Turning outdoor concrete into appealing, interior-like living spaces are terrific transformations made by Lafayette Mecham, owner of Concrete Craft of Nashville.
He says clients are enthralled with the company's overlay process, which repairs and rejuvenates existing concrete.
"We can make concrete look like authentic stone, wood, brick or tile."
The age of concrete is not a detriment to updates, Lafayette assures. Alternatively, new concrete just has to have cured for at least 28 days before it can be resurfaced or have an overlay installed.
Lafayette and his team handle a wide variety of flooring services, including stamped concrete, concrete repair, concrete, staining and driveway sealing, as well as overall restoration and commercial flooring. On commercial floors, they also can add customized logos, colors and designs to match specific branding materials.
He says their overlay process starts with a unique rubberized polymer that allows the overlay to be flexible and to cure to compression strength just under 5,000 pounds per square inch. The overlay is mixed with a unique water-phase, elastomeric resin composition that incorporates resins, cement, cement modifiers, fibers, polymers and aggregates. It's then applied over a concentrated bonding primer for added adhesion.
"We have more than a dozen different overlay processes that we've mastered, which enables us to work with each customer on a truly unique design with unlimited patterns and colors," Lafayette says. "One look that's very popular on patios and pool decks is our hand-carved concrete overlay that transforms existing concrete into quarried flagstone."
Stamped concrete, which transfers the texture of "real stone" into freshly placed concrete, uses molds that imprint concrete to resemble natural brick, slate, cobblestone, tile and wood planks. Concrete Craft of Nashville team members indicate the benefits for solid surface concrete floors are durability, fade resistance, low maintenance, unlimited designs or patterns, application for both indoors and outdoors, and increased curb appeal.
Some clients also like to protect their garage floors from oil stains and tire wear with DiamondKoat from Concrete Craft.
Kitchens and baths can be updated with cast-in-place countertops that look like Carrera marble, Lafayette says.
Vertical resurfacing techniques also can be applied to walk-in showers, wet room shower walls or exterior surfaces, including steps, retaining and privacy walls, knee-high walls to border flower beds and seat walls on patios to give the custom look of real stone and wood finishes.
One of the trends he's currently noticing as autumn approaches is more Nashvillians converting their transitional spaces, such as porches and covered patios, into newly designed interior/exterior spots for relaxing, unplugging and entertaining. It's often equivalent to adding another room to one's home, but perhaps with a fire pit. By upgrading lackluster exterior spaces and adding some different outside furniture, decor or plants, clients reinvigorate the look and feel of entire backyards or side areas.
After all, it's very pleasant to have one's own personal veranda for year-round enjoyment.
When it comes to choosing new textural updates for patios, pool decks, walkways, driveways and interiors, Concrete Craft has a large variety of flooring options to consider—and they offer free design consultations and estimates. Their completed projects come with two-year warranties.