Concrete Coatings of Illinois: Where Topping Concrete Is Only the BeginningBob and Mike Bauer, brothers and owners of Concrete Coatings of Illinois (CCI) in Romeoville, have their hands full these days. When they're not teaming up with their other brother's company, Bauer & Burke Concrete, LLC (which specializes in pouring and cast-in-place decorative stamped concrete work), the Bauer brothers are busy acid staining, overlay stamping, spray overlaying, and applying epoxy to residential and commercial structures, as well as creating various custom logos and systems for clients looking for a unique decorative concrete look. Bob Bauer credits his brother Mike with much of the success of CCI. Mike, who oversees scheduling and project management of all CCI jobs, has the difficult task of dealing with the weather, as well as ensuring customer satisfaction. "It's easy to sell jobs, it is easy to hand a sold contract and say in theory this is what's needed to do the job," says Bob, "but Mike is the real decorative concrete specialist. Mike's efforts with the business are more than I could ever thank him for." CCI, which specializes in concrete flooring solutions, has amassed an impressive 50 years of concrete experience (no pun intended). In addition to installation, they also offer distribution of the products they use. They are also members of the Decorative Concrete Council, American Society of Concrete Contractors, International Concrete Repair Institute and the American Concrete Institute. Bob Bauer, who went to Concrete Technologies, Inc. in Florida for his initial training, started the company in 1987 and has since seen the demand for epoxy work outpace all others in the vicinity. "We currently do more epoxy work than any other kind of work," he explains. "There's only one other company doing quality garage floors, so we decided to pursue the epoxy market because everyone wants their garage floor done. It's easier to sell a garage floor than a driveway." And the selling seems to be natural, as CCI has enough work to keep 10 trucks running daily, with a crew of two per truck. They span every direction within an hour and a half from Romeoville, including areas such as Indiana and in to south Wisconsin. Although Bob Bauer says he charges more for trips to outlying areas, he adds, "My clients say they're willing to pay more for us to travel and do the work versus someone closer." CCI is good at keeping clients happy. In 2005, Bob says their 520 residential jobs net $900,000, and their 104 commercial jobs garnered $1.2 million. From residential interiors and exteriors, to car dealerships, to restaurants, that's a lot of CCI work, much of which falls into the custom category. For example, when a customer saw a multi-colored driveway in a nearby town created by another contractor, that customer called CCI to recreate the effect. The customer's specific request was that CCI incorporate more bright colors into the custom stamped concrete driveway to create contrast. First, Bauer & Burke Concrete did the pour for CCI, then they stamped the drive in a slate pattern. After that, CCI took over and stained the driveway with bright colors, including pigmented sealers for the brighter colors. "We ended up staining the job twice," Bob explains. "In the end, the client didn't like the brightness of the colors after all, so we stripped and scrubbed it down and then re-stained it. Luckily the colors he didn't like were pigmented sealers." The end result is a beautifully random scattering of various earth toned colors covering various shaped rectangles and squares. Terra cotta, tan, red, orange, yellow and light green are among the shades that grace the 2,200-square-foot driveway. Another unique project CCI created was a residential basement converted to an office, in which the client desired four colors to have equal quadrants in the main room, with each adjacent room's floor done in one of the four colors. First, Mike Bauer troweled the floor with Sure Crete Feather Finish, a versatile and durable cementitious topping for both interior and exterior concrete surfaces that's designed for horizontal surfaces, but may be used on vertical surfaces as well. Applied in layers with trowels or squeegees, the end result was a dramatic effect of four striking colors of SureStain, a deep chocolate brown (created with Black), a buttery yellow orange (created with Harvest Gold), a leathery brown (created with Mission Brown) and a sea foam green (created with Jade). Each room measured 14 feet by 16 feet or 14 feet by 18 feet, in addition to the hallway, which Bauer also treated. When the owner of a local restaurant approached CCI, they were looking for a way to bring bright colors to their space while maintaining the distressed look of the existing floor. For this project, CCI created yet another custom application using concrete stain as a base pigment and mixing it with acetone, staining each color before putting epoxy over the top. "The client didn't want us to repair the floor first, they wanted the distressed look and love it," Bob Bauer recalls of the floor done in pink, yellow, green, orange, maroon and brown in various geometric shapes. Even a small residential entry way can yield enough space for CCI to work their magic. With the end goal of a brick design look, Bob says that Bauer & Burke Concrete used integral color and powdered release to create the look of aged brick and stone steps. In a light gray with charcoal release, the stamped entry also boasts a bull nose edge on the step. In another display of custom creativity, a residential patio, Bob used stencils and a spray system to create a flagstone look to restore an existing concrete patio. He's even stained the face of a home using chemical stains with concrete board. The latest product Bob's wild about is from Sure Crete. "They came out with a new product, Eco Stain, and I was cautious because there's always a learning curve with a new product," he explains. "I've done 10 stained floors and will not use reactive stains anymore because this works so much better." In the spirit of helping out his colleagues, Bob adds, "I've also sold it to contractors who have had issues with acid stains." From helping peers, to creating custom looks that meet every whim of clients, CCI is taking decorative concrete to new levels in Illinois. Concrete Coatings of IL Find a Concrete Contractor 23 Services in 200 Metros -- U.S. and Canada © 2008 ConcreteNetwork.com None of this site may be reproduced without written permission |
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