Central Concrete, a mix-and-pour concrete company in Columbia, Missouri, was beginning renovations on their office building.
The building was filled with 40 year old concrete floors covered in carpet and tile throughout.
One of their customers is Keith Strasser of MO Decorative Concrete who does pour, form and finish concrete work, decorative concrete work and tile installation, and they specifically asked him to bid on re-tiling the office floors.
No self-respecting concrete company should have to cover up perfectly good concrete floors with carpet and tile, so Keith told them about the decorative concrete engraving work he does, and not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he decided to use the opportunity as mutually beneficial beyond just the usual service in exchange for pay.
He asked for the freedom to engrave multiple patterns and designs into Central Concrete’s floors (with their final approval on each design) at a discounted rate in exchange for the ability to use their offices as a show piece for Mo Decorative Concrete.
Keith was given generous design freedom and utilized various engraved designs —
- wood plank
- ashlar slate
- flagstone
- diamond tile
- circular brick
- custom logo
Now, anyone is welcome to visit Central Concrete during office hours and view the floors at 1811 Paris Rd in Columbia.
Keith’s major challenge wasn’t the age of the concrete, but the condition of the floors after removing the old carpet and tile. Once cleaned, the concrete would not absorb and react to the reactive acid stains very well.
Pigmented Water Reducible Concentrate (WRC) stains from Concrete Resurrection were the answer. To achieve the marbling effect that is common with acid stain, Keith used varied dilutions and colors of stain.
The front lobby has a huge diamond-tile design and in the center was engraved the Central Concrete logo surrounded by a circular brick pattern.
As often happens, the customer didn’t get the big idea until the floor was finished, then “They were just blown away by the great look,” Keith commented.
The wood plank design was cut using a very thin blade. The stain is two coats of Concrete Resurrection pigmented stain (WRC) Fossilwood. A wood graining tool was pulled through the second coat of stain to give a realistic ‘sawmill’ look to the grain. Highlight spots and the cut lines received darker stain to authenticate the wood-grain pattern.
Because Central Concrete offices experience heavy traffic, an epoxy sealer was used throughout. The floor in the lobby was so shiny that a pizza delivery guy thought he had stepped on fresh, wet sealer.
Keith is an enthusiastic marketer utilizing
- a website, MODecorativeConcrete.com
- a Facebook page
- area home shows.
He has also downloaded and printed the free Idea Book available from Engrave-A-Crete to use when planning projects with customers.
Keith Strasser and Darren Alexander
MO Decorative Concrete
1315 Rustic Road
Columbia, MO 65201
Phone: 573-268-7292
Fax: 573-214-0680