Cement Art Inc.'s Flooring Options Abound

Juliet Farmer,ConcreteNetwork.Com Columnist

Cement Art Inc. may be a relative newcomer to decorative concrete, but for owner and artisan Susan Doscher-Ball, art has always been a passion. Luckily, the New Hampshire native, who relocated to Tampa, Florida, found an outlet by turning floors into art.

"I went to design school in Tampa, where I was exposed to Frank Lloyd Wright's work. He was staining floors back in the 1930s. After training in concrete staining, I did my first job three years ago, a custom job with stencils," she notes, adding that she initially dabbled in concrete on the side while working full time selling building supplies.

With a mixed-media background at her disposal, having worked with fabric, pottery, acrylic, and oil painting, it was Doscher-Ball's years of faux painting that made the progression to floor staining a natural one. "Faux painting and floor staining are very similar," she observes. "I've had to use faux painting skills in my floor staining."

In the end, decorative concrete won, and she dove in full time, creating Cement Art Inc., which specializes in custom interior floors, walkways and patios, as well as fireplace surrounds, custom logos and faux work. They service Tampa, Brandon, St. Pete's and Clearwater, although they've been expanding into Orlando and going further and further, providing both interior and exterior commercial and residential work as needed.

"The decorative work is fun and exciting, and we do a lot of custom work," she explains. "We tweak our client's ideas. Our graphic artist and muralist, along with our team of artists, create our stencils. You can literally give me a picture of anything and we can make a stencil out of it."

For example, when a client with a condominium in Indian Rocks Beach wanted an octopus on their floor, they sent Cement Art a picture. "We tweaked it a little bit and then created a stencil of it," explains Doscher-Ball.

The project, 700 square feet or interior decorative concrete, started with resurfacing the floor. The octopus was stenciled in the middle of the great room, with the Cement Art team creating swirl "waves" down the hall as well. The floor was overlayed in white with blue dye over it, which created a "surf-like" effect. They also resurfaced the fireplace, creating a cohesive look for the hallway, kitchen and great room.

For a commercial job at a trendy sushi restaurant in Tampa, Cement Art created a new look. "I removed the tile, wood and carpet, leaving a chewed up slab, which I overlayed and left rough," Doscher-Ball recalls. "I stained it dark brown and the roughness took different colors and became a golden color, and we also added a custom logo."

Another technique recently developed by Cement Art involves scoring concrete in diamond pattern and putting plastic on every other diamond during staining.

Cement Art also attracts clients who are frustrated with tile, carpet and laminate or wood. "They come to me because nothing's working with their kids and dogs, and they want durability and function with minimal upkeep," Doscher-Ball explains. "So I take it all off and overlay a consistent surface, then stain it or dye it or stencil it or mix colors, whatever they want that will work with their lifestyle."

Which explains why she claims her customers are 'those open to experimentation, those who are artistic and open to variances'. "It takes someone with an artistic eye to take a chance," she adds.

In the end, both Doscher-Ball and her clients are learning new things. "This is still a new product for Florida," she explains. "It hasn't been around as long as it has on the West Coast. We have to adjust to allow for moisture, heat and humidity—anything that's developed somewhere other than here has to be adjusted. It can be challenging and involve some trail and error."

But Doscher-Ball says she relishes the challenges, particularly in the residential arena. "I like residential work, because it feels like I'm helping my clients, who come to me because nothing else is working for them," she concludes. "I give them something beautiful with no grout and easy maintenance, and I like that I can do something different."

Cement Art Inc
Susan Ball
PO Box 75555
Tampa, FL 33675
(813) 786-4735 Office
(813) 740-0214 Fax
Send Mail Now - Click Here
http://www.cementartstudio.com

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