| Author |
Message |
John Hunter
Member
Username: johnhunter
Post Number: 3
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 04:55 pm: |    |
We've got a few design teams interested in using polished concrete on projects. The design idea is to use integrally-colored concrete with a stain to create varigated color and then polish and apply a sealer finish. Although there seem to be a few sources for a polished/ sealed concrete finish, Bomanite seems to be the only source for an integrated system that includes integral color and stain.
Has anyone had any experience specifying this kind of finish, particularly in a public-bid situation?
Thanks for your assistance |
Don Harris CSI, CCS, CCCA, AIA
Senior Member
Username: don_harris
Post Number: 83
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 05:08 pm: | |
Can't say it's been used in public bid work, but try "Retro Plate" http://www.retroplatesystem.com/ |
Richard Baxter, AIA, CSI
Senior Member
Username: rbaxter
Post Number: 26
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 05:29 pm: | |
Also try HTC,LLC at http:www.htc-america.com/ |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Monday, August 28, 2006 - 07:47 pm: | |
Try Sweeney Materials, they are very good at this type of application, they have the experience and expetise to advise you and your client |
David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI
Senior Member
Username: david_axt
Post Number: 712
Registered: 03-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 04:44 pm: | |
I specify polished concrete all the time on our public schools projects. School districts want cheap, durable, low maintenance floors. Though, I am not so sure that polished concrete floors are cheap, durable or low maintenance. However, the floors do look nice when done well.
Typically I specify RetroPlate and Vexicon Certi-Shine, though we just lost our local Vexicon representative. We have never had our specs challenged for being proprietary.
The problem with polished floors is that concrete is typically not a finished product and is not treated as such during construction. You get stains, blotches, high/low spots, pockets of punky concrete, and (surprise surprise) cracks. A floor covering would typically hide these problems.
We typically use a topical stain instead of integral stain. With integral stains the stain not as dark as topical stains. Integral stains are through out the entire concrete when you really need to just stain the top layer. BTW, topical stains may eventually wear off.
We had something interesting happen with stain on one of our projects. Immediately after staining the concrete, the contractor covered up the floor with protection board. That way the contractor could continue working in the space without disrupting the schedule. Months later when the contractor uncovered the floor to everyone’s horror all the 4x8 sheets were outline with a lighter stain color. The protection board must have effected the curing of the concrete which in turn effected the stain color. We were all very upset. While we were trying to figure what to do, the owner took a look at the project and liked how the floors looked. He even asked how we created those lines and complimented us. We then bragged to the owner that it was a design feature and we had designed those lines that way all a long. (A little white lie never hurt anybody, right?) See for yourself. http://www.retroplatesystem.com/tbeamer1.html |
Robert E. Woodburn
Senior Member
Username: bwoodburn
Post Number: 136
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - 06:22 pm: | |
Reminds me of the striking appearance of a smooth, waxed concrete floor in a local "design-oriented" architect's office I once visited regularly as a spec consultant. It was medium gray, with a subtle square grid of darker lines--but the lines were "fuzzy" (not hard-edged, but fading out across about an inch of width).
I had long admired the effect, and when I finally asked how it was achieved, I was told that when the original 9 x 9 resilient tile and its adhesive was removed, the ghost of the joints remained as a stain in the substrate. They liked it too, so they left it. |
Vivian Volz, RA, CSI, CCS
Senior Member
Username: vivianvolz
Post Number: 79
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006 - 06:57 pm: | |
We do this a fair amount, or at least we research it... sometimes it gets redesigned to a topping when the team realizes that you have to exert some control over the structural concrete in order to get a consistent look. You might consider a topping slab over your structural slabs, to avoid such pitfalls as leave-outs for steel column baseplates, inconsistent mixes across construction joints, and the like. Of course, given the other stories on this thread, you might be going for just such things...
Dayton Superior has a couple of systems, and Scofield Systems has some. Dayton has one of those huge multifaceted web sites, and the part you want is www.superiorcolors.com. Scofield's is more obvious, www.scofield.com.
My reps for both companies have been great at steering us to the right systems for our jobs. Since you have several jobs that are interested, it would be worth having one or two come through to talk to your teams about selecting the right systems. And judging by the huge samples in the workstation across the aisle from me, our Bomanite rep has been helpful, too. |
David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI
Senior Member
Username: david_axt
Post Number: 716
Registered: 03-2002
| | Posted on Friday, September 01, 2006 - 12:34 pm: | |
Vivian,
Pouring a self-leveling overlayment or topping slab is the best approach. That way the contractor does not have to be so careful with the structural slab. He can "trash" that slab and not have to worry about the look of the final slab.
It is my understanding that they do this type of construction, with two slabs, in Europe all the time. |
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