Oct 23 2006
Homeowners and designers are always looking for ways to enhance the beauty of their home while maximizing what their money buys. For help with this problem during a recent remodel of a front and backyard a local designer turned to Concrete FX for assistance. To meet her client’s requirements of price, performance and looks, Concrete FX installed a decorative concrete coating over the existing concrete.
The project is located in a suburb of Ventura County. “The property’s owners were looking for ways to make a real statement with their hardscape and landscape,” Jan, the designer, said. "We received bids to rip out all of the concrete, which was fundamentally sound, and replace it with stamped concrete. The cost, while within the budget, didn’t provide the pizzazz they were looking for, not to mention the noise, mess and inconvenience that would ensue."
“We find most property owners are unaware that we can transform and beautify the look of their concrete without the cost or mess of removing the existing concrete,” says Tom Niemerow of Concrete FX, a leading installer of concrete coatings in the Los Angeles and Ventura County areas of Southern California. Although concrete coatings have been around for over 20 years, the technology of these coatings has improved tremendously over the last 7 years. According to Niemerow, “we can make concrete look like flagstone, bricks, add texture even stamp the coating to make it look just like stamped concrete – for a fraction of the cost.”
The decorative concrete industry calls these coatings: “polymer modified cements”. According to Paul Porreca of Americrete, a nationwide manufacturer of coatings: “We take care of the science by engineering these cements to bind to concrete and be durable to the type of traffic on a specific job. With an 1/8” thick cement coating, we can achieve higher PSI ratings than typical concrete. The Paris Hotel in Las Vegas has used our cements because of their beauty and durability and the California Department of Transportation has specified Americrete products to overlay highways for its durability.”
Jan was delighted after meeting with Concrete FX. “I was unaware of the design capabilities I had with this medium. They really worked with me to push the envelope to create a totally unique design for my clients,” she said.
Niemerow told us, “We have so much flexibility with decorative overlays. We can simply resurface concrete that is old and tired looking, we can add multiple colors to it to make it look aged or we stamp an overlay to look just like stamped concrete. We have taken plan concrete and put a used brick overlay on it for 50% of the cost of using real brick." Tom went on, “In this project we not only stamped a beautiful granite texture with custom coloring that Jan wanted, but we created terra-cotta tile borders with our overlay material. However, the part that everyone marvels at is the custom “etched” designs Jan and I created for the front entry, driveway and backyard.”
Maintenance of these coatings is very simple. They can be hosed down like you would concrete – but because it has been sealed, dirt stays on topically on the surface. Most stains can be wiped down with soap and water or a citrus based cleaner.
“My clients were literally blown away with the finished product, a combination of stamped overlay and custom stencils creating an etched concrete carpet effect,” Jan said. "I am already working with Concrete FX on two more projects in which we will be using an overlay on one and concrete dyeing on another."
Tom told us: “Not all projects are this detailed. The majority of our clients are homeowners looking for a way to increase their enjoyment of the backyard or increasing the curb-appeal of their front. We even have clients who have us overlay the interior of their homes. The main reason is that compared to masonry, overlays are a very cost effective option – and you don’t have to tear anything out.”