On A Lighter Side - September 2009 Newsletter

					For those who may have missed all of our (mis)adventures in last month's newsletter, you can catch up by visiting "Heavy Lifting". As some of the more experienced contractors pointed out, bringing in a concrete truck for just a countertop pour is a little overkill - even a large pour would consume very little of what the truck can carry and this would make it very expensive as most concrete contractors have a minimum charge, i.e., it costs just as much for a little concrete as for a lot more. We kind of figured this would be the case and as we had been planning on opening a small showroom in Fort Worth






showroom in Fort Worth, we decided to "marry" both projects together. We had two separate crews working the day of the pour, one for the countertops and the other for the foundation pour. And yes, when things started to go south on us during the countertop part I did think about pulling the other crew to give us a hand, for about 20 seconds. Problem was that with the concrete setting up on us so fast, we would have lost both pours, imagine chiseling up a foundation! Instead we kept the crews separate and though the first run at the countertops was an epic fail, the foundation came out beautiful! The integral color we mixed into the concrete created a soft beige colored surface that is a far cry from just standard gray. It does not have as much mottling as when we do an acid stain but it looks quite nice on its own. An added plus is that as the color was mixed into the concrete during the pour, it goes all the way through so in the unlikely event that it is chipped, the same color will always be visible. After giving it a few days to cure we sprayed on a couple of coats of sealer to enhance the color and protect it from the elements. So what about the showroom? Construction is ongoing, we expect to be open for business early next year. Stay tuned for more updates.