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BY LANCE BOYER
It’s a Terrific Time to Offer
Decorative Concrete Flatwork I
t’s a great time to explore business opportunities in the decorative concrete flatwork market. Known for its strength, attractive finishes, and sustainability qualities, decorative concrete flatwork has been steadily growing in popularity. Contractors already installing concrete flatwork may find it worthwhile to get the training and certifications necessary to offer quality decorative options. While your company’s area of expertise may align well with expanding into decorative work, it takes time and financial resources to successfully enter the market. A few drivers pushing the current decorative concrete flatwork market growth forward include: • Project owners are realizing the value of applying texture, color, stamped patterns, or top surface retarders that expose aggregates to enhance the appearance of the walking or driving surfaces on their projects. • Leveraging concrete flatwork’s durability and various finishing options, architects and landscape architects are creating designs and applications that are in turn rapidly expanding the use of decorative concrete. • The introduction of top surface retarders in varying depth-of-etch capabilities has resulted in the growing acceptance of natural concrete appearances over other options.
20 CONCRETE CONTRACTOR
DECEMBER 2021
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SPECIALIZED SKILLS The proper placement and finishing of decorative concrete requires specialized skills in using products and techniques that are not required for most concrete placements. Applying top surface retarders, seeding aggregates on the surface of the concrete, and decorative sawcutting are all tasks that take detailed knowledge and care to complete with satisfactory results. In addition, the concrete mix design used often depends on the type of decorative application. First and foremost, concrete contractors will need to train their office and field personnel in those distinctive skills needed for decorative applications. Expertise in decorative concrete goes beyond knowing how to use top surface retarders, color hardeners, integral color, stamping tools, release agents, and sealers. For instance, proper joint layout and panel sizes, and the ability to create consistent color and texture are all necessary for a successful decorative concrete flatwork project. When it comes to concrete mixes, contractors should be aware of the effects that supplementary cementitious materials, such as fly ash, have on colors as well as the proper dosage rate
ACI’s Concrete Craftsman series of educational documents includes CCS5(16) “Placing and Finishing Decorative Concrete Flatwork,” to help raise and maintain standards of quality in the decorative concrete flatwork industry. American Concrete Institute
and type of microfibers so as not to alter concrete aesthetics. They should know when air entrainment is needed and what types of problems they can expect to encounter when finishing concrete that is air entrained. Understanding how to use top surface retarders for decorative concrete and when admixtures should be used is also a necessity. The list goes on. WHERE TO GET TRAINING & GUIDANCE Many get their feet wet by attending manufacturers’ training programs that introduce using specific decorative products. However, it’s also important to look to credible industry sources for more advanced education and guidance. Both the American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC) and the American
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11/30/21 12:27 PM
