Interior Products Review: Endless PossibilitiesConcrete shows off its glamorous side.

Flowing and workable when wet, but drying to the hardness of stone, decorative concrete is capturing the minds of designers, builders, and homeowners. "Imagination is your only limit" when it comes to concrete, says Eric Boyd, owner of Reaching Quiet, a design/build firm in Charlotte, N.C.

Natural stone needs to be chiseled and carved into shape, and builders are limited by its color and slab thickness. Plus, with the prices of some stone--such as granite--declining, they are more common and less captivating to homeowners.

But decorative concrete offers an almost endless amount of personalization. It can be colored, stained, stamped, and made into any size or shape. It also can sport decorative inlays, such as fossils, glass, semi-precious stones, and more unusual objects. Homeowners are requesting it everywhere from bathrooms and kitchens to living rooms and bedrooms.

For one project, Brian Creasy, owner of Coulee Concrete Designs in Lake Oswego, Ore., used concrete to impress a bike lover. He inlaid bicycle wheels to form a bar's place settings and a seat post and chain were weaved through the countertop. "You could never do that with another medium," he says.

This customization is spurring the growth of decorative concrete, even though it is more likely to develop hairline cracks and stains than natural stone.

What surfaces look like depend on the customer's demands. Fabricators can use integral color, which means color will permeate throughout the concrete and will not change if scratched. Concrete contractors offer an array of colors, so homeowners are presented with a plethora of options.

Concrete installers also can employ a variety of coloring effects. "We've made really wonderful sinks that are marbled colors that you wouldn't naturally see in nature," says Patricia Bigelow, CEO of Hollow Rock Designs in Two Harbors, Minn.

Other popular designs include veining, which produces a marble look; steel trowel, which looks like a plastered wall; and terrazzo, which adds glass or marble chips to give the surface a two-toned appearance, according to ConcreteNetwork.com, a Web site that provides information on residential concrete.

Counter Point
Countertops are one of concrete's most popular applications in the kitchen. But, no matter what effect a homeowner chooses, one element stays the same. "When people fall in love with a concrete countertop," says architect Page Repp, head of Repp Design and Construction in Tucson, Ariz., "they talk about the warmth and depth of the surface."

Along with the perks of personalization in color, shape, and inserts, concrete counters can add conveniences. "You can take a very small kitchen and make it functional," Boyd of Reaching Quiet says.

Drain rails can be grooved into the concrete and slope into the sink. Designers also can make recessed areas for cutting boards, or they can set the boards into a groove to slide back and forth over the countertop. Furthermore, drain boards can be inset and backsplashes added.

Concrete has moved to other parts of the kitchen, too. "As people break away from thinking that they need to put box cabinets against the wall," says M.L. Haynes, marketing and communications manager for Cheng Design in Berkeley, Calif., "they are seeing the usefulness of an island and freestanding pieces."

Islands can feature inset or tucked-away cutting boards, and some designers, such as Creasy, add overhangs on which people can eat. Concrete also allows islands to take on a variety of shapes.

"You can really play with it," Bigelow says. "I've seen things that look like they are just dipped like a boomerang. It's cool to be able to do that."

Meanwhile, integral sinks designed as part of an island or countertop take advantage of concrete's flexibility. Homeowners can request wave sinks that have rolling waves between faucets; ramp sinks, for which the basin features a downward slope; trough sinks for multiple faucets; and any number of original ideas.

"You can have ramp sinks that flow down and away from you into a trough that can be moved across the counter and dropped down," Boyd says.

As well as sinks, fabricators can integrate fountains into countertop and island designs.

Slightly less popular, but also seen in kitchens, is the use of concrete for floors and walls. Designers often create floors with integral color, but staining, stenciling, and painting can produce bolder, more detailed results. With micro topping, walls can be made to look like Old World plaster, or other techniques can be used to blend walls with the floor.

Homeowners living in cold-weather areas may want to install radiant heating under concrete floors, pros say. However, in warmer climates, concrete adds a nice touch.

"Here in the Southwest," Repp says, "the coolness of the floor feels good throughout the year."

Seal It
Despite its uniqueness and flexibility, concrete is vulnerable to scratching and staining. For this reason, fabricators must finish each project with several coats of sealer and wax. Concrete also needs to be re-waxed, but how often depends on the amount of use, fabricators say.

Another of concrete's vulnerabilities includes cracking. With age, concrete will usually develop hairline cracks. However, with proper pouring and reinforcement, such as with a cabinet, plywood, grids, and steel, large cracks should not form, say installers. Also, especially with older homes, builders must ensure floors can handle the hefty weight of concrete, or the floors will need to be reinforced.

Because concrete can crack and stain, builders need to advise their clients to look at these developments as adding personality to their kitchen, not subtracting from the room's pristine quality. Also, builders should tell homeowners to wipe spills quickly and to re-wax periodically.

"You can think of it in the same way you can think of a pair of jeans," says Travis Simmons, communications director at Sonoma Cast Stone. "Some would prefer to have scuffed jeans than new jeans on the shelf."

Due to the difficulty of pouring, forming, finishing, and reinforcing, builders should hire a specialist skilled in decorative concrete, according to manufacturers and pros.

"There is a big learning curve," says Art Pinto, president of Decosup, a company that supplies both concrete products and services in Miami. "For the countertop to come out looking very nice, it has to be made by a professional."

Meanwhile, most fabricators do not price their services by the square foot, because each project is unique, so it is hard to project how much concrete projects will cost, installers say.

"Concrete work is a long process, very hands-on," Boyd says. "You are paying for labor and lots of it."

Because most products are pre-cast off site, transportation costs also come into play. Furthermore, pre-casting means builders should talk to their subs early about how much time they need to fabricate a project.

"When that baby is in studs, you give us a call and get us going on a design," Boyd says, "so that the second the countertop can be installed, we are taking templates and ready to go on it."

And, enough space must be appropriated to accommodate the placement of the finished concrete project, especially for larger pieces.

Even with those demands, pros will keep using concrete because of the endless possibilities it brings to a home.

"It's all about customization," Creasy says.

--BUILDING PRODUCTS