Relaxing in the sun!

It seems this summer more than ever, homeowners have been putting emphasis on remodeling their pool deck. Maybe it's the gorgeous 90 degree weather we've been getting or just that fact that people are starting to realize all the different options available.

A while back I posted about pool decks and a few options.

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Today I want to expand those options into the EZ Top deck, Sand Cast, and Revealed options. These three options differ greatly in look from the patterned and seamless textured stamped concrete. However, besides the look difference, they are very comparable to stamped concrete.

With these three options, you have the option to integrally color the concrete which means you add color into the concrete before pour and you have the option to acid stain. As you remember about stains, stains react with the concrete to give it a mottled look. Below are pool decks of the EZ Top, Sand Cast, and Revealed concrete.

Sand Cast

Revealed

EZ Top

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Carly Dus

Concrete Arts

http://www.concretearts.com/

Digging Deep For Creativity At the YMCA

Would you ever think flooring like this would be salvageable?

The YMCA and Concrete Arts has had a long lasting relationship, and it works out great. We've been able to dig deep into our creativity in repairing some of the worst existing floors that we've seen.

We've recently did a polished floor up in Longville, MN at YMCA's Camp Olson. As you saw in the pictures above, the flooring was in tough shape. The edging of the tile was cracked for so long that the sealers and waxes put over the existing flooring left stains in the concrete base. The flooring also had random cracks throughout the base surface. To mask these problems areas, the floor was grinded down and cracks were repaired. We then put a precast edging around the floor edges to hide the stains. We also added in random decorative saw cuts to hide the existing cracks. Each area was filled in with a different colored dye to add dimension.

Below are a few pictures of the final phases at Camp Olson.

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Carly Dus

Concrete Arts

http://www.concretearts.com/

Heart Breakers and In The Grove Music

In the last couple of months, Concrete Arts has finished a few Micro Topping projects. MicroTops are a great, cost effective solution to put over existing concrete without tearing it up. Laid down at a credit card thickness, Microtops give the flexibility to the application. It can be applied in a smooth coating or a texture coating. The two projects below showcase both textures.

In The Grove Music
In The Grove Music which is located in Downtown Minneapolis has an existing concrete flooring that was cracked and in rough shape. With the walls newly redone, the flooring needed to match the design aesthetics. The MicroTop application was laid down smooth and then stained a patina mottled look. Below are a few pictures of the areas resurfaced.

Heart Breakers
Heart Breakers in Uptown Minneapolis was a unique situation. The lower basement had a platform in the corner that they wanted to blend in with the rest of the old and scuffed up existing concrete. To blend it in, we made a slant from the platform to the base and applied the MicroTop with rough trowel marks to give the illusion of scuffed marks that had been there for years. This application was very cost effective for Heart Breakers because of the cost savings on not tearing out the existing flooring or leveling the platform base. Below are a few pictures of this resurfaced area.

Carly Dus
Concrete Arts

http://www.concretearts.com/