Responsible creativity

Concrete Construction, Oct, 2004 by William D. Palmer, Jr.

People often ask me what's new in the concrete industry. I can talk all day about 3-D laser screeds or electronically controlled rider trowels or telescopic boom pumps. Or on the materials side, about self-consolidating concrete or carbon fiber reinforcement or even ultra-high-strength concrete, like LaFarge's Ductal.

But what's really creating excitement in this business? Decorative concrete, of course. I've never seen so many creative people attracted to concrete as those who are developing new techniques for decorative work. The possibilities seem endless, as do the opportunities. And this is bringing lots of new people into our little concrete world. For example, I recently met some folks who manufacture paints for taxidermists but are now making water-based stains for concrete.

To a certain extent yon can hear a negative buzz from the old guard: Who are all these silly people trying to come into our industry? They don't know anything about concrete and are out there dispensing bad advice, trying to train decorative contractors when they barely know sand from cement.

So, as with most things in this life, there are trade-offs. New people bring new perspectives and ideas that can push our industry to higher levels, but they have no grounding in the basics and are prone to try things that any knowledgeable concrete person knows won't work. The leaders of the decorative industry recognize this and are beginning an effort to do something about it. Providing good training is a first step and that is happening at the World of Concrete and at ASCC's annual meeting (and, of course, in the pages of this magazine each month). The next step is to be able to identify the knowledgeable decorative contractors from the guy who just bought some stamps and color hardener and is now calling himself a decorative concrete contractor.

So we hear the dreaded C word--certification. Many contractors balk at the idea that they are going to have to take a test and prove themselves according to some egghead's criteria. But certification has proven to be a good thing for the concrete industry. One example is the ACI Field Technician certification, which I strongly feel has improved the field testing of concrete.

A certified decorative contractor would take a short written test and perform a demonstration of skills to prove that he or she knew at least the basics. That's all we would certify: the minimum level of knowledge that a decorative contractor would need to be able to do a decent job and not make the whole business look bad because that is the real danger of the fly-by-night types: that they give the whole concept of decorative concrete a black eye. I strongly support this effort to bring some responsibility to this business, but not so much responsibility that it stifles the incredible creativity we see today.