Have you ever seen a surface and wondered what it is made from?  The rebar inside the glass covered center of this conference table is a huge hint.  Lange Structural Group contracted Bomanite Licensee Stephens & Smith Construction Co., Inc. to create a very specific decorative concrete conference table.  Among the specs was to give guests the illusion of a heavily reinforced slab.  This project consisted of a 4-foot x 9-foot x 3-inch concrete conference table, with a total of 36 SF, that utilized Bomanite Micro-Top® and epoxy.  The conference table used #5 rebar at 6 inches on center in the middle of the table.  Reinforcement is not continuous in the concrete, just where the deep pour epoxy is located.  However, it does provide the illusion of a continuous heavily reinforced slab and easily meets and beats that spec.

Curling Creates Complication

Stephens & Smith Construction originally created forms for the casting bed of the table nice and flat.  After the first casting, they quickly realized that concrete curls.  They knew about curling but didn’t think this relatively small conference table would see the effects of curling.  Unfortunately, the table curled 1/2 inch from center to the corners.  Unbelievable even with a low water/cement ratio mix design.  During their second attempt, they formed the table to account for curling.  If you notice in the picture, they cut “slits” into the formwork allowing them to crown the center and thus negating curling.  This gives the owner a nice flat surface and a concrete table that doesn’t rock.  After ample curing time on the concrete, they applied a Nickel Grey Bomanite Micro-Top with a hard trowel finish.  They then polished the top surface with 3000 grit and polished the bottom of the slab to 800 grit.  Bomanite Micro-Top® was a great solution to get a unique mottled finish the owner was looking for.

This conference table is not only functional and beautiful, but it also exudes inspiration.  Inspiration should be at the forefront of the conferees’ minds when meeting around a conference table.  Curt Embree, Architectural Coating Supervisor for Stephens & Smith Construction, was so inspired by the completed character of this conference table that he quickly jumped under the table to get the perfect photo of a person Behind Bars.  It is both clever, funny, and attention grabbing.  In a Facebook Post at the time, Curt said, “This was one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs I’ve ever done!  Trust us, challenging is putting it lightly.  At the end of the day, these are the types of projects that give our craftsmen a great sense of pride and accomplishment”.  It’s not just concrete, it’s an inspirational work of art.

Bomanite Provides Perfect Solution

The Bomanite Toppings Systems using Micro-Top® by Bomanite, employs a paper-thin concrete medium.  It is a cutting-edge technology, providing a coloration system like no other.  This state-of-the-art system utilizes a troweled-on cementitious topping that tenaciously bonds to virtually any substrate, including concrete, wood, metal, plastic, or asphalt.  Bomanite Micro-Top® succeeds where other coloring methods have failed because it is not confined to the standard color palette or color limitations of chemical stains.  Micro-Top provides a canvas where works of art are graphically produced.  Utilizing custom logos, unlimited graphics, swirls of color or marbleized hues to reach the perfect color combination creates a unique, visual dialog with your environment – inside or out.  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.  From retail centers to theme parks, restaurants to hotels, commercial offices to residential applications, Micro-Top makes a bold statement of individual style and personality.  Micro-Top provides a durable, colorfast, high-strength graphic splash to any project.

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 high costs associated with elaborate forming and design work.  New construction surfaces, where complex design and color choices require costly multiple forming and pouring phases, now benefit from Micro-Top’s less expensive and time-saving application method.  Micro-Top is the perfect solution for the tight deadlines and budget constraints of new construction.  Color and design can transform existing, damaged concrete or other materials into art forms without affecting surrounding materials and fixtures.  Micro-Top can also take expanses of plain, gray concrete and transform those spaces into distinctive and dynamic areas, placing color where color could not normally be placed.  When a laminate floor or carpet is removed, no costly, abrasive blasting is normally required before Micro-Top is applied over the substrate, saving both time and money.

Award Winning Decorative Concrete

Stephens and Smith Construction Company truly has, “An Owner on Every Project”, and is an employee-owned regional company that is consistently ranked by Concrete Construction magazine as one of the top 100 most successful concrete construction companies in the nation.  They have been providing superior solutions since 1971.  This project earned them the 2022 Silver Award for Best Bomanite Specialty Project and was well deserved because of their innovation, expertise, and painstaking attention to minute details that allowed them to exceed the expectations of all stakeholders in this project.  Tackling difficult projects, no matter how large or how small, is the energizing force that drives these skilled concrete craftsmen to the perfection their client base has grown to expect.

Jereme Montgomery, Business Development Manager for Stephens & Smith Construction said, “The final product is something we were proud of.  Many believe the larger the project the more complex.  For this project, the opposite is true.  Working conditions were coordinated in an office space that was still operating.  Hence, we had to build this table and still respect the working environment of the owner.” That is no easy task for a construction crew.  Because of the skill, competence, and expertise of the Stephens & Smith Construction crew of decorative concrete craftsmen, this conference table will be witness to many in-depth and inspirational discussions and meetings for many years into the future.