Reviews of Interior Products Northampton MA

Source: BUILDING PRODUCTS Magazine
Publication date: June 18, 2007

By Victoria Markovitz

Flowing and workable when wet, but drying to the hardness of stone, decorative concrete is capturing the minds of designers, builders, and homeowners. "Imagination is your only limit" when it comes to concrete, says Eric Boyd, owner of Reaching Quiet, a design/build firm in Charlotte, N.C.

Natural stone needs to be chiseled and carved into shape, and builders are limited by its color and slab thickness. Plus, with the prices of some stone--such as granite--declining, they are more common and less captivating to homeowners.

But decorative concrete offers an almost endless amount of personalization. It can be colored, stained, stamped, and made into any size or shape. It also can sport decorative inlays, such as fossils, glass, semi-precious stones, and more unusual objects. Homeowners are requesting it everywhere from bathrooms and kitchens to living rooms and bedrooms.

For one project, Brian Creasy, owner of Coulee Concrete Designs in Lake Oswego, Ore., used concrete to impress a bike lover. He inlaid bicycle wheels to form a bar's place settings and a seat post and chain were weaved through the countertop. "You could never do that with another medium," he says.

This customization is spurring the growth of decorative concrete, even though it is more likely to develop hairline cracks and stains than natural stone.

What surfaces look like depend on the customer's demands.

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