Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado USA

Project Lead: Stuart Remodeling

Application: PreCast GFRC Concrete Countertop with Veining

Project Size: 25 sq ft

Products Supplied By: Two Sisters Decorative Concrete Supply

In the gorgeous mountain range of Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado a savvy homeowner decided to add to his piece of paradise by adding an Outdoor Kitchen to his home. When contemplating this addition he sought the advice of a professional which could help him decide on the best materials to use so that his Outdoor Kitchen could handle the temperature and weather cycles of Colorado. Tom Stuart of Stuart Remodeling advised the Colorado Springs homeowner to compliment the brick structure of his home and to build the walls of his outdoor kitchen with the same material.

Stuart Remodeling installed the brick wall with true craftsmanship. The time came to decide on an outdoor countertop surface that could match the beauty of the hand placed brick. After researching online the homeowner decided on the organic handcrafted look of concrete countertops. In his research of multiple companies which offer concrete countertop building materials they choose the Xtreme Series Technology of hybrid glass fiber reinforced concrete. To learn more they went to the storefront of Two Sisters Decorative Concrete Supply in Colorado Springs. At this concrete supply center he was educated further on the Hybrid GFRC material and the limitless design and color opportunities that it offered.

They choose to go with a lightweight GFRC concrete countertop that had a 1.5 inch profile edge of “Classic Rail”. With the profile chosen it was time to decide upon the color, texture, and design. Utilizing the SureCrete concrete countertop color chart, they choose Taupe from the 30 standard colors. The “Veining” texture by the Xtreme Series PreCast mix was the desired texture. Finally the concrete countertop for their outdoor kitchen had one last decision, a high gloss or matte finish. The Hi-Gloss sheen was desired and the time came to finally create the one-of-a-kind countertop which had been customized to the homeowner’s specifications.

The concrete countertop was templated, precasted, and sealed off site to ensure that the project site was left in a clean state. Most countertops built with the Xtreme Series Technology have a 5-7 day turnaround from the time of casting. After the sealant reached full hardness, the 25 sq. ft. countertop was taken to the Colorado Springs home and installed on top of the beautiful brick wall system, putting the final touch on this project.

For more information on how concrete countertops are made or the colors, textures, and profiles available feel free to contact Two Sisters Decorative Concrete Supply or Stuart Remodeling.

Application: IntegraSpec ICF Block Wall & Home

Products Used: WallSpray, Custom Base Color Pack,  SureSeal Super WB (low voc wb acrylic sealer)

Finish: Smooth Plaster Finish

ICF Buddies of San Diego, California took on the task of rebuilding a home that was destroyed in the fires that hit San Diego. They choose to design a sustainable home that should become a Platinum LEED certified residence. One of the challenges they faced was the choosing of the a exterior stucco finish that could not only protect the home long term, but also provide environmentally friendly attributes without compromising on design.

ICF Buddies went to the World of Concrete and found SureCrete Design, a manufacturer of decorative and specialty concrete products. Within this company they found a hybrid exterior stucco material that was zero VOC, 35% post consumer recycled content, and could apply a coating at half the thickness of traditional stucco. The product is called WallSpray, and as the name states it is sprayed onto the EPS foam of the ICF block system. WallSpray is a hybrid exterior stucco which is self bonding, tintable, and can be applied 3 times faster than traditional stucco.

For this San Diego, California ICF residential project, WallSpray was sprayed directly onto the IntegraSpec ICF block. The ICF block was not rasped, due to WallSprays ability to be used at varying thicknesses. The eps foam was cleaned of the yellow residue. The process for creating a solid color smooth finish is:

1. WallSpray was tinted with a custom color pack and sprayed out of a Graco RTX1500 at about 1/8″ and a 4 ounce fiberglass mesh was troweled into the wet cement based hybrid stucco.
2. The base coat was allowed to cure to an even moisture level overnight and harden. The 2nd coat of WallSpray was tinted with a custom color pack and sprayed onto the wall at about 1/8″ and troweled with 2 passes to smooth material.
3. The next morning SureSeal Super WB was sprayed onto the cured wall to finish the waterproofing system for the exterior of this ICF block home.

For more ICF Block Home projects with WallSpray click here.

SureCrete’s WallSpray is a popular choice for coating and protecting the eps foam of ICF block homes, walls, and buildings. The reason for the this is the speed, strength, and LEED point opportunities of this hybrid stucco. WallSpray is a cementitious coating which is self-bonding, spray able, 35% post consumer recycled content and can create maximum impact resistance at thicknesses as thin as 1/4 inch. WallSpray can create textures such as: smooth plaster, classic knockdown, stipple, sand finish, Venetian plaster, and Tuscon. Below you will see a few of the techniques being used with great success!

Location: Sacramento, California

Application: Casa Bella Verde - IntegraSpec ICF Block Wall & Home

Products Used: WallSpray, Custom Base Color Pack, Eco-Stain (Burnt Crimson), SureSeal Super WB (low voc wb acrylic sealer)

Finish: Venetian Plaster

To create this environmentally friendly smooth wall plaster finish, WallSpray was sprayed directly onto the IntegraSpec ICF block. The ICF block was not rasped, only the yellow residue brushed off the ICF block. The reason for this time saving technique is due to WallSprays ability to be used at varying thicknesses. The ability to spray from 1 inch thick to zero is a fantastic attribute to this ICF smooth wall plaster finish. The process for creating the exterior wall plaster finish on this IntegraSpec ICF home are these 4 simples steps.

1. WallSpray was sprayed out of a Graco RTX1500 at about 1/8″ and a 4 ounce fiberglass mesh was troweled into the wet cement based hybrid stucco.
2. The base coat was allowed to cure to an even moisture level overnight and harden. The 2nd coat of WallSpray was tinted with a custom color pack and sprayed onto the wall at about 1/8″ and troweled with 2 passes to smooth material.
3. Eco-Stain, a water based zero VOC concrete stain, was sprayed onto the wall with a HVLP gun and troweled into the wet WallSpray.
4. The next morning SureSeal Super WB was sprayed onto the cured wall to finish the waterproofing system for the exterior of this ICF block home.

Location: Lubbock, Texas

Application: Concrete Block Home

Products Used: WallSpray, Standard Color Pack, Eco-Stain (Espresso), SureSeal Super 20 (solvent acrylic sealer)

Finish: Tuscon Finish

WallSpray was sprayed directly onto the concrete block home in Lubbock, Texas. 806 Concrete worked with the custom home builder to create a Tuscon finish to compliment the colors of the natural stone theme. The process was accomplished in 4 steps:

1. WallSpray was tinted with a standard SureCrete Color Pack and sprayed out of a drywall hopper gun at about 1/16″.
2. The base coat was allowed to cure to an even moisture level and then the 2nd coat of WallSpray was tinted with a standard color pack and sprayed onto the wall at about 1/8″ and troweled with 2 passes to smooth material.
3. Eco-Stain, a water based zero VOC concrete stain, was sprayed onto the wall with a HVLP gun and troweled into the wet WallSpray.
4. The next morning SureSeal Super 20 was sprayed onto the cured wall to finish the waterproofing system for the exterior of this ICF block home.

Terra Cotta Facade Restoration & Reproduction with GFRC – SureCrete

Location: Richmond, Indiana

Project: Reproduction of Terra Cotta Architectural Facades with GFRC

Installation by: Artistic Illusions & Construction Resources

Material Supplier: SureCrete Design

Total Sq. In.: 7,140+

Products used: Xtreme Series GFRC Face Mix, Xtreme Series Backer Mix

The Pennsylvania Railroad station, built in 1902, is the focal point of the Railroad Depot Historic district in downtown Richmond, Indiana. The Terra Cotta architectural facade had out lived it purpose and lost its luster. Two companies were involved in the restoration and reproduction of the Terra Cotta facades: Artistic Illusions and Construction Resource.

Artistic Illusions was in charge of creating the molds replicating the Terra Cotta facade and using GFRC as the material of choice for the reproduction. The size of the molds ranged from 6 sq inches to 36 sq inches. This required casting over 300 pieces of GFRC replicas of the Terra Cotta architectural facades. The choice of which GFRC mix design to use was made easy by SureCrete. As the industries only preblended GFRC formula, Artistic Illusions had the advantage of minimizing errors and consistency issues seen when every batch of GFRC is measured and weighed in traditional formulations. The Xtreme Series GFRC system delivers high early strength to the lightweight GFRC mold system.

Once the 300+ pieces were reproduced from the Terra Cotta molds they were put in the hands of Construction Resources. The team at Concrete Resources properly installed the GFRC replicas of the Terra Cotta architectural facade. To learn more about the Xtreme GFRC system visit www.SureCreteDesign.com.

Cool Floor – Can Be Hot / Iowa Acid Stain, Hydronic Radiant Heat Floor

Location: Shellsburg, Iowa

Project: New frame construction residence

Installation by: Tim Johnson

Material Supplier: SureCrete Design

Total Sq. Ft.: 4,000+

Products used: SureStain, HS260, SureFinish

The client wanted an acid stained floor. But his home design called for frame construction, way off the ground. Hydronic radiant floor heat was on the client wish list as well. Traditional 2^nd floor concrete construction was too costly. The solution offered by experienced concrete artisan, Tim Johnson, of Earthworks in Shellsburg, Iowa was genius.

First, Earthworks in Iowa, had the frame floor engineered to accept an additional 4 lbs. per square foot of dead load above a gyp-crete floor. Next, he stapled a radiant barrier to the wood floor. Then radiant heat tubing was placed on the barrier, and was fastened to the floor in loops according to manufactures specs.

Then just like a regular concrete guy, Tim placed 1½” concrete over it all. His concrete design called for 6 sack mix with ¾” stone and micro-fibers. The concrete cures to a dead load of approximately 18 lbs. per square foot at 1½” depth.

Finishing was primarily done with a small 2’ edge machine. The small size trowel machine can maneuver in and out door openings. Early the next day, the floor was scored into 3 foot tiles. The first score line that established the pattern was placed directly over the main carry beam. Deflection was most likely at this point. Tim uses a small saw on “skates” set to a depth not to exceed ⅜”.  At this depth the ¾” heat tubes will never be damaged.

So, where does the genius come in? Can’t all of this be done with gyp-crete? So here’s the genius: the 1½” concrete can become the finish floor. No extra floor covering is required. Try that with gyp-crete.

Terra Cotta SureStain was used to color the floor into rich earth tones. The sealer selected was HS260 for an economical pick. SureFinish a high quality floor wax was used to complete the job. This was a great choice as it now became the sacrificial wear coat to protect the sealer beneath indefinitely, while providing a measure of slip resistance. The result is a “cool” floor that can be “hot.”

To see the latest in environmentally friendly interior, low maintenance floor coatings, go to the industry leaders at SureCrete. Earthworks is a certified installer of decorative concrete, concrete restoration, and concrete countertops.