Beyond the Build

Construction Trends

The Solution to a Macro Concrete Problem? Think Micro.

We were asked recently to help one of our customers with a damaged concrete sidewalk. Sounds simple enough, but it wasn’t just any sidewalk. This one was elevated and it was absolutely necessary for this office facility that the sidewalk remain navigable for the tenants through out the repair process.

In years past, if someone wanted to change the appearance of a concrete surface or repair it, we would have had to cut out the entire floor and replace it, incurring great expense along the away. But new technology called micro-topping has made it significantly easier and less cost prohibitive to make such alterations. That’s the route we chose for this project.

The troweled-on, cementitious topping is paper-thin, yet bonds to most any substrate, from concrete and asphalt to wood. Because it is not confined to the color limitations of chemical stains, micro-topping allows for bright designs to be placed into an existing floor of a different color.

Even if the world is not your canvas, your floor can be.

Merrill Stewart Jr.

Merrill Stewart is Founder and CEO of The Stewart/Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham.