature story on UIU that goes out to concrete contractors all over the US and even into Canada. Please read below. Great story!

http://www.bomanite.com/Impressions/june_11.html

Concrete Arts Employee Spotted

2011-06-15T08:17:00.003-05:00

Danice with Bomanite Corporation sent me over a link on some photos that Upper Iowa University put up of the new Student Center that was just complete. Concrete Arts did the polished floors and 2 sets of precast stair treads in the center. The link is below. While continuing the fun research I came across another album UIU put up on the Victories Bar in Fayette IA. THe photos aren't as clear but I definetly spotted one of our own polishing employees. Ronnie Edgemon. Take a look!

Victory's Bar link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/upperiowauniversity/5553690235/in/set-72157625067407600

Student Center Link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/upperiowauniversity/5638499486/

Dallas Cowboy Stadium

2011-06-08T08:58:00.003-05:00

Concrete Arts has been working with Bomanite Franchise Companies all around the United States and Canada. Just recently Concrete Arts had the priviledge to work with North Texas Bomanite on the Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

Concrete Arts provided its Lifetime Floors Revealed product for the pavillion area outside the stadium. Visit the link below to view North Texas Bomanite's work and Concrete Arts' own product that it manufactures.

Go to Dallas Cowboy Stadium Newsletter

Upper Iowa University

2011-05-18T14:58:00.001-05:00

http://www.concretearts.com/ProjectProfile_Page/Upper%20Iowa%20University.pdf

Flight 93 Memorial Underway!

2011-05-03T08:56:00.011-05:00

The Flight 93 memorial is underway! Tom Graf, owner of Concrete Arts, went out early last week to help Gregory T Fried Concrete Contracting with our LifeTime Floors Revealed product.

The memorial is a beautiful area on the country side in the middle of a few fields. I have a few pictures posted below with a direct link to the architects website to view what the final project will look like. To see more photos, become our friend on facebook!

Architect's direct link. http://www.paulmurdocharchitects.com/projects/flt93.htm
Become a facebook friend. http://www.facebook.com/home.php

Memorial Site

The entrance to the Memorial is left of the building. Our product will be used on walkways to the right of the building once you enter. Our Revealed product will be poured right to the base of the Granite Stone. LTF Revealed was choosen to match the beautiful Granite stones that line the walkway.

Bomanite 2009 Best Custom Polishing System Project

2011-03-29T13:51:00.004-05:00

We wanted to share with you a project we just received an award on. The Bomanite 2009 Annual Project awards were just judged and award winners determined. Concrete Arts took the Best Custom Polishing Systems Project – Silver Award home with the MSU Law Enforcement Center. Below is the Project Profile we wrote up in October, 2010.

Flight 93 Memorial

2011-02-03T10:02:00.003-06:00

Concrete Arts was just informed that its LifeTime Floors Revealed product will be used in the Flight 93 Memorial. Press Release to come!

Construction site.

http://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm

Architect plans.

http://www.paulmurdocharchitects.com/projects/flt93.htm

Sandscape Patio - Block Formation

2010-12-29T09:46:00.010-06:00

Creating great architectural design pieces add a subtle elegance to a home. This home in Afton, MN wanted to keep things simple but jazz up the design. Concrete Arts created a series of integrally colored Clay concrete slabs in a Sandscape Exposed texture.

To add to the simple design, Concrete Arts precasted Clay Sandscape stairs that resemble a block formation to bring the residence to their walk out patio surface. These design adds an easy transition from one surface to the next.

Take a look at the photos below.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-21T11:27:00.006-06:00

Merry Christmas!

Adding a little festivity in with our Concrete. Enjoy Concrete Arts' Concrete Fiber Optics Christmas tree. Be creative this year and do something special.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

We hope your Holidays are very blessed.

From the Concrete Arts team

Interesting Arcticles!

2010-12-08T13:59:00.003-06:00

Concrete Homes' November issue of 2010 featured Concrete Countertops. Check out two articles below: Craftsman Countertops and Plane & Fancy.

http://www.concretehomesmagazine.com/

Cannon Falls Home

2010-11-30T10:41:00.011-06:00

Cannon Falls home's before, during and after photos. Enjoy!

Revealed System

2010-11-17T12:52:00.014-06:00

LifeTime Floors Revealed system was used at this residential home in Sunfish Lake, MN. We were contacted by Prestige pools to pour a pool deck. The homeowner wanted a unique clean look to compliment the stucco on the exterior of his home. Instead of going with the traditional stamped concrete, Tom Graf proposed going in a different direction with a specialty Exposed look, LTF Revealed systems.

Concrete Arts created a custom blend of colors to a white base cement to achieve the desired color. Two different sizes of Georgia White aggregate was added to the mix. In addition to the 5,000 s.f of pool deck and walk way area, a fire pit at the base of the pool deck and six different sets of stairs were all hand done with form liners with a bull nose form. Concrete Arts also casted pool caps on site. The pool caps were also a bull nose edging to keep the look consistent.

These are the beautiful images from the pool deck.

Curb appeal

2010-11-09T13:44:00.006-06:00

I love this home that we did below. We used our Sandscape system for their front stoop, retaining wall and stairs. I love the warm brown feel and the light sand exposed texture. It gives this home a contemporary, clean look that makes you want to go visit the fascinating people who live there.

Before and After photos of Cottage Grove Pool Deck

2010-11-01T12:23:00.009-05:00

The photos below are of a pool deck we finished in Cottage Grove, MN. Concrete Arts decorative stamped it with an Old Granite texture.

Before photos

After Photos

Woodbury Pool Deck

2010-10-26T09:47:00.007-05:00

Just some photos of a pool deck we finished in Woodbury. It looks amazing.

Nan McKay: Stimulace Plan for Patio

2010-10-19T11:38:00.012-05:00

When Obama passed his economic stiumulace plan, Public Housing units were able to make public housing more energy efficient and help development projects. Nan McKay in South St. Paul is one example.

Nan McKay chose to redo its patio for its residence in a sustainable product called Sandscape. Sandscape is a preworn, exposed aggregate concrete finish that only needs to be resealed every 10+ years.

The 2,500 square foot patio was integrally colored Mesa Beige and stained 3 different colors within the decorative saw cut pattern, Ebony, Mahogany and Jade. See photos below.

Polished Concrete Article

2010-10-12T13:25:00.003-05:00

Floor Show
By Seth Warren Rose

In a grocery store halfway between Fort Wayne, Ind., and Toledo, Ohio, a new trend may be taking shape. Chief Super Markets, a 13-store grocer based in Defiance, Ohio, has just installed a flooring system that some believe is a green alternative to the daily costs of maintaining tile floors.

“The green factor was just part of our decision,” says Chief’s facility manager, Mark Diller, about his new sustainable floor. “We don’t have to replace floor tile anymore. We don’t have to wax the floor. There are just less maintenance items, other than mopping.”

Chief was remodelling an 8,000-square-foot section of its existing store in Napoleon, Ohio, and wanted to experiment with polished concrete flooring. For solutions, Diller contacted QuestMark Flooring, based in nearby Canonsburg, Pa. The ease of maintenance of the polished concrete floor was the primary benefit for Chief Super Markets.

DiamondQuest, QuestMark’s polished concrete flooring system, is a multistep progressively finer grinding process that transforms an existing concrete floor surface into an entirely new floor with a stunning sheen. While DiamondQuest has been specified mostly by larger companies — more than 10 million square feet of flooring in 2009, nationwide — QuestMark says that of late, more and more midsize and smaller grocers are asking for polished concrete flooring.
The savings in maintenance is one reason for the technology’s popularity. For facility managers who need to squeeze every penny they can out of repairs and maintenance budgets, VCT, or tile, has become a costly burden. Typically, the wax coat on top of VCT is burnished, buffed and burnished again to maintain its shine. But periodically, the coat builds up and needs to be stripped off.

Polished concrete, on the other hand, is inherently easy to clean. That’s because the polishing process reduces the surface area, or pores, that dirt can get trapped in. The floor has a flat, smooth surface texture, so the dirt stays on top. It even requires less soap. And it’s more sanitary than tile because polished concrete has no seams or joint lines to hold dirt.
Acidic foods dropped on the floor, however, such as jarred pickles, may stain a polished concrete floor if not neutralized or cleaned within a reasonable amount of time.

The good news is that the areas where stains may occur are limited to only a couple of spots, typically less than a few percentage points of a store’s sales floor. According to John Kasik, who was in charge of the Chief’s project for QuestMark, a simple quarterly maintenance system that reconditions the floor solves stain issues.

And while some grocers may be waiting for the flooring industry to sort out issues, several leading grocers have been employing polished concrete for years, and therefore obviously believe the savings on maintenance and the superior shine transcend the current minor annoyances.

In fact, the trend toward lower maintenance and sustainability is what Diller says inspired him. “Doing what the big boys are doing” is how he characterizes the move to polished concrete.
Initially, QuestMark created a sample patch before Chief completely committed itself to the new flooring system. A few aisles were polished each night so that store operations weren’t affected. QuestMark striped off the tile, performed a full concrete polish and applied a collared penetrating brown-tone dye.

The entire process “caused very little inconvenience to our customers,” according to Diller.
Both the installation and maintenance of polished concrete floors have positive sustainable benefits. According to The Eneref Institute (http://www.eneref.org/), based in Doylestown, Pa., polished concrete floors contribute to LEED points in at least three categories. In the Energy and Atmosphere category, polished concrete doesn’t employ VOC materials, and the sheen actually increases the room’s ambient light. In the Materials and Resources category, the technology increases the lifespan of the already existing concrete floors. And Innovation in Design may offer a third potential LEED credit.

For most retailers, the low maintenance cost and consistent shine are the greatest advantages to polished concrete. Dull spots on tile give a dirty appearance to the floor. Additionally, it’s no secret to any retailer that a dirty-looking floor hinders sales. No other reasonably priced flooring system is as consistently shiny as polished concrete. And if a consistent shine increases sales, that’s the bottom line.

Seth Warren Rose is the founder of the Eneref Institute (www.eneref.org), a research foundation whose mission is to report on ecologically sensible ideas for commercial and industrial facility decision-makers.
© 2010 Stagnito Media. All rights reserved.

Microtop Flooring!

2010-09-28T11:01:00.008-05:00

We teamed up with Charles Cudd DeNova again. This time for a Microtop floor on a home that is featured in the Parade of Homes. The floor was a beach sand color added to a gray based concrete. We then stained the floor with a Mission brown and highlighted it with a Walnut to create a contrasting look. The floor was sealed with a super clear coat and wax.

Take a pictures below! What a great option other than tile and hardwood.

http://www.concretears.com/

Decorative Project of the Year

2010-09-22T08:58:00.010-05:00

Three of Concrete Art's projects were choosen to be in the running for the Concrete Construction Decorative Project of the Year. (1) Dreamhome, (2) Karvekrete and (3) Target Field.

The CC DOY of 2010 is voted on my a committee and by Readers Choice voting. To view the projects up for the award and to vote visit http://ascribehq.com/concrete-construction-decorative-poy/awards/2010.

See the entry the entries below.

CaringFor Your Interior Concrete

2010-09-16T13:56:00.003-05:00

How to care for you Interior Concrete Applications:

Think of your interior concrete application as a hardwood floor in terms of maintenance and care.
Use a neutral floor cleaner when cleaning. Make sure to follow the manufacturers dilution guidelines when mixing. By using more cleaning solution, you could leave a milky film on top of the concrete.
Most interior applications we provide have a solvent-based acrylic sealer on for a base and then a water-based acrylic floor wax on top of that. The reason for the use of the wax is to provide a maintenance coat, which can periodically be top-coated to freshen up the appearance.
Any sort of floor wax can be used to do this. We use a product from Zep companies that can be found at Home Depot, called High Traffic Floor Finish. If you choose to do this yourself, you need to make sure the floor is clean by mopping with the neutral floor cleaner and make sure it is dry. The wax can be applied with applicators, which can be found at Home Depot as well. It has a light ammonia odor so you do not need to leave the dwelling after the application.
Typically we recommend applying two coats during the process to provide added protection. The wax typically dries within 30 minutes and the second coat can be applied as soon as you can walk on the surface. Let the floor cure for 12 hours prior to moving furniture back in the space. Avoid sliding furniture as it could scuff and scratch.

The Do's and Don'ts for Exterior Concrete

2010-09-13T13:04:00.002-05:00

Exterior Architectural Concrete Maintenance and Do’s and Don’t’s

Do’s:
1. Wash your concrete regularly when dirty with a pressure washer
2. Use just water to clean (don’t use any detergents or chemicals)
3. Have your concrete resealed every 2-3 years depending on traffic patterns
4. Use non-corrosive snow and ice melting agents
5. Hire an experienced snow removal company
6. Use a sealer recommended by Concrete Arts (typically a solvent-based acrylic)
7. Sometimes sprinkler systems will leave white spots on your concrete (a chalky appearance will be evident). This is hard water stains. A good way to remove this would be to use a product called Xylene. This can be purchased at any hardware or home improvement store. Spray this on the affected areas with a garden sprayer and the spots should disappear.

Dont’s
1. Use salt or any chloride product to melt snow.
2. Use an ice pick to remove ice
3. Spray fertilizer or other lawn maintenance items on concrete
4. Let your sealer wear completely off
5. Use any cleaning solutions to clean unless compatible with sealer
6. Reseal it with a non-recommended product (typically home improvement centers do not carry the appropriate products). Contractor supply business such as Brock White, CMI, or Cemstone Contractor Supply can provide you with the right stuff.

Metropolitan State University - Law Enforcement Center

2010-08-30T08:51:00.010-05:00

Metropolitan State University just erected a new facility for its Law Enforcement Center. They choose to incorporate polished concrete throughout the main level's entry way, hall ways, and gathering areas.

The polished concrete was colored Slate gray and seeded with specialty aggregates:

Rib Mountain Red
Violetta
Imperial Gray
Mother of Pearl

They also incorporated Polished Concrete precast stair treads. The stair treads were created to consist of the same color and aggregate to show a continuous look.

Carly Dus

Concrete Art

Decorative Concrete - Concrete Arts

Streeter and Associates

Pattern Spotlights

Makeover!

Concrete Arts Featured In Local Paper

More recognition for UIU

Concrete Arts Employee Spotted

Dallas Cowboy Stadium

Upper Iowa University

Flight 93 Memorial Underway!

Bomanite 2009 Best Custom Polishing System Project

Flight 93 Memorial

Sandscape Patio - Block Formation

Merry Christmas

Interesting Arcticles!

Cannon Falls Home

Revealed System

Curb appeal

Before and After photos of Cottage Grove Pool Deck

Woodbury Pool Deck

Nan McKay: Stimulace Plan for Patio

Polished Concrete Article

Microtop Flooring!

Decorative Project of the Year

CaringFor Your Interior Concrete

The Do's and Don'ts for Exterior Concrete

Metropolitan State University - Law Enforcement Center

Exterior Stamping

New Look to Website

Cabin up North

Appian Cobblestone

Bar Top

Catalytic Combustion Polishing

Little Space, Big impact

Handcarving Stamped Concrete

MN Twins - Target Field Polished Concrete

Karvekrete

One of my Favorite Pool Decks

Pier 500 Countertop

Hockey Table just for Christmas

Best Precast Project - Gold Award

Concrete Countertops - Vessel Sinks

Asian Retreat

Remembering Nativity

A Boy Scout Tribute

Dream Home 2009, Parade of Homes

Exterior of your home

Sandscape Driveway

New Website is Finally Up!

Cigar Shop - Stamped

Outdoor Stamped Concrete

Relaxing in the sun!

Digging Deep For Creativity At the YMCA

Heart Breakers and In The Grove Music

Elements of the Sea

Decorative Concrete - Borders

Decorative Concrete - Patterns

Stamped Concrete - Seamless Texture

Article on Owner, Tom Graf

Stamped Concrete Options

Stamped Concrete - Pool Decks

Stamped Concrete

Decorative Stains

Fiber Optics

Cozy up to Concrete... What?!

Lake Effect Project Finished

Polished Concrete - Lake effect

Countertops - The Only Limit is Your Imagination

FAQs - Look and Care For Concrete

More FAQs on Decorative Concrete

Concrete Countertops - FAQs

Polishing - Floor Restoration

Concrete Art Announces Merger