He asked for and received permission to show the many vendors, polishers, architects and guests  who would be attending the seminar just how stylish and functional decorative concrete can be.

Mike had two slabs on which to demonstrate staining and engraving techniques to impress the naysayers .  He also had a problem. He was scheduled to be out of town during the event.

Not about to give up on proving the organizers wrong, Mike turned to his daughter, who works part time with him, for help.  She had used decorative concrete stain before, but she had never engraved concrete.

Could an inexperienced decorative concrete engraver really convince an already skeptical audience that acid stain and engraving was the way to go?

After a crash course in laying out the design to be engraved, learning to change the blade on the Engrave-A-Crete Mongoose, and doing a dry run the night before the seminar, Mike left his daughter on her own.

Using three colors of acid stain, the Mongoose and her father’s instructions, she produced a decorative concrete job that astounded the onlookers.  Among them were a group of architects who admitted they had no idea concrete could look so good, and immediately started planning ways to incorporate decorative concrete staining and engraving into upcoming projects.

Mike, with the help of his daughter, had won the challenge, hands down!

So the points of this true story are:

• Don’t neglect marketing to specialized groups, such as architects, who may not realize the benefits and beauty of decorative stained concrete;
• Decorative stained and engraved concrete is still one of the most stylish and practical options for new and old concrete surfaces; and
• Be ready for a challenge. It might turn into your next decorative concrete job.

Mike Murray
Decorative Concrete Supply, Inc.
8329 Monticello Road, Suite E
Shawnee, KS 66227

This big cat was engraved in the concrete at the entrance of the field house of Dumas High School in Dumas, AR by Flooring Consultants of Sherwood, AR, using the Engrave-A-Crete Kaleidocrete System and Concrete Resurrection pigmented stain.

According to Bob Nesbitt, Flooring Consultants owner:

“We used WRC Onyx, Charcoal and Custard to get the feline shades, especially those glowing eyes. Then, the whole image was encircled with a ring using Dark Slate. The Bobcat is in a very high traffic area, so we sealed it with a particularly tough sealer.”

Bob Nesbitt of Flooring Consultants, Inc. has made engraving logos and mascots into decorative concrete a vital part of his business, both for interior and exterior projects.

Nesbitt enjoys the artistic exercise of the design.  The final product is eye-catching and excellent in-place advertising for the decorative concrete business.

Bob Nesbitt
Flooring Consultants, Inc
Sherwood, Arkansas | North Little Rock, Arkansas
(501) 835-7892

Cracks in concrete make everyone cringe, but they are especially irritating to an owner who sees no way to deal with them.

Fortunately there are ways that a crack in a concrete surface can become part of something beautiful.   We’ve written about incorporating cracks into decorative concrete on Groov-E-News before. In each situation, demolition seemed to be the appropriate solution until the owners talked to their local decorative concrete engraver.

At Engrave-A-Crete’s Discovery and Training Seminar, part of the lessons include some discussion about cracks, what causes them and some repair and stabilization techniques. There are also lessons on incorporating a cosmetic crack.

In “Chance Encounter at the ER“, John Rausch of Amazing Concrete Engravers in Twin Lakes, WI, shared a project where a crack on a porch was incorporated into an engraved design. The porch couldn’t be demolished because it was the cover/roof for a wine cellar and part of the structure.

In “Incorporating Cracks into Decorative Concrete Design” John told of  another incident where pillars were improperly placed on fresh concrete resulting in unsightly cracks in the fresh concrete. John and the home owner selected stains from Concrete Resurrection that complemented the home, then John engraved a dramatic flagstone pattern on the porch rendering the cracks nearly invisible.

Bob Nesbitt of Flooring Consultants, Inc, in Sherwood, Arkansas, used a pretty vine design to disguise cracks as described in “Incorporating Cracked Concrete into Your Design“  The vines looked so good that extra tendrils were engraved where no crack existed.

Homeowners with cracked concrete — do not despair.   You can have the most unusual and delightful design that disguises the cracks in your concrete or enhances them as part of the integral character of the slab.  The decorative concrete professionals in these stories used Engrave-A-Crete decorative concrete cutting and engraving tools along with Concrete Resurrection Stains and Sealers for colors both natural and dramatic.

Your concrete can become a crack-free zone — if you aren’t acquainted with a nearby decorative concrete engraver, you can call 800-884-2114 today to learn if someone is serving your area or you can fill out the information inquiry at the Engrave-A-Crete website.

If you are a hardscape or landscape professional or concrete professional who would like to offer your customers a crack-free environment, but have no solutions, call 800-884-2114 to find out how to get the tools and supplies necessary, plus training if you wish.  Or you may complete the request for information form at the Engrave-A-Crete website available 24-7 at your convenience. Your future awaits you.

Contractors referenced above include:

Amazing Concrete Designers
John Rausch
12011 33oth Ave.
Twin Lakes, WI 53181
Phone: 262-206-2162
Email: info@amazingconcretedesigners.com

AND

Bob Nesbitt
Flooring Consultants, Inc
Sherwood, Arkansas | North Little Rock, Arkansas
(501) 835-7892

Terry Schroder has discovered just how satisfying it is to score big at the Werner Park baseball complex in Sarpy County, Nebraska. Schroder, doing business as Schroder Concrete, snagged his largest job to date when he was awarded the contract to engrave and stain the giant logo welcoming visitors to the home of the Omaha Storm Chasers, a Kansas City Royals Triple-A affiliate. Schroder worked closely with Engrave-A-Crete template master Stephen Lee to finalize the 12′ x 16′ custom template displaying the Werner Park symbol and the corporate sponsor logos surrounding it.

“We shipped the template in twenty pieces,” Lee says, alluding to the size of the project and the intricacy of design. “I always enjoy projects like this. It takes some thinking on how to best create the image and make it usable for the customer.”

Once Schroder had the templates laid out, he used the KaleidoCrete Shark and Barracuda for the engraving and the Wasp to add the finishing touches. “It was a real challenge to keep a vision of how the design would look when it was finished while we were working with a template that big and with that much detail,” Schroder says. “There was a lot of Wasp work on that job.” Schroder completed the pattern by using a Mongoose equipped with a wide blade to encircle the entire design.

Schroder and his partner, Dave, did most of the painting using a combination of Concrete Resurrection WRC stains and various other stains to get the perfect shades for the design. “Dave has experience in an automotive body shop, so he mixed the paint,” Schroder says. “Sometimes it took mixing several colors to get just the right shade so that, for instance, all the yellows weren’t the same in different parts of the design.”

In addition to the challenge of a large and extremely complicated stencil, Schroder faced the uncertainty of engraving and staining outdoors in Nebraska’s early-spring weather.

“I was really nervous about the weather,” Schroder says. “I was afraid the concrete wouldn’t be warm enough to accept the stain and sealer successfully, so we tented the area with a 30′ by 30′ tent and heated it with propane to get the surface temperature up. One afternoon a severe thunderstorm was forecast. It turned out to be mainly wind, but it blew in a lot of dirt and made a mess.”

So, did Schroder’s hard work and attention to detail score a home run? Apparently so, because the park owners were extremely satisfied with the results.  Schroder hopes his winning streak will continue as visitors to the ballpark notice his work and request bids for their projects.

With Schroder’s strong work ethic and obvious decorative concrete talent, those of us at Engrave-A-Crete are wagering that Schroder Concrete is going to collect quite a following of fans.

Schroder Concrete
Omaha, Nebraska
402-660-900

Floors Sell

That’s the experience of the home builder who hired Flooring Consultants, Inc. of Sherwood, Arkansas to perform decorative concrete magic on the floors of a newly constructed home.

Bob Nesbitt, owner of Flooring Consultants, Inc, used the natural color of the concrete as contrasting, yet coordinating ‘strips’ in a tasteful modification of a Charm Square quilt pattern.

The home owner said his buying decision was influenced by the beautiful, low maintenance floors which offer color, design and a sense of “HOME.”

Nesbitt is a frequent and welcome visitor at the Discovery and Training Seminars held by Engrave-A-Crete, and is always encouraging to students who attend.

Bob Nesbitt
Flooring Consultants, Inc
Sherwood, Arkansas | North Little Rock, Arkansas
(501) 835-7892