|
|
|
|
News
from
The Decorative Concrete Institute
|
May 2008
|
|
Dear Bob,
Are you looking to break into the decorative concrete
world? Or, perhaps, are you a seasoned
veteran of the business looking for new ideas and to
sharpen your skills? We have training opportunities
available for everyone! We've just added several new
classes.
Be sure to
check out the training available on our website:
Decorative
Concrete Institute
Bob Harris
|
|
Tips
for the Busy Season
Well it's hard to believe we are already here in the
busy construction schedule. Hopefully all of you made
it through the winter and were able to keep yourself
busy. Remember as the season starts to get busy,
it's easy to overlook a few very important considerations.
Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind for you concrete
heads and staining junkies.
As the temperatures increase, certainly this means that
the concrete can set faster. Many of you will
retard the concrete to help adjust the setting time,
but keep in mind, when you add 2 or more admixtures
to the concrete, it can make the concrete spongy and
almost like jello. This was the case for a recent
friend/contractor in which the Ready-Mix producer overdosed
the chemical admixtures. The first load of concrete
he stamped had no admixtures and it came out beautiful.
The second load of concrete had a high dose of retarder
to control the setting time in addition to high air
which made for unworkable concrete. The following
day once the powder release was washed off, the first
load had a perfectly clean imprint while the second
load had thousands of plastic shrinkage cracks or tears
all over the pattern. The end result is he has
to scarify and overlay this unfortunate situation.
The bottom line is as the temperatures increase; please
have good working knowledge of your concrete.
If you are staining in an exterior application, make
certain that you are staining in the coolest part of
the day since acid stains react much faster under heat.
It is a good idea in warm conditions to pre-wet the
concrete, commonly known as SSD (saturated surface dry)
to slow down the absorption and the reaction.
If you stain in excessive heat, you stand the chance
of getting unwanted spray lines or brush marks from
your broom. One last tip, try to conduct a job
site sample for your client to choose from. This
inexpensive test can save your rear especially if you
have a picky client that claims that your stain job
is too orange or too dark. Have them sign off
on their approved sample.
|
Preitech
Training DVD
April 21-22, 2008
As many of you have seen in the past, we have started
a relationship with a company called Preitech who is
a manufacturer of unbelievable reusable and one-time
use countertop forms as well as a host of accessory
items. You may have seen our custom Harley Davidson
sinks in past newsletters or magazine articles using
this system. In April the company's owner, Mike
Eastergard, asked me to help him produce a training
DVD and Overview of Preitech's product line. This
DVD covers from A-Z proper sub-base, edge forming, sink
knockouts as well as a variety of other topics such
as mix designs for the precast professional. Keep
an eye out for the release of this instructional DVD
in midsummer and also for our upcoming Preitech workshop
scheduled for July 17-18.
Click
Here for More Information on the Preitech Workshop!
|
|
Consulting Gig
April 24-25, 2008
Bob flies to Arkansas for a two-day consulting for a
large box store retailer. The goal during this
time frame was to come up with a formula not only for
color, but for the proper polishing sequence to best
facilitate the client's needs.
 Keep
an eye out for this National specification and who knows,
one of you could potentially be working on one or more
of these huge installs.
|
 Ride
to Panama City
Bob and Lee Ann join friends for a roundtrip ride of
close to 700 miles to Panama City for a much needed
weekend away from work.
 We
figured this would be a great opportunity to warm up
for our big ride in June across the United States benefiting
Breast Cancer.
 I
must say other than a sore tailbone for Lee Ann she
did great and I have full confidence that we will have
a great ride!
|
Vertical
Artisans
The Decorative Concrete Institute has built a business
on education and continually strives to stay on the
cutting edge of education. Having said that, we
came across an individual by the name of Nathan Giffin
who is the owner of Vertical Artisans. Nathan
contacted us and invited us on a tour of his educational
website with the focused topic being amazing vertical
stamped concrete applications. His website offers
a range of instructional movies from featured, well-respected
artisans that have been in the business for a long time.
If you thinking about getting into this aspect of decorative
concrete or you are currently installing vertical, you
may want to consider logging on to his website at:
www.verticalartisans.com or our website
www.decorativeconcreteinstitute.com
and sign up for his on-line training.
The annual fee gives you unlimited access to some of
the most cutting edge applications in the industry.
If you are interested be sure to use discount code DCI
to save $195 off your subscription!
|
Upcoming ride for Breast Cancer, "Decorative Concrete
Institute Ride for the Cure 2008"
We here at Decorative Concrete Institute would personally
like to thank many of you for your contributions to
this very important cause. We will start our ride
on Saturday, June 7.
 The
goal we set was $10,000.00 and we have currently raised
$4,620 thus far. For those of you wanting contribute,
please visit our website for more information.
Please visit our website for a list
of exciting classes we have coming up as well as
some courses being held on the West Coast in California.
Like always, we have other exciting news to talk about
in future newsletters, so stay tuned.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
About
Us
The Decorative Concrete Institute continues
to provide consulting, education, installation and training
to marketplaces across the United States and Internationally.
DCI places its focus on Architects, Artists, Concrete Finishers,
Faux Finishers, General Contractors, Interior Designers,
Ready Mix Producers, etc. to bring them knowledge and offer
advice on the demands of Interior and Exterior Architectural
Design.
DCI has worked with and continues to work with
a diverse range of industry professionals catering to the
individual needs of each project focusing on products and
designs that are conducive to the particular environment they
are working in. DCI consults with on-the-job applications
and installations and provides the technical expertise to
complete jobs successfully.
phone: 770-562-1441
|
|
|
|
|
During this class, the students had the opportunity
to learn 4 different ways in which Modello stencils
can be used to compliment their stained project.
In addition, LesCoat resist was demonstrated if the
intention is to not have any saw cuts, but yet a clean
define line. Not only did the students have the
ability to create and work on their own panels, they
actually got some hands-on staining experience on stamped
concrete. 
The class was capped off with demonstrations of sealers
ranging from water and solvent-based acrylics, epoxies
and urethanes. And of course in attendance were
both Barb and Sarge of Kemiko.
Great job gang and remember to send us pictures of your
excellent work!