California Concrete Kitchen Countertops

Contact Gerry Sadler at 619-987-4721

Ben Ashby is the creator of these California Concrete Kitchen Countertops, fireplace mantels and custom tile. The mix is manufactured by Concrete Solutions of San Diego who holds training classes with Ben at various locations including Los Vegas and Chicago and most recently in Australia.

Ben and his growing national network of artisans custom design and fabricate each piece.  Many home owners looking for something unique have had concrete installed in their kitchens but many once they see it want more. Custom sinks and fireplaces are in huge demand.

They are not only in residential homes. The concrete kitchen countertops are being designed and built in high end hotels, restaurants and office buildings.

For more information contact Gerry Sadler of Concrete Solutions at 619-987-4721 .

Compact Cordless Drill

I was searching around on the Tool King website looking for a compact cordless drill and stumbled on this deal.

I’ve owned Milwaukee tools for a long time. They’ve worked for me and last a long time.  If you’re in the market for a new drill and a few accessories check this out on their website. The price at $359.99 is down from their list of $467.00 which is still the cheapest I’ve seen for this package.

Tool king has a lot more compact cordless drill kits and tons more tools on their website. Just click the banner.

Portland Oregon Decorative Concrete Polishing

Denis Wryn owner of C4 Coatings in Portland Oregon specializes in concrete polishing and various decorative concrete solutions for commercial and residential property owners.

If unfamiliar with concrete polishing it is a process of grinding concrete with diamond blades that take off the top layer. Then step by step finer blades are used to hone the concrete to a smooth finish. Mid way through the process the floor can be dyed with any color you chosse and a densifyer is added.

Densifyers are liquids that are applied to the concrete and left to sit for for hours working their way into the pores of the surface. Densifyers create a reaction in the concrete actually tightening the concrete. This gives the floor more surface area to polish. The result is similar to the look of polished marble.

C4 Coatings, formely Rose City Bomanite, has serviced the Portland Oregon area for years but will travel statewide. Many of their projects range in size from 500-500 square feet but they have completed projects as large as 75,000 sf.

Concrete polishing evolved from the granite and terrazzo industry and in high demand wordldwide. It is a cost effective decorative and durable solution.  Maintenance is a very simple. Any wear can be easily and quickly restored.

In the Portland Oregon area contact Denis Wryn for information about how decorative concrete polishing can be a valuable solution for your space. 1-503-719-7073

Utah Concrete Countertops and Fireplace Mantels

The photos here of fireplace mantels and  concrete countertops by Utah based Ben Ashby don’t do them justice.  They need to be seen and touched to be fully appreciated.  The beauty of artistic concrete  releases an emotion. When people see it, they want it. That explains why Ben seldom leaves his local area of Sevier County.

The pictures you see tell part of the story and why Ben has a growing national following of students and many happy customers in Utah. This is custom work done by hand so you need to allow for a fair amount of artistic lincense. The process with Ben starts out like a consultation. Ben shows you his portfolio and starts breaking it down.  With fireplace mantels Ben will show you column options and thickness of the mantel and hearth. Then color and design follow. The beauty of concrete is the ability to design around your room and personality.

Can you handle something bold or is something simple more appropriate? Should your fireplace be rustic, antique or contemporary? Every one is different.

Your concrete countertops are a bit of a different process.  Concrete Countertops are used daily and  seen from a closer perspective. When you use your countertops typically your eyes are only 24-30 inches away. You see everything up close whereas with your fireplace mantel you likely are many feet away. An imperfection in a countertop might bother you but the same blemish in your fireplace looks natural.

Either way Ben is an artist and a professional.  He will guild you through the process from initial design to final installation. If you are one his students Ben is always available. Ben runs his business in Sevier County Utah but builds concrete countertops and fireplace mantels throughout the state.

Ben can be reached at 435-201-3045. Concrete Solutions based in San Diego is the manufacturer and distributor of the Ben Ashby line of products. Visit the Concrete Solutions website for upcoming workshops or for their extensive line of decorative concrete products.

Portland Oregon Decorative Concrete Polishing

In this project Denis Wryn, owner of C4 Coatings, based in Portland Oregon completed  75,000 square feet of decorative concrete polishing for Precision Wire Components.

The process starts out using high abrasion diamond blades on a Sase grinding machine. Like sanding down a hardwood surface the first step uses coarse grinding blades to cut through the top surface removing high spots and blemishes in the concrete. If there are coatings like epoxies or mastics from carpet glue they can be removed during the initial grinding steps.

There are numerous steps in the process. Denis will typically start out with a 40-60 grit diamond blade then an 80-100 grit to get that first layer off the floor and get a level smooth surface. Then he switches to finer polishing blades working from a 100 grit pad, 200, 400 and in some cases all the way to a 1500 or 3,000 grit depending on the level of polish.

About half way through the project a densifer is added. Densifiers are a liquid applied to the concrete floor that crystalizes the concrete actually pulling the concrete together creating a tigher surface. In effect it makes the concrete  denser with more surface area to polish. The light reflection you see in this photo is the result.

Stained and Polished

Decorative concrete polishing evolved from the marble and granite polishing industry and has become a hip application in Portland Oregon retail stores, restaurants, office buildings and airplane hangars in addition to industrial spaces. In residential homes garage floors and downtown apartments are a big market.

If you are looking for the beauty of marble the concrete can be stained in unlimted colors. Graphics can applied creating  logos, borders or any custom result.

The finish will wear indefinately with simple , inexpensive maintenance. Denis runs his decorative concrete polishing business in Portland Oregon and can be reached at  503-320-0633 .

How To Build Concrete Countertops

If you are interested in learning how to build concrete countertops Ben Ashby and Concrete Solutions teach classes every month in Las Vegas.  Classes are 3 intense days covering everything you need to know including design, mold making, building your shop, sealers, transportation, installation and how to work with clients.

Plus you have the opportunity to work with Ben Ashby and learn the Ben Ashby System. Ben along with Gerry Sadler of Concrete Solutions provide hands on personalized training. However the training continues long after the Las Vegas workshop.  Ben has developed a tight social network of artists and applicators. Once you go through the Ashby training you have access to countertop professionals at all levels quickly and easily. The more you work and develop relationships in the Ben Ashby Network, the more you will benefit. 

Learning how to build concrete countertops is one aspect of the training and the network. You will learn how to make columns and fireplace mantles, sinks, shower surrounds and concrete tile, benches, tables, outdoor kitchens and hardscapes. From simple to artistic pieces that look like natural stone.

The skills you develop open up unlimted opportunities and the versatility of concrete means that everyone and every property can use what you can make. Once you have the skills, the network and a marketing strategy you are set. You’ll have a business that you can continually build for a lifetime.

Give Gerry Sadler from Concrete Solutions a call at  619-987-4721  to learn more about how to build concrete countertops. If you are looking for an architect or are a client Gerry can provide you with the appropriate artisan and fabricator for your project.

As a garage floor epoxy coating, it provides all the function you need with a decorative, seamless, non-slip finish. Color flakes in unlimited colors and combinations enable you to design for your desired image.

Light colors, for instance, will brighten a room for showcasing autos, motorcycles or any featured and displayed product of that type. Darker colors mute light reflection for use in high traffic retail stores and restaurants.

In addition to their garage floor epoxy coating, Concrete Solutions manufactures an extensive line of decorative concrete products available at their San Diego facility.

Give Gerry Sadler a call at    619-987-4721  to discuss your project. Gerry will explain your function and design options and will connect you with one of  the garage floor epoxy coating or decorative concrete professionals in their network.  For more information, photos, and data sheets, click the link for Concrete Solutions.

Concrete countertops alone, stylishly done, can really bring about the “wow” factor. If you’ve seen one, felt one, it’s hard to believe, at first, that it is, in fact, concrete. Durable, stylish, relatively new to the lexicon, but no doubt about it; a real eye-opener.

And like all good, new ideas, it seems like there’s one or two accepted styles that most people seem willing to settle for. My question was this: As dazzling as concrete counter tops are, what is the next step in the evolution of such a potentially deal-making accoutrement to the residential or commercial space? And why can’t the process be less daunting? Less expensive and time-consuming? More cost-effective?  What if all this can happen AND what if you had more control over the finished product?

What if you could actually tailor the design  concrete countertops to wherever your imagination took you? What once seemed entirely out of reach becomes a reality with the Ashby System, offered by Concrete Solutions out of San Diego.  Custom kitchens, baths, counters, fireplaces, commercial and residential, limited only by the imagination. Learning “Ben Ashby’s Concrete Countertops Process” by attending a three-day advanced training workshop (the cost of which can be recouped with as little as one job) means that eye-catching, value-enhancing countertops, mantles, hearths, showers and tubs, tiles, flooring, stairs and so much more, can be made to look like natural stone with molded edges and no need for costly, time-consuming additional polishing. By you.

Stick with the standard contemporary designs or go classic. The choice is yours.  Completely natural looking veins. Sculpted edges. All made simple by the Ashby System and Concrete Solutions products.

Technical support is provided by the originator of the process, Ben Ashby. Classes are also available in the Chicago area. Until recently, there was no way to learn the process outside of Ben Ashby’s own studio.  And as for demand, the artist himself put it best . “If people see it, touch it, or, moreover, feel it, they want it.” Easy to learn, and quite unlike anything else out there.

For more information, call Gerry Sadler in San Diego (or for a countertop for your home or business Gerry will put you in touch with one of their artisans )  at  619-987-4721 .  Visit their website at http://www.concretesolutions.com. Concrete Solutions offers product support for the Ashby System.  In tandem, they can help you build a concrete countertop business virtually from scratch.

Novatech Surfaces

Novatech will travel to other areas in the New York City Metro area like this project featured here in Tribeca New York City completed jointly with Mirage Studios.

The process for  applying the decorative concrete floors started with surface preparation ensuring the floor was free of contaminents and bond breakers. The second step was to apply a self leveling concrete eveining out the floor raising the height to match adjacent rooms and areas at doorways. The self leveling concrete is Param 5500 available at Duraamen based in the Edison, New Brunswick and Piscataway area of New Jersey.

Once the self leveling concrete cured overnight the concrete floors decorative coating was applied using Sgraffino, a thin concrete overlay. Coloring was achieved by mixing colorants into the Sgraffino and application of a  topical dye. The final step was applying a few coats of sealer to the decorative concrete floors.

Total size of this project was approximatley 8,000 among 3 floors. The beauty of the process is the ability to customize the design of each floor using the same product.

For more information about this project click the link to visit the Novatech Surfaces web site.  Novatech is located in Central New Jersey in the Edison, New Brunswick and Piscataway area.

For infomation about the products used to create the decorative concrete floors in this project visit the Duraamen web site or contact Victor Pachade at   646-875-8690 

August 28-29 Workshop  

Duraamen will be conducting a workshop August 28-29 in Lancaster Pa. The hands on workshop will feature the products in the Duraamen line for creating functional and artistic decorative concrete floors using various overlays and the Param 5500 self leveling concrete. The workshop will include stains, dyes, epoxies Urethanes and Polyaspartics. Contact Victor at the number above.

Boulder Garage Floor Paint?

Is that garage floor paint on the new  Larkburger floor in Boulder? Heck No! Steve Conklin of One Day Floors of the Rockies doesn’t mess around with plain old garage floor paint or epoxies. His company only uses Kick Ass Polyaspartics the higest quality concrete floor coating in the land.

This is the second or third floor Steves company has done for Larkburger. They keep bringing Steve back for all their floors because they work. These floors wear like iron and don’t wear out or delaminate. They might be a little more expensive than other cheap flooring like garage floor paint but for this Boulder establishment there is no way they are going to shut down for a week to redo the floors. So they went with the best.

As with all concrete floors in the One Day Floors of The Rockies portfolio they do it right. Floors are grinded to remove impurities and bond breakers. They fix all the cracks with a proprietary system that avoids those dreaded call backs.

And notice in our slick slideshow they add moldings to the sides and bring the Polyaspartic concrete coatings up to the top edge of the moldings.  No chance of any mold or bacteria buildup on the edges. This floor makes it a cinch to clean and keep clean.

Like with the awesome burgers they have an awesome floor at Larkeburger. No garage floor paint in Boulder just great burgers on a great floor.

I hope you like the slideshow and if you’re looking to track down Steve, his numbers are below.

  970-328-5767   Office

  970-376-5767   cell

  800-328-1443   Toll Free

  970-328-5768   Fax

or send Steve an e-mail at steve@odfco .com