Terrazzi

Regina new construction In-floor heating

2011-01-28T16:33:00.000-08:00

The cold winters of the Canadian north...
this new home in Regina concrete flooring with in floor heating was specified. The outside temperature at the time of installing the Arapdio floor was minus 25 Celsius . During the winter months materials must be shipped and keep in a heated environment.

The original concrete floor had been stained and sealed .The result was not up to the owners expectation, as a result Arapido was choosen to take its place.The floor was prepared, including a light grind to remove the sealer and stain then all cracks were repaired.
Important to mask up 5 feet as all the interior painting had been completed, always use paper on the bottom row then a final row of plastic for protection.

The Arapido cement lightly color with a low loading of wales charcoal and ochre was applied to create the required color an ascetics.

renovated rancher with Arapido cement flooring

2011-01-28T14:17:00.000-08:00

The light grey Arapido floor a perfect compliment to the kitchen carbinetary

The spacious living room with a view....

A visual delight with no encumbering grout lines makes the space feel enormous.

Ideal surface the bedroom....

in the previous blog you will see the original tile floor and Troy applying the arapido cement.

Concrete micro topping over tile.

2010-11-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

Original floor tile with in-floor heating. New renovation eliminated walls which had to filled with an expanding grout.

Paul Taylor from AKA Beton on the self level rake
Floor need a 3/8 inch Self level to cover the undulating large tile. LEVEL1 was used a self level ing underlayment.

Troy applies the second coat of white Arapdio cement to complete the resurfacing process.

The Gym with Arapido cement

2010-11-22T18:03:00.000-08:00

Adventurous alternative
Decorative concrete

Flooring plays an important part in any gym with
nothing receiving quite as much abuse.
The Arapido cement floor here has handled many workouts and shows no signs of tiring.

Bold color and shapes

the warm sunny concrete colors contrast dramatically with the heavy equipment creating a fresh vibrant energetic atmosphere.

Concrete Sealer
Inspection after 2 1/2 years:
Originally a water based epoxy was used,then top coated with 2 coats of Acrylic Floor Finish.
No subsequent maintenance was carry out except for a clean water mopping. The general area as shown in the photos area showing no wear and in great shape

Where as the body press area is showing some distress where the weights are continually dropped ....these areas will have to be resurfaced next month.
This time the Arapido cement will have a Terrazzi finish applied with Cast-on silica and garnet to further increase hardness and compaction numbers to combat the abuse .
Then sealed with a high solids Urethane with alumina oxide added to make it bulletproof.

Arapido cement, a warm atmosphere

2010-11-15T19:44:00.000-08:00

The bedroom:

The natural soft ochre tones with a custom white Cast-on creating a sense of transparency in the Terrazzi floor.

Integral pigment: Aqua-color Ochre 20 mls. with Onxy Black 10mls..

Arapido cement replaces white carpet

2010-11-11T15:11:00.000-08:00

A sense of intimacy is created.
............. you feel as if you are peeking

New Vancouver condominium
Brand new white carpet was removed upon owners taking occupancy and Arapido cement installed with a Terrazzi finish.

Simultaneous contrast:
the contrasting wall and floor colors are affected by each other, neither color reads true in the confined hallway space .

The translucent white Arapido cement softens the dark walls and the floor takes on a warm neutral hue.

Color: white Arapido with low loading of white titanium
Cast-on: clear fine silica aggregates and hardeners
Sealer: Deco Supreme (water-based cross linked urethane and acrylic) plus white pearlesence

An air of elegeance with Arapido cement.

2010-11-11T07:25:00.000-08:00

A seamless concrete floor
with no tile pattern distractions....

An interesting emotional response to exquisite antique furniture on white Arapido cement (with very low loading of terracotta and onyx black). Also in the floor you will notice small match head size crushed red glass randomly placed .

Cast-on adds a sophistication to the surface

2010-11-11T07:05:00.000-08:00

A sandstone finish

Given the limitations of using pigment in cement, the Cast on aggregates give another dimension to the surface.
Even in this project the white silica gave the surface a natural stimulus.

Installer :Wayne Jones

Micro Topping in New York Gallery

2010-11-09T18:56:00.000-08:00

This is one of the first Gallery's done in New York with Arapido Cement. At the the time we were not using Cast-on.

Installer : Hudson Concrete

A sense of space
with the seamless Arapido floor the negative space generates graphic space convincingly.

It was this project that influenced Martha Stewart to use Arapido in her 30,000 sq.ft addition to her existing facility.

Terrazzi finish at CRG Gallery New York

2010-11-08T19:36:00.000-08:00

On my recent trip to visit Paul Huneck at Hudson Concrete, an unexpected opportunity came up to show our latest Cast-on technique over Arapido to create a Terrazzi finish.

Conclusion : Cast-on adds an interesting dimension to the surface matrix and improves the polishing results.

The Terrazzi surface was applied over a new self- leveled concrete floor that was showing up unwanted curing lines due to protection cardboard.

Those important concrete details;

Polishing the Terrazzi edges with a 4 inch variable hand polisher and dry diamond pads.

We place these pads also under the larger 17' floor machine to polish the field areas.

So Important:
Always spray apply the first coat of sealer. This eliminates the possibility of roller or applicator lines.Second coat can be applied with applicator.

Keep the pressure up and apply a very thin coat.

With a closer look:
The polished concrete micro topping creates subtle depth and character on a very smooth floor surface without detracting form the wall art.

No rivalries here!

the Terrazzi floor acts as a perfect backdrop for objects of art.
After the floor was sealed with Deco Seal Supreme two coats of a flat wax floor finish were applied to assist for easy maintenance.

Special thanks to the owners of CRG Gallery:
Carla, Richard and Glenn for their trusting support.
Making quick decisions allowed the installation to proceed very rapidly.

THE PROJECT: installed by Hudson Concrete

Revisit Arapido at Vancouver College

2010-10-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be a good time and have a look at an old Arapido project.
Back in 2007 we had 2 years of successful project testing with this new product and felt it was time to put it to the real test.....the heavy demands of a large boy's college.

Vancouver College Crest

With decorative concrete finishes we had a opportunity to give the College a chance to present their heritage with the present in the new school extensions.

With Bjorn Olner we worked on a concept of deconstructing the school crest and using aspects of it in the new floor.

Bjorn Olner's original watercolor drawings for the foyer.

We chose gold as the main field color's as it was used in the college's uniforms. The first task was to lay out the design and spray on the Arapido which had a fine combination of Silica hardeners and pearlescent powders broad-casted to provide extra hardness.

Large graphics depicting aspects of the crest and in this case the opening year the school was established 1922. Purple was the predominate color used in the college uniforms.

The school demanding foot traffic has had no effect on the Arapido surface, since its inception in the school another two renovations have seen the material used.

Arapido on vertical

2010-10-31T09:51:00.000-07:00

Tony from Melody Concrete mixes the arapido cement with 4.6 liters of CP 2008 polymer for 2 minutes.
Allows it to sit for a couple of minutes ...re-mixes for 45 seconds minute.
He uses a fine screen to pour it through prior to filling the hopper of the Arapido sprayer.

Do not mistake this with the Stucco hopper gun system!
that systems spatters the coarse material on with air, and then knocked down with a trowel to give a stucco finish.

The difference:
The Arapido gun puts on a very smooth fine cement finish without air .....thus having real concrete characteristic.

Stand back at least 5ft when spraying very light smooth coats

The freshly sprayed Arapido cement is very lightly textured with magic trowels to give movement and a fresco finish... the desired look.

WALLS AND EVEN CEILINGS

Once dry, Arapido cement takes on a totally different look to paint....a softer warmer natural ascetic

"Its time for a Self-Level"

2010-10-30T18:30:00.000-07:00

The problem:
Even though this surface needed to be level with the adjoining tile, the surface had been so poorly place that it still would have required a self leveling cement like Level 1.
Arapido requires a much smoother substrate.
Remember the newly sprayed cement goes on very thin, and any physical deficiencies underneath would not be hidden.

level 1 brings the concrete floor up to the level of the tile, and at the same time eliminates the heavy trowel lines.
Prior to installing the Arapido over the self level, the floor must be primed with CP2008.
This will stop air movement up through Level 1, plus bond the two surfaces together and allow the Arapido to hydrate as required.

Laying graphics with different color and matrix

2010-10-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

The Process: involves a layer of Arapido, including Cast-on and then polished the following day with 100 mesh dry diamond pads.
Then another layer of sprayed Arapido over a hand cut card board graphic....this time no Cast-on, thus producing more surface contrast. With this second layer, a 200 mesh Diamond pad polished the last graphic even finer then the first layer.

The Project : was completed by Tony Qi from Melody Concrete at Yaletown Vancouver

A resurfacing installer's nightmare

2010-10-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

Bull-nose steps
The original steps were poorly installed with typical gray concrete once the various deficiencies were patched and ground the Arapido spray pump makes fast work of resurfacing.

Typically resurfacing these 10 bull nose steps would take the best part of an afternoon,with the Arapido sprayer the job was completely resurfaced in 10 minutes not including the patching.

The smooth finish produce by the sprayer had a broadcast of Cast-on to give a fine sandstone appearance to match the visual of the sandstone walls and to create a nonslip factor.

Imagine Joanne's vision

2010-10-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

A pretty daunting task at this stage. The old crumbing concrete floor needed to be removed to allow for a complete renovation including raising the house and new foundations.

Joanne inspecting her new Garden suite even at this stage she had visualized the finish needed for her furniture.

A new floor was place the gray concrete was power trowelled to produce a smooth finish ...perfect for the Arpaido process that was done 4 weeks later
the photo gives a glimpse of the abuse a new concrete receives during construction.

COMPLETION: Joanne a very happy client

What makes this interesting is that the white Arapido cement floor with the Terrazzi finish absolutely suits Joannes fine antique furniture in her garden suite.

The Matrix's ...simple yet elegant
The SST Cast-on in the project had a combination of fine silica's, red glass and small white marble chips.

What is an Arapido Sprayer?

2010-10-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

Next generation in concrete surfacing
this airless spray pump was developed for spraying cement based micro resurfacers .
Eliminating many of problems and difficulties associating with hand tools and the materials used .

5gallon
Removable hopper bucket
with finger touch quick release for easy clean up.

Quick release high pressure hose with pressure gauge.

The high volume gun

Every installers dream

Smaller team required (2 men ) even on large projects
Faster resurfacing over horizontal and vertical surfaces
Eliminates nasty trowel marks
Reduced material costs
Increases the number of finishes possible
Magical when it comes to stairs and those difficult areas.
OFF YOUR KNEES

Completing the project

2010-10-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

The problem: the exterior pool deck was poured at different times during construction, resulting in two totally different colored concrete slabs with differing porosity's. Staining these concrete pours, trying to pull them together was fruitless .Finally the customer got what they wanted Arapido sprayed over entire surface.

A combination of aggregates were cast on during the installation of the Arapido to give the surface a nonslip sandstone finish.

A elegant sutle yet practical color and finish for this exterior application.

Floating dyes on Arapido cement

2010-10-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

A river of colors

The new Arapido cement surface has a dye process executed using blue first followed by yellow, then red, and finally black.....

The following day, torn cardboard strip protects the surface, and then another layer of integrally colored Arapido cement sprayed either side.

Beautiful natural colors

The beautiful organic result obtained using translucent Deso cement dyes on Arapido cement.

Using sawdust resist to manipulate and protect the primary colors during the process creating a mysterious depth.

It was critical to avoid contaminating the blue areas during the process, as we all know any yellow would have turned it to green.

a color wash
with maple leaves imprinted into the wet Arapido cement
creating an interesting interaction between the cement, dye colors and the imprinted leaves.

The different color layers suggest depth, which is further enhanced by the color gradients in the individual layers.

Vancouver Room 8 -white Arapido

2010-10-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

standard gray concrete pour

It was decided not to use white color-hardener for finishing the concrete, this would have been too difficult to protect with all the heavy construction in progress.The building was also very old and had a lot of oil contamination in the adjoining spaces which would have ruined the white concrete finish.

The final decision was to apply Arapido just prior to opening.

Spraying on new white Arapido cement surface

White Arapido was the choose, as it would equal the ascetic's attained with white cement and could be applied at the end of construction, eliminating the need for protection.

Sealed finished surface

Martha Stewart.. newly renovated 30,000 sqft. addition

2010-10-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

New York gallery district

The Arapido is applied over an old repaired self-leveled concrete floor to complete the renovation.
The following day the new floor was sanded with 120 mesh screens.
The final floor showed no cold joints, even though the runs where over a 100 ft. long .
Keeping a wet edge is not a problem with Arapido,
and the sprayer eliminates those unsightly trowel and smoother lines.

San Francisco Terrazzi

2010-10-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

The new custom colored surface was applied with an Arapido spray pump.....take note how the surrounding masking should be at least three feet to eliminate any over-spray.

Arapido over stamped concrete

2010-10-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

The latest in decorative concrete resurfacing... With the Arapido sprayer, now its possible to resurface existing stamped concrete... without loosing the original textured profile.

Terrazzi - A new innovation in concrete resurfacing

2010-07-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

A cost effective innovation in concrete resurfacing, producing the beauty of a polished concrete floor.

The Terrazzi surface is applied with an Arapido micro sprayer and incorporates casting on fine aggregates, recycled glass and salvaged crushed marble into the wet material. Then the polishing process enables the installer to coax out the inherent beauty of the new concrete matrix in subtle ways.

Terrazzi makes for an ideal choice of use in architectural concrete where cost, durability and aesthetic concerns are critical.

Features

Unlimited color combinations
Ideal for interior and exterior
Comprised of zero VOC materials
Superior abrasion resistance
Excellent bond strength
Freeze thaw stability
Breathable surface
Sandstone texture when unpolished concrete
Durability
Recyclable content