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.

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Project: Custom Concrete Countertop

Installation by: Marker Technologies

Material Supplier: Sea Coast Supply – Jacksonville, Florida

Total Sq Ft: 115  sq ft countertop

Products Used: Xtreme Series GFRC Face Mix, Xtreme Series Backer Mix, Precast Concrete Countertop Slurry,  Eco-Stain, SCR, LD 1800 (lithium densifier), ARS 400 Matte – concrete countertop sealer

The designer of a Jacksonville, Florida restaurant and bar, approached the team at Marker Technologies with a unique, one-of-a-kind, countertop fabrication. Jason, the owner of MT, has been in the solid surface industry for many years and has handled jobs with materials such as: quartz, granite, marble, 3Form, VCT and VET. Even with this extensive background, he realized that the these materials were not the right choice for the specific look and color scheme presented by the design firm. Concrete became the clear choice for this countertop fabrication. The team at MT had not created a concrete countertop before. Through the power of the internet, they searched for the latest technology in concrete and glass fiber reinforced concrete mix designs and formulas. In the end they choose the Xtreme Series GFRC system from SureCrete Design.

Concrete is becoming a very popular choice for countertop fabricators in the USA. Concrete as a countertop medium, provides a blank white or gray canvas to create any color, shape or texture you can imagine. The Xtreme Series technology from SureCrete, the latest in concrete countertop mixes, takes concrete to a new manufacturer level. Xtreme Series GFRC is a preblended glass fiber, PVA fiber and Nano-Fiber cement based spray-able face coat. This material has been around for over 20+ years, it was only recently that the staff at SureCrete simplified the multiple component chemistry and blending process into a (1) preblended bag and (1) gallon of modifier. This material delivers a compressive strength of 10,500 PSI and can be demolded in as little as 6-8 hours.

The hybrid GFRC formula is a high early strength mix delivering unparalleled  flexural and tensile strengths, making concrete countertop fabrication lighter than ever before. This particular feature was very important to the team at MT. The job specifics for this concrete countertop was to fabricate a 115 square foot countertop with a stained finish. The edge profiles varied from 3″ exposed to the customer side, 2″ profile to the bartender side along with a 4″ wide 1/2″ deep drip tray. Although the profile edges were large, the average thickness on the concrete countertop was around 3/4 inches.

Inside the 5,000 sq ft facility of Marker Technologies in Jacksonville, Florida began the process for creation of the mold for this project. With a tight deadline one mold was created and 9 concrete countertop pieces were casted. Once the pieces were demolded, they were cut with a water jet to ensure the most accurate and tight fitting 45 and 90 degree angles.

The concrete countertop pieces were then stained with Eco-Stain, an Eco-friendly “GREEN” penetrating concrete stain. The finish desired for the countertop was matte. For this MT choose ARS 400, a thin film commercial grade concrete countertop sealer.

Marker Technologies had a fantastic first experience with concrete as a countertop medium. With NO formal training in concrete, he was blown away at the quality of technical support and ease of product. MT now has dedicated space in their Jacksonville, Florida facility for all future concrete countertop, wall panel, custom sinks and much more!

Location: New Jersey

Project: Remodeling a Master bathroom with Spa

Installation by: J&M Lifestyles

Material Supplier: SureCrete Design

Total Sq Ft: 80 sq ft

Products Used: Xtreme GFRC Face Mix, Xtreme GFRC Backer, Xtreme Slurry, ARS 400, custom shower drain, blum drawer slides

So put yourself in this homeowner’s shoes. You have gutted your master bathroom with the intention of creating a European style oasis. Your search begins for the right look, color and design for your countertops, sinks and bath surround. As you exhaust yourself looking at  granite   and other natural stone you realize nothing is matching the look in your mind.

Six months have passed and well, tensions are rising over getting this project finished. And thats when they found the perfect medium to custom create the design in their minds. The solution was GFRC, glass fiber reinforced concrete. Immediately they fell in love with the diversity of designs, colors and could now create a functional master bath with clean lines and useful applications. Let’s t take a look at how this project unfolded.

The team at J&M Lifestyles, in New Jersey, had the task of integrating the stand-up shower, tub surround and match that with the countertop and other surfaces in the room. After templating each area, they realized that they were in need of material that could help in making this design come to life by reducing the amount of seams that would be visible. J&M Lifestyles choose the Xtreme Series GFRC mix design.

They began the process by creating their mold and casting surface. Incorporating a custom color blend from SureCrete with the Xtreme Series GFRC Face mix, they sprayed the cream coat on to all the surfaces. After letting that setup for about 10 minutes they followed behind the candy shell surface with the same custom color mixed in the Xtreme Series Backer mix. This material provides  the structural and flexural strength to the ultra smooth, pinhole free surface of the GFRC face coat.

With each piece finally casted and made, it was allowed to sit and cure. The Xtreme Series GFRC is the ideal mix design for Glass fiber reinforced concrete users, as it allows for a faster cure and demold time, as little as 6 hours. And delivers the ability to begin the next stage of design, secondary coloring or sealing within 8-10 hours after pouring. Additional positive attributes of Xtreme GFRC is it’s ability to save time and labor on each project by allowing you to maximize the tables you cast on and increasing the down time between the next station or stage.

The next important step was to apply the appropriate sealer. With many quality choices out there, the team at J&M Lifestyles chose ARS 400. A break through in nano-technology sealers, ARS 400 is an excellent GFRC sealer, and has the ability to penetrate and bond to the almost 11,000 PSI surface of the Xtreme GFRC.

The installation of the precast GFRC panels and GFRC countertop vanity was down with  multiple products. The vanity was installed with standard wall mount bracket. The GFRC wall panels for the tub surround were installed with an acrylic mastic.

GFRC – Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete has become the technology of choice when it comes to unique and manufacture-able concrete designs. GFRC allows for stronger, faster curing and lighter weight concrete pieces. With many fabricators and contractors leaning towards those attributes, the difficulty comes in choosing a GFRC Mix Design. Although you can find a variety of GFRC formulas, it seems there are four factors that seem to stumble applicators with this technology.

First is the amount of companies you deal with for the raw materials to make up your GFRC mix Design. The second is the issue with temperature of shipping out some of the key components along with the temperature during the application process. The third obstacle is the inconsistency from batch to batch, this occurs due to the personal measurements of the multiple raw materials and the polymers and rosins for GFRC formulas that require a specific temperature to work correctly.  The last factor can be the startup cost. With so many raw materials needed from different companies it can be an expensive trial to see if you like that particular GFRC formula. Although these can be concerns, the results of GFRC have convinced applicators to deal with these situations, at least until now.

SureCrete Design unveiled at 4 different trade shows in 2010: such as World of Concrete, International Builder Show and The Decorative Concrete Show the first preblended GFRC Mix design. This new hybrid GFRC technology utilizes the latest in concrete technology. The Xtreme Series GFRC delivers over 10,000 PSI, a demold time of 6 hours and a non- temperature sensitive mix design!

The real question is how does it help provide solutions to GFRC applicators?

First off, it simplifies the process of the mix design. Xtreme GFRC is a 2 component system, comprised of a “face mix” and a fiber infused “backer mix”. Based on the current technology behind the Xtreme Series Product lineup, the Xtreme GFRC Face Mix provides a 50lb bag that has white cement, a fine sand and a specific blend of fibers that are not seen in the Face mix but adds to its strength and flexibility. You combine that with 1 gallon of modifier.

This unique design has NO polymers and NO acrylics providing a solution to  temperature  issues with GFRC. In addition, you have one company,  that supplies all of the components needed for GFRC, and it is preblended in a bag, simplifying your time and labor in your shop. It also takes your startup cost from an average of $500.00 to around $58.00.

The Xtreme Series GFRC system is a user friendly version of typical GFRC mix designs, most applications only require the use of a hopper gun and an air compressor however for larger commercial applications and higher fiber loading a commercial pump is applicable.

The Xtreme Series GFRC simplifies and speeds up the process of fabricating all concrete pieces whether it is a concrete countertop, fireplace, shower surrounds, wall panels or furniture. Allowing them to be made thinner and therefore lighter with less time required for mixing and measuring components as seen with other GFRC formulas.

Look for the next article when we will feature the versatility of SureCrete’s Xtreme Series Backer Mix and we look at some job profiles where this new GFRC technology has been used.

GFRC Technical Data Sheet – Click Here

GFRC Pre Cast Catalog - Click here