Category Archives: Polished Concrete

Musselman & Hall Contractors Earn Silver for Bomanite Renaissance Deep Grind Application for Olathe West High School

September 25, 2020

Olathe West High School opened in the fall of 2017, designed using architecturally advanced techniques to create an innovative and futuristic learning environment for their students. The three-story school, spanning 375,000 square feet, focuses on the use of technology, open, modular learning spaces, efficiency and collaboration among students. A centrally-located learning commons provides student gathering and education collaboration spaces that connect to the entire building.

The school is designed with four wings where students attend classes. The building also includes an open concept Library with 60 planting boxes on a growing wall, four mini-libraries overlooking the main first floor library, a Public Safety Academy, Green Tech learning center, media center, performing arts center with retractable seating, gymnasiums with a one-ninth mile track around the top and a 200 square foot rooftop greenhouse.

Bomanite Licensee, Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC worked with the project designers, Hollis + Miller and Stantec, to provide a sustainable low maintenance topping and polishing technique that is becoming a standard in school construction. Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC placed 25,000 square-feet of 2”-thick Bomanite Renaissance Deep Grind system as an unbonded topping slab integrating local aggregates and references. Once the slab was cured, it was ground down to expose the coarse aggregates and then polished to a semi-gloss concrete finish.

“Bomanite’s Renaissance Deep Grind is a high-end, readily customized decorative concrete that really bring designs to life,” says Dan Kroesen, a Vice President with Musselman & Hall Contractors. The Bomanite Renaissance Deep Grind polished concrete system represents a custom mix of individually sourced aggregates, sands, and added integral colors that can be installed as a slab on grade or unbonded overlay. Once the concrete sets, it is milled, ground, and finally polished to produce a beautiful, solid surface that looks and wears very similar to terrazzo.

While every type of flooring requires regular maintenance, one of the advantages of the Bomanite Renaissance Deep Grind process is the long-term cost positives. Because the floor is treated with chemical hardeners that reduce porosity, while still allowing it to breath, fully-exposed hard aggregates are the predominate wear surface rather than an applied sealer or coating. Correctly selecting aggregates by size, type, and color allows the floor to wear naturally while supporting superior stain resistance to traditional concrete because no film-forming agents are required to maintain a Bomanite Renaissance floor.

The Bomanite Renaissance system checks a lot of boxes – tremendous design flexibility, first-cost savings, lower cost maintenance, making Bomanite Decorative Concrete the right investment for long lasting beauty and benefit for school construction projects and its communities.

AWARDS: Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC earned the Best Bomanite Custom Polishing Silver Award 2019 for the high-end, readily customized decorative concrete installation at Olathe West High School.

Musselman & Hall Provide Grand Winning Bomanite Polished Concrete for Grain Valley High School

June 10, 2020

With school out for the summer that leaves room for designers and contractors to have more readily available access for specified improvements and upgrades. Growing School Districts looking to restyle, update or renovate can trust the Bomanite Modena SL system for low maintenance and cost saving benefits. The Grain Valley High School originally built in the late 1990s finished its phase 4 expansion to accommodate its rapidly growing student body. Expansion brought much needed instructional and collaboration space, a game changer for students. With a large amount of community support, the School took into consideration the need to provide a low maintenance flooring with an element of design to embody the schools colors and team spirit.

Hollis + Miller Architects worked with Bomanite Decorative Concrete Licensee, Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC on several other past projects and knew that they could come up with a custom winning design. They searched through a number of samples, library binders, created idea boards and pulled together a combination of polished concrete and different aggregates that would give the students academia pride in their newly expanded school.

Phase 4 creates a new main entrance, media center, lecture hall, administration area, and courtyard for student use. The new entrance to the “Eagle Way” promenade is flanked by a huge monolithic concrete wall dressed out in the school colors of royal blue and white. The entrance’s 2,890 sq. ft. hallway contains two shades of vibrant blue glass aggregate and eye-catching pieces of sparkling mirror glass polished to a brilliant luster. After the concrete base slab was poured, it was topped with a two-inch thick Bomanite Modena SL topping slab, aggregates added and after a brief curing period the floor was then polished to the perfect grit and shine.

Additionally, included in the project were 1,945 sq. ft. of a refined “cream polish” surface (Class A aggregate exposure with a Level 3 polish) and 4,335 sq. ft. of a perfect “salt and pepper” finish (Class B aggregate exposure with a Level 3 polish). Musselman & Hall crews also polished three sets of concrete steps with a three-line nose detail engraved into the concrete. The newly created grooves were filled with “Grain Valley Blue” epoxy to bring some school spirit and color into the Bomanite cream polished finish designed surface areas.

The Bomanite Modena SL Custom Polishing System is an engineered interior cementitious topping that is blended with selected aggregates and then ground and polished to the desired gloss level. The Modena system transforms existing or worn surfaces into beautiful walkways, school hallways, showrooms, restaurants and lobbies and is available in a range of colors and patterns using decorative sawcuts. Additional topically applied stains and a variety of aggregates, such as recycled glass or porcelain along with regionally sourced materials, are all options in creating a beautifully designed, environmentally friendly and functional floor. The Modena system is a low-cost alternative for renovation projects and provides the durability and strength for this exceptionally long lifespan system. With the industry’s lowest lifecycle costs, low to zero VOC and minimal maintenance requirements, Modena by Bomanite Polished Concrete was the optimal choice for Grain Valley’s expansion and renovations.

Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC received several awards for their exceptional work at Grain Valley High School. They were awarded the Bomanite Outstanding Grand Award as well as the Bomanite Custom Polishing Systems Gold Award. More than a century of construction heritage dating back to the late 1800’s distinguishes Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC as one of the mid-west’s longest-standing general contractors. From railroads to roadways, through two world wars and building our nation’s infrastructure, Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC has been a leader in horizontal construction of every scale. With offices in Kansas City, St. Louis and Wichita, today Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC is perhaps best known for their work in architectural concrete where they apply Bomanite systems and products to help architects and contractors realize exceptional decorative flat work on high-profile projects such as the Sprint Center, Kauffman Stadium and The Legends at West Village.

Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC maintains a comprehensive Bomanite systems showroom at their Kansas City and St. Louis offices, which allows owners, designers and builders to see and feel each product first hand during design. A legacy of valuing long-term relationships over short-term profits has earned Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC the trust and admiration of countless clients as the regional leader in exceptional construction.

Bomanite Modena SL Polished Concrete Overlay takes Nickel and Suede’s Flagship Store to new Heights

April 8, 2020

Be Brave. Take a Chance. Change Your Life. These words are the mantra of Nickel & Suede, believing that trying something new can change your life. What started out in a basement and now has become a multimillion-dollar business with a 12,500 square foot facility for their Headquarters, Nickel & Suede just opened their flagship store with many more retail spaces to come.

The Missouri local, Kilee Nickels and her husband Soren tell the story of how the idea and need for a pair of statement earrings became a bigger than life moment.

Kilee’s simple teardrop design made from a leather purchase inspired by her family’s previous belt business was an immediate success and she set about making earrings for others. Kilee and her husband, Soren Nickels founded Nickel & Suede in 2014 and have grown the company to thirty employees while keeping their product made in the United States. The Kansas City couple creates lightweight, statement earrings made of leather and high-quality materials such as 14 karat gold. They started their company in the basement of their home but quickly outgrew the space and knew they needed to expand. They reached out to Kansas City based Hufft Design, recognized as one of the top 50 design firms by Architect Magazine, to help them create a plan for growth. Hufft designed their retail store in their new 12,500 square-foot headquarters in Liberty, Missouri. The facility is a master’s course in retail design, providing a refined shopping experience that evokes the quality of the Nickel & Suede products. Hufft designed the Nickel & Suede floor system with a honey-colored wood island inset into a Bomanite Custom Polished concrete floor.

Nickel and Suede installed a Bomanite Custom Polished Concrete Modena SL Flooring System in their new retail flagship store located in liberty, Mo with the help of Bomanite Licensee Musselman and Hall.

Bomanite Licensee, Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC had previously worked with Hufft on their award-winning designs for the Tuft & Needle store in Overland Park, Kansas. The contractor and designers had worked together to choose a polishable overlay for the Tuft & Needle shopfront that would allow minimal issues with transitions, but still create a durable and attractive floor. That first installation ended up being just the ticket, so Hufft decided to utilize the same high performance self-leveling concrete polish overlay, Bomanite Modena SL in the Nickel & Suede flagship shop. The overlay was to be installed at only ⅜” thick, so preparation was key. The Musselman & Hall foreman, Johnathon Eggert, and his crew used large abrasive diamond grinders to profile the entire interior floor as preparation for the overlay. A five-man crew was able to place the entire floor in just one day using small onsite mixers. The new flooring overlay only needed 24 hours to cure before it could be finished. Diamond tooling was used to polish the floor to a satin finish. A Bomanite penetrating sealer was applied to provide resistance against stains while still keeping a low maintenance surface. The warm gray floors show no perceptible aggregate and are an integral part of the overall design aesthetic.

Soren Nickels had this to say about his experience, “We wanted to build up the concrete floor to the level of our decorative inset, while going for a refined concrete look. We were introduced to Musselman & Hall with the understanding that their creative work in concrete concepts would give us some trustworthy options. This definitely proved to be the case. We wanted to avoid any surprises, so we let our trust in their experience lead the way. We felt that the product they recommended would match what we were looking for-even with all the particulars we asked for. The team that showed up to do the work definitely proved to be careful masters of their craft. In our minds it was fine-finish work and they delivered. We even made a few last-minute adjustments that were handled with ease, flexibility and speed. ”

The finished retail interior floor is a simple, but elegant representation of the design flexibility of decorative architectural concrete and Bomanite’s diverse sustainable offering of flooring and paving systems. As Nickel & Suede continue to inspire individuals to be brave and try new things. We encourage you to imagine the possibilities and let Bomanite Decorative Concrete make those dreams a reality.

Awards & Press:

Bomanite Decorative Concrete Awards March 2020: Bomanite Custom Polishing System Bronze Award

Kansas City Business Journal Capstone Award March 2020

Interior Design Magazine Oct 2019: https://www.interiordesign.net/articles/17074-teardrop-earrings-inspire-nickel-and-suede-s-office-by-matthew-hufft/

Texas Bomanite Receives Award for Cypress Waters Lobby using Bomanite VitraFlor

October 9, 2019

Cypress Waters is the newest 1,000-acre master-planned community to rise up in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Just five minutes from the DFW International airport, Cypress Waters is centered around a serene 300-acre lake, that entails office, multi-family and retail waterfront developments. The owners, Billingsley Co, wanted Cypress Waters to infuse waterfront living with the design principles of new urbanism and sustainable design. Their goal was to emphasize the benefits of a live / work community, and interconnect over 4.5 million square feet of office space with retail, parks, trails, and a lakeside town center.

Bomanite VitraFlor Custom Polished Concrete Floors installed by Texas Bomanite at the Cypress Waters Business Complex in Coppell Texas perfect for interior flooring lobbies

Bomanite Licensee, Texas Bomanite was brought in by the General Contractor, Adolfson & Peterson Construction to polish and seal 4,500 square feet of interior concrete flooring in the lobby of the 225,000 square foot office building at 9111 Cypress Waters Blvd. Designed by GFF Architects, Texas Bomanite lended to the modern, sustainable design of the architecture by polishing the concrete to a 1,500 grit with a salt and pepper finish. Texas Bomanite utilized the Bomanite Custom Polishing VitraFlor system; which consisted of grinding, chemical hardening with Bomanite Stabilizer Pro, and honing and polishing with Bomanite VitraFinish.

Prior to the final installation of the project Texas Bomanite also provided a 100 square foot mock-up, which allowed the architects and General Contractors a solid idea of exactly what the finished product would look like. Even the results on plain concrete can be stunning. The Bomanite Custom Polishing VitraFlor system can be utilized on existing or new uncolored concrete.

Bomanite VitraFlor utilizes select un-colored concrete that is placed and finished to standards required for decorative polished concrete flooring. The concrete is ground to expose the desired amount of aggregate, then polished to the required gloss level and treated with a Bomanite stain resist. The primary benefit to Bomanite VitraFlor is the simplicity of installation and durability of the finished floor, lending to its low-maintenance and long-term sustainable features.

Texas Bomanite received the 2018 Honorable Mention Bomanite Custom Polishing Systems Award for their outstanding decorative concrete work on the 9111 Cypress Waters Blvd. Business Complex.

Beyond Concrete Installs High-End Bomanite Modena Polished Concrete Floor for Iron Chef Michael Symon

September 11, 2019

Located in Atlantic City’s Marina District, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is steadfast at introducing diverse, innovative and world-class dining experiences. Guests looking for a one-of-a-kind culinary experience on the East Coast will find that the Borgata offers a wide array of restaurants and world-renowned chefs under one roof, including Wolfgang Puck (Wolfgang Puck American Grille), Bobby Flay (Bobby Flay Steak), Michael Schulson (Izakaya Modern Japanese Pub), Geoffrey Zakarian (The Water Club hotel at Borgata), restaurateurs Greg and Marc Sherry (Old Homestead Steak House) and now Michael Symon’s Angeline.

Angeline by Michael Symon located in the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City uses Bomanite Decorative Concrete Bomanite Modena SL Custom Polished Concrete Floors installed by Beyond Concrete from Keyport, NJ for a Hi-end Iron Chef Restaurant

Angeline is Iron Chef and James Beard Award winner chef Michael Symon’s ode to classic Italian food, inspired by his heritage and personal history. Growing up with Greek and Sicilian influences, Michael Symon creates meaningful dishes that showcase his unabashed love for food, passionate hospitality and zest for life. The menu captures nostalgia with red-sauce style favorites from family recipes, including his mother Angeline’s Sunday Sauce. The design of the restaurant needed to reflect this balance of old and new world.

Parts and Labor Design, a New York-based interior design firm, whose breadth of work includes restaurants, bars, hotels and retail projects at every scale, collaborated with Philadelphia’s famed Cope-Linder Architects to pull together the design of the 8,200-square-foot Italian restaurant Angeline by Michael Symon. The 223-seat fine dining experience features a bar area, main dining room and private dining space, with the intent to showcase the soulful cooking and joyful personality synonymous with the award-winning chef. It’s described as a mix of casino glam with the comfortable familiarity of a typical neighborhood Italian restaurant.

Bomanite Licensee, Beyond Concrete, having worked previously on several other top-chef restaurants at the Borgata, was brought in by Cope-Linder Architects to make sure the restaurant interior flooring was up to the design standards and within budget. Knowing the specification called for approximately 1,800 of square feet of polished concrete floors, Beyond Concrete proceeded with showcasing several custom samples with variety of colors and depth of exposure, to the architect as well as to ABC’s The Chew co-host Chef Michael Symon. The Bomanite Modena SL Custom Polishing System was chosen for its sleek and modern design, complimenting the mixed media used throughout the dining establishment.

In preparation for the Bomanite Modena SL System the floorings base slab needed to be corrected as it was extensively out of level and in poor condition. Custom colors in black and brown pigments were mixed for the final color placement of the Bomanite Modena SL System. Once cured, the flooring was ground and polished to a medium satin finish and given two coats of Bomanite Stainguard for that final seal and durable protection. Beyond Concrete’s expertise in the field made sure that the high-end restaurant was engineered for a super star review.

The Bomanite Modena Custom Polishing System is an engineered interior cementitious topping that is blended with selected aggregates and then ground and polished to the desired gloss level. The Modena system transforms existing or worn surfaces into beautiful walkways, showrooms, restaurants and lobbies and is available in a range of colors and patterns using decorative sawcuts. Additional topically applied stains and a variety of aggregates, such as recycled glass or porcelain along with regionally sourced materials, are all options in creating a beautifully designed, environmentally friendly and functional floor. The Modena system is a low-cost alternative for renovation projects and provides the durability and strength for this exceptionally long lifespan system. With the industry’s lowest lifecycle costs, low to zero VOC and minimal maintenance requirements, Modena by Bomanite is the optimal choice for renewed surfaces.

AWARDS: Beyond Concrete received the 2018 Best Bomanite Custom Polishing Project Honorable Mention Award for their work on Angeline by Michael Symon.

Musselman & Hall Contractors Receive Award for Starbucks Sustainable Bomanite Modena SL Polished Concrete Floor

July 24, 2019

The General Contractor, J.E. Foster Building Company, contacted Bomanite Licensee, Musselman & Hall Contractors, LLC about a new Starbucks Coffeehouse being built in the Brookside community of Kansas City. Starbucks was considering the incorporation of new flooring material in a prototype store.

Starbucks design studios are located around the world so that their designers can fully understand the communities they serve. The mission of each designer is to create a spectacular Starbucks café experience that is steeped in the local culture and reflects the unique characteristics of each neighborhood.

Starbucks Coffeehouse Brookside Creates Community Design with Bomanite Modena SL Polished Concrete Floors in Kansas City installed by Musselman and Hall

Starbucks believes a coffeehouse should be a welcoming, inviting and familiar place for people to connect, so they design their stores to reflect the unique character of the neighborhoods they serve. They are also interested in the way design can connect everyone to sustainable building practices and provoke thoughtful questions and engagement with the built environment. To guide their building and design efforts, Starbucks uses the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® certification program as a benchmark for success. In addition to reducing energy and water consumption, they incorporate reused and recycled materials wherever possible and often use locally inspired design details and materials in their stores.

After some research and several references, the general contractor worked with the local contractor Musselman & Hall for assistance. Based on a tile sample provided by the Starbucks design team and an overall design concept, Musselman & Hall produced a series of Bomanite Custom Polishing Modena SL samples for the client’s consideration. The samples immediately impressed the Starbucks staff.

The Modena System, unique to Bomanite, is a trowel applied cementitious overlay that contains zero VOC and no solvents in the chemically hardening product with attributes to its “Low-Emitting Materials” LEED credits. Modena is polished to a highly durable finish and is commonly used to renovate floors that are unacceptable candidates for polished concrete. It can be applied as thin as 1/8” or as thick as ¾” dependent upon existing elevations. Modena can be either highly decorative with aggregate exposure or simpler with light aggregate exposure similar to finely ground concrete.

The Modena system contributes to additional LEED accrual points in “Innovation by Design” by its ability to renovate an existing concrete slab that would otherwise be unsuitable for concrete polishing. This provides specifiers the ability to use polished concrete much as they would traditionally select a manufactured tile or other flooring system only without the maintenance requirements. Bomanite Modena is more economical than typical terrazzo, is breathable which minimizes moisture vapor issues, can be colored in any color, lessens the amount of product brought to a jobsite compared to stone or tile and provides all the benefits of polished concrete.

The relatively small project (600 SF) utilized the Bomanite Nickel Gray Integrally Colored Bomanite Modena SL system. The polished overlay was placed at approximately ½” thick. The overlay was ground and polished to a 400-grit finish. Musselman & Hall coordinated with Starbucks artist who utilized a portion of the floor as a canvas to paint a fun and colorful mural. This is the first Starbucks location in the region to utilize the Bomanite Custom Polishing Modena SL flooring system.

The finished floor is a simple, but elegant representation of the design flexibility of decorative architectural concrete and Bomanite’s diverse sustainable offering of floor systems.

AWARDS: 2018 Bomanite Custom Polishing Project – Honorable Mention

Hope Fellowship Renovates with Bomanite Colored Polished Concrete and Grasscrete Pervious Concrete

March 7, 2019

Bomanite Licensee, Texas Bomanite has worked with Hope Fellowship Church in Frisco, Texas for several years in different construction phases throughout the main areas of the building. Mycon General Contractors brought in Texas Bomanite for several architectural concrete applications that needed updating at the Frisco campus. Working with Small Architects, and Mycon, Texas Bomanite installed Bomanite polished colored concrete for the floors of the lobbies, stairs, hallways, auditorium and sanctuaries and upgraded the church parking lot to a pervious Grasscrete stone filled system to accommodate the need for pervious requirements and stormwater management.

Hope Fellowship Church Brings Color to it's Ministries with Bomanite Custom Polishing Patene Teres Interior Floors and Auditorium Seating

Hope Fellowship is a 3-campus Bible Church located in Frisco (East campus and West campus) and in McKinney, Texas with services in Prosper, TX. The Church broke ground with the Frisco East campus in April 2017 and completed the expansion late 2018 that included renovating all of the children’s areas, adding a 1,700-seat auditorium and adding more ministries, such as Hope Students, Adventure Kidz, a recovery ministry and a marriage ministry.

The concrete finishes that were installed included 31,890 square feet of Class B exposure with Level 3 gloss Bomanite Patène Teres polished concrete flooring throughout the campus interior, along with 4,850 square feet of Patène Artectura dyed and sealed concrete and 2,820 lineal feet of joints filled with polyurea joint filler. Two custom brown dye colors were selected by the architect to create a warm, earthy and inviting feel.

The main challenge in this project was working around the schedule of the parishioners and staff who utilize both the inside and outside of the building for classes, church services, and gatherings. The church asked that the work be completed with minimal daytime disruption. This required Texas Bomanite to work overnight on numerous occasions to remain on schedule. A crew of 5 worked through the evenings to complete the Bomanite Patène Teres polished concrete system on time.

In addition to the interior floors, the church was required to decrease the sites overall impervious percentage and to allow for stormwater drainage. By having Texas Bomanite install 1,800 square feet of Bomanite Grasscrete pervious concrete using the biodegradable Molded Pulp Former and filling the voids with crushed stone the criteria and requirements were met.

Hope Fellowship Installs Pervious Parking Lot with Bomanite Grasscrete Stone Filled System to Help with Stormwater Management

For more information about the project and systems used, please visit

https://bomanite.com/system_sub/patene-teres/, https://bomanite.com/system_parent/pervious-concrete-systems/, http://www.texasbomanite.com/product/polished, http://www.texasbomanite.com/product/grasscrete, hopefellowship.net and mycon.com.

Infinite Campus utilizes Bomanite Custom Polished Systems to Design a Beach Themed Interior Floor

February 27, 2019

Infinite Campus is the largest U.S. owned K-12 student information management firm that is nestled among natural wetlands and a city park. Wanting to allow views to the exterior natural elements, the Finn Daniels Architect firm made sure the design incorporated architectural precast concrete wall panels, a glass curtain wall, and metal panels to provide views as well as creating an energy efficient building. The interior features open work spaces, two story garden elements with crossing bridges, a central rotunda, training rooms, and a full food service cafeteria.

Infinite Campus used Bomanite Custom Polishing Systems Modena Monolithic and Renaissance Deep Grind to create a Natural looking Floor with a Beach Vibe

When planning the cafeteria interior floor, the owner, Infinite Campus and Finn Daniels Architects wanted a free-flowing design that would complement existing epoxy terrazzo floors and carpet. The area needed to work with the natural elements already set and required low maintenance with a reflective sheen. During the conceptual stage the design team determined that the decorative concrete indoor flooring project should emulate the feeling of a sandy beach or shoreline which would shimmer and glisten like shells and sea glass in the sun. Bomanite Licensee Concrete Arts, Inc. provided the natural beach look by installing the Bomanite Custom Polishing Systems with Bomanite Modena Monolithic for the winding middle sea shell area and Bomanite Renaissance Deep Grind for the shoreline perimeter.

The two unique appearances were accomplished by first pouring the two perimeter pours of Bomanite Renaissance utilizing integral color to achieve the desired shade of concrete. Then the Bomanite Modena Monolithic portion was poured to complete the winding area in between. The soft gray color of the Bomanite Modena Monolithic was enhanced with black and blue natural aggregates blended with blue recycled glass. Mirrored glass, sea shells and mother of pearl were also hand-seeded to create the shimmer and iridescence reminiscent of that perfect beach feel.

Bomanite Modena Monolithic is a poured-in-place monolithically bonded concrete overlay utilizing integral colorants blended with engineered cements and aggregates. Bomanite Renaissance Deep Grind is a poured-in-place colored concrete slab with selected aggregates ready-mixed and finished to receive a deep grind and polish. Once both areas were placed and sufficiently hardened, Concrete Arts began the grinding and polishing process. This exposed the beauty of the glass and aggregate while providing a low maintenance, durable surface with great sheen and light reflectivity. When the sun shines through the glass curtain wall on the new cafeteria floor it evokes that happy feeling like a day at the beach.

American Fallen Soldiers Project Keeps on Giving with Bomanite Custom Polished Concrete

February 11, 2019

In 2016, The American Fallen Soldiers Project National Gallery opened its doors with 5,000 square feet of gallery and office space. The project was borne of an idea that professional artist, Phil Taylor, had upon learning that his childhood friend, Capt. Blake Russell, had been killed in Iraq in 2006. Inspired by stories of Blake’s patriotism and courage during the funeral, Phil knew that he wanted to contribute to the Russell family’s healing process, so he painted a portrait of his childhood friend for them.

American Fallen Soldiers Gallery Gives Back to the Community with Texas Bomanite Concrete Dye Patene Teres Polished Concrete Floors

The family’s reaction to the portrait changed Phil’s life forever and he began the American Fallen Soldiers Project. Since its inception in 2007, over 220 portraits have been painted and presented as a gift to Gold Star families of fallen soldiers all over the country at no cost to the families.

To keep the gallery costs down for this very special project, Bomanite Licensee, Texas Bomanite discounted the retail price as a donation towards the project’s success and was honored to be part of this special space. The decorative concrete floors consisted of 3,040 square feet of Bomanite Concrete Dye in Black Orchid using the Bomanite Patène Teres system polished to a 400 grit. The Polyurea Joint Filler was in the color Gauntlet Grey. The strength and durability of the polished concrete floors is a perfect, permanent, custom finish for the gallery.

The beautiful elegant American Soldiers Fallen Project is a place of peace and solace through art and displays in a setting of inspiration and healing. An especially poignant display is an American flag with the stripes covered by photos of the fallen. In his portraiture work, Phil Taylor takes special care in not only capturing the features but the actual essence of the fallen soldier he is painting. It is not just a typical portrait painting, but more the life and energy, the appearance and the personality, of the person represented on canvas. By telling the stories of those who have served and made the ultimate sacrifice, the gallery strives to change the lives of generations to come. It truly is a Portrait Gallery Like No Other.

Vizient Honors Fallen Soldier Dane Balcon through American Fallen Soldiers Project (2018)

Vizient, in collaboration with American Fallen Soldiers Project, are honored to commemorate Army Specialist Dave Balcon who died while conducting combat operations in Iraq. To honor Balcon, Vizient presented his family with a portrait of Dane painted by artist, Phil Taylor, founder of the American Fallen Soldiers Project. We thank Dane for his service to our country as he dedicated his life to protecting the freedoms we all enjoy. To learn more about this year’s award visit newsroom.vizientinc.com or americanfallensoldiers.com.

First Texas Honda Installs Bomanite Systems

August 30, 2018

To meet specific flooring design requirements throughout the building, Licensee Texas Bomanite, worked with project designer Architect’s Inc. in the initial design phase for First Texas Honda. The result ended with four different flooring systems to accommodate the long-standing dealerships future expansion. Founded in 1964 as Continental Cars, First Texas Honda is a part of family-owned and operated Continental Automotive Group in Austin. In late 2012, they completed a state-of-the-art renovation to the Steck Avenue showroom making it the largest Honda dealership in the world at over 140,000 square feet.

Texas Bomanite installed 95,665 square feet of Bomanite Custom diamond polished concrete flooring in the service areas and service drive. The finishes ranged from 800 grit to 100 grit. In the showroom area and service building, 37,150 square feet of custom colored Bomanite Micro-Top was installed with over 40,000 linear feet of decorative scoring. The highlight of the showroom was the Honda logo. 270 square feet of the front entry features the Bomanite Broadcast Aggregate system, and the front entry walks and bridge deck features over 7,515 square feet of the Bomanite’s Sandscape Exposed Aggregate system.

Bomanite Exposed Aggregate System – Sandscape Texture
Bomanite Sandscape® Texture is designed for outdoor applications where an alternate to a conventional concrete finish is required. Utilizing specialized mix designs, additives, topical treatments and advanced application procedures, Bomanite Sandscape Texture resembles sand blasted concrete. First Texas Honda chose Sandscape Texture for the exterior walkways for its durability in all-weather situations, slip resistance for pedestrians and durability for car parking.

Bomanite Toppings System – Broadcast Aggregate
The Bomanite Broadcast Aggregate System is a multi-layered architectural and protective flooring system with a non-skid decorative surface. Bomanite Broadcast Aggregate uses a multitude of surface seeded fine aggregates such as colored quartz, silica carbide or other hard minerals that create a highly durable, minimal maintenance surface which is easy to clean and maintain in a wide variety of environments including the First Texas Honda entry way that was custom colored to complement the recognizable Honda Blue.

Bomanite Toppings Systems – Micro-Top
The Bomanite Micro-Top system utilizes a troweled-on cementitious topping that tenaciously bonds to virtually any substrate, including concrete, wood, metal, plastic or asphalt. Micro-Top can be installed as interior flooring, spotted as accent areas, continued up a wall, traversed up the side of a building or applied directly to a street section or used for logo creation. Micro-Top offers the unique ability to cover a variety of surfaces with a wide range of colors and graphics, while also providing a cost-effective method to achieve multiple colors without the excessive costs associated with elaborate forming and design work, making it the perfect selection for the Honda Logo and continuation of the Honda brand throughout the showroom and customer service areas.

Bomanite Custom Polishing Systems – VitraFlor
VitraFlor utilizes select un-colored concrete that is placed and finished to standards required for decorative polished concrete flooring. The concrete is ground to expose the desired amount of aggregate, then polished to the required gloss level and treated with a Bomanite stain resist. The primary benefit to Bomanite VitraFlor is the simplicity of installation, durability and low maintenance of the finished floor. With no topical dyes or products utilized to color the concrete, this makes Bomanite VitraFlor cost effective in comparison to other more labor and product intensive systems and an easy choice for First Texas Honda Service Bay areas.