Shot blasting is more or less dust free.

Ardex has a self leveling  product to apply min. 1/4″ and thicker.

The slab will need to be prepped right, but the results are awesome.

We can either level the floor to be covered with a flooring material or just use a SDT material and stain it, or leave it clear coated. We call that a designer floor.

Warehouse floors can also be leveled and the product is fork lift approved. As a new addition to the product line we can level exterior concrete surfaces like, parking lots, parking garages, any concrete surface that is collecting water. We add a self leveler to adjust the draining issues.

Garage floors or porches that slant one direction can be leveled in case you are planning on enclosing the area and making it part of the living area now.

As with all overlays prep work is very important!!!!!

There are  many ways and methods to stain floors. We just recently finished a beautiful job for a Dallas university, which was scored, stained with multiple colors, and then sealed with a Sherwin Williams sealer. Patterns, logos, and special designs can be cut into the surface prior to staining. Other methods include blasting, acid etching, or burning designs into the concrete surface.

Acid staining is always advertised as a do it yourself project, but not recommended. A lot of experience and know how is required to avoid costly mistakes which can ruin a floor. Not only does it require the right tools. Materials are sometimes hard to find and expensive to buy. Achieving the right color can be tricky, and sometimes a different kind of stain is required to achieve the desired look.

Acid staining is just one way to stain your floors. Other stains that are water or alcohol based are also available and some times are a better fit. Some older floors are often too dirty or stained from years of use and need to be overlayed first to re-create a good foundation for the new beautiful floor. In general all  types of concrete floors can be stained and sealed, depending on location and the shape that they are in i.e:

Patios, driveways, walkways, sidewalks, garages, walls and balconys are all good contenders for acid staining.

Please give us a call next time you decide to stain your concrete floors or patios and we’ll gladly come by to write up a proposal for you.

Ardex has to be one of the oldest modified and specialty concrete  manufacturers.

We took part in the moisture barrier training ( MC ) and all other surfaces. It was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to a great business relations with Ardex.

• Use a high performance, air-entrained concrete mix.

The concrete should be at least 3000 psi, with 4% air-entrainment. High-performance concrete will include fly ash and water-reducing admixtures to provide long-term strength gain and initial workability without the addition of water. High-performance concrete mixes can be designed for easy placement, so your contractor isn’t saddled with a hard-to-handle concrete mix.

• Install joints at a spacing of no more than 10′ x 10′.

Spacing joints at wider intervals invites random cracking. While such cracks are generally not a structural problem, and will not reduce the service life of the driveway, they are unsightly. Also avoid joint patterns that produce rectangular or triangular sections. Concrete likes to be square, so lay out your joints to form square sections. If in doubt, make the sections smaller, not larger.

• Form the ’street edge’ of the driveway, leaving it 1 or 2 inches above the street.

This formed lip will provide a visually clean line for the end of your driveway. Make sure the concrete is at least 6 inches thick next to the street or end of your driveway. This area of the driveway takes lots of abuse as cars enter and exit the driveway.

• Thicken the edges of the driveway by 1 or 2 inches.

This provides additional structural support in the area most likely to be subject to heavy loading. All edges should be thickened if possible, with the thickened section extending in from the edge of the slab by 4-8 inches. The extra amount of concrete is very small, and the long-term benefits to the driveway are substantial.

• Use a minimum thickness of 4 inches of concrete.

Keep in mind that the 2 x 4’s often used to form driveways are only 3 ½ inches wide, so the ground inside the 2 x 4 forming needs to be removed at least ½ inch below the bottom of the form. Thickness is the major factor (even more than the strength of the concrete) in determining the driveway’s structural capacity. Increasing your driveway’s thickness from 4 inches to 5 inches will add 20% to your concrete cost, but the additional inch of concrete will add almost 50% to load-carrying capacity of your driveway. Keep in mind though, that if cushion sand is being used inside the form boards, that sand will be compacted by the weight of the concrete by 1/2” to an inch, making the concrete thicker.

• Use only a broom or other textured finish (no steel troweling).

A textured finish is desirable for traction and safety. Over-finishing the concrete increases the possibility of surface problems such as scaling and de-lamination. The concrete should be poured, leveled, then Bull-floated to ensure a uniform surface. Towards the end the edges will be rounded and the surface sealed with a trowel. Now a broom is used to texture the surface. No other finishing is necessary in most cases.

• Let the concrete dry and use quality sealer on your new driveway.

Curing of the concrete is a process, and one of the most important. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most neglected. In extreme cases, failure to cure concrete can result in reductions of strength up to 50%. Failure to let concrete cure always reduces the strength and resistance to the effects of weather. We recommend not having any heavy traffic on your new concrete for at least 7 days. After that the concrete dried enough and is ready for normal traffic. Still it takes about 21 days for concrete to dry out to the point it needs to be. At that point concrete can be sealed with a sprayer or a paint roller, and dries in one to two hours. Make sure the product lets moisture thru, but seales against stains.

• Don’t use salt to remove ice the first winter (sand works well).

Avoid the use of salt on your driveway if possible, but especially in the driveway’s first winter. This is especially important if your drive was built in the fall of the year, as ‘young’ concrete is generally more susceptible to the potential harmful effects of salt.

• Never use products containing ammonium nitrates to de-ice your driveway

(If the label does not tell you the active ingredients, don’t use the product) Ammonium nitrates and similar products don’t just increase the possibility of surface problems for your driveway, they actually attack the concrete. Be careful of spilling fertilizer products on your drive, as many of these contain chemicals that will attack your concrete.

You will be missed my friend. I can’t wait to see you again one day and have you fetch that stick you loved so much.

In God we Trust,

Jens Mueller

There are different manufacturors of overlay materials on the market at the moment, with different techniques and results.

Please feel free to take a look around.