Featured Contractor: Ben McCarthy
McCarthy Concrete, Inc.
59 McGuire Road
South Windsor, CT 06074
1.860.290.8817
Project Name: New London High School
A new High School gets a one-of-a-kind floor with environmentally friendly concrete stain.
When the project was bid the original scope specified a ground and polished concrete floor. In our job meeting conversation I mentioned stained concrete, as I had just completed an acid stain project at another school. The architects (Friar and Associates) liked what they were hearing and wanted to know more about it. When I began explaining the possibilities with the colors and designs they fell in love with the idea of going from a plain grey concrete floor to a custom designed stained concrete floor.
Once we poured the floors we had a month before we could do anything so we began going over designs. The architects and I sat down, which is a very rare occasion, but was one of the reasons this project was as successful as it was. They asked me for some ideas relating to concrete design and stain color so that they could better understand the possibilities of the concrete stain and my abilities as an installer. During our first meeting we looked at some rough sketches from me, some ideas from them, and so began the process of the design.
Since this was a science and technology center, each floor had a different area of science and each room had a precise area of study. Therefore each room had to be themed to fit that location. For example in the earth science room (which was actually 3 large rooms) I took a layout of the bay and river that flowed into the inlet on which the school was located and designed a pattern across the 3 rooms.
After a few meetings we began to agree on some designs. The colors they wanted were vibrant greens and blues, which were used throughout the school in walls and trim colors. I then remembered from the World of Concrete that L. M. Scofield Company has a new waterborne concrete stain product called LITHOCHROME® Tintura™ Stain which offered a variety of vibrant colors. I called my Scofield rep and got a Tintura color chart and some samples. My rep came out to the site, did some samples with me, gave me some helpful hints and everything went smoothly. The Architects were thrilled with the colorful results. The concrete stain looked great on the floor and gave the same effect as acid stain but was much easier to control during the application. So with designs in hand, numerous very challenging ones at that, I began.
When all is said and done, the Tintura worked great. I could not have accomplished anything close to these designs with acid-based stain. The process was painless with Tintura, there was no washing or neutralizing required, which cut down on the mess and allowed me to speed up the process and finish early. With the help of Scofield's tech support and a good game plan the job turned out perfectly.
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