Tuesday, April 26, 2011

DECORATIVE CONCRETE OVERLAYS CHARLESTON SC

Decorative Concrete Overlays can be designed around pools, patios, porches, driveways, indoor flooring, and basically anywhere there is concrete, whether it is a commercial property or a residential property.  Decorative Concrete offers a cost effective alternative to natural pavers for many surfaces. Jody Smith, Owner, Artist of Coastal Rock Productions can transform your existing surface into a work of art.  Where Coastal Rock Productions is different from other decorative concrete companies is that we can offer more than just stamped concrete.  The concerns that we have had with our previous clients here in Charleston, SC is that they do not like the repetition of stamped overlays and they would prefer to have a more realistic look to their common areas.   Smith is able to replicate and design any type of flooring whether it is a flagstone, English style paver, Ceramic Tile, or even Granite Flooring.  The color, style, technique, and overall appearance of our overlays are unlimited. The Lowcountry is known for their elegant design, and Coastal Rock Productions continues to provide our community with exceptional work. Please feel free to contact our company with any questions that you might have. 

Monday, April 25, 2011

CHARLESTON SC DECORATIVE CONCRETE LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Create a relaxing retreat in your own yard.  Spring is definitely here and summer is on its way in the Lowcountry.  This is where Coastal Rock Productions, a company based out of Charleston, SC  can help you define your outdoor space with decorative concrete overlays, water features, landscaping, ponds, fire pits, outdoor grilling areas, and more.  There are so many options to choose from, that it can almost seem overwhelming.  We feel as a business that it is very important to have choices for our clients to select from but we also design our projects to fit what our clients want. Coastal Rock Productions is here to help you design what you want regardless of plant species, color, size, style, or location.  We use only high quality plants from our local nurseries, and our options of stone work are never-ending.

Even the essential touch ups whether it’s a new decorative concrete overlay for your back porch/patio or landscaping your common areas help us turn your backyard enclosure to a wonderful excuse to decorate.  Please visit us at www.coastalrockproductions.com to see what we can do. 

Saturday, April 16, 2011

VERTICAL DECORATIVE CONCRETE

Jody Smith Creating A Mud Bank
For An Otter Exhibit.
Hi I'm Jody Smith Owner / Artisan of Coastal Rock Productions & Overlay Solutions, LLC based out of Summerville, SC. I wanted to share a great training site that is owned and created by one of the top Vertical Decorative Concrete artisans in the world, Nathan Giffin. He is changing the way that we look at the Vertical Concrete arena as artists. He is a true friend and mentor that has changed my entire approach to this industry in many different ways. The training site has over 145 training videos. These videos take you on some amazing projects as they are completed step by step. He has also created videos on the most intricate details of the industry. Nathans work speaks for it self when viewed by his clients, fellow artists, or almost anyone who can see the value of solid craftsmanship. I owe a lot of my abilities to his teachings and recommend them to everyone who wants to be successful in this industry. I feel that there is no limitation to investing in yourself, and what an investment it is to be a member of VA!

Nathan has also created a brand new magazine that is going to showcase all of the artisans in the Vertical Decorative Concrete industry in a way like no other. The magazine is filled with opportunities and displays the talent and craftsmanship of many diverse artists. Nathan has included me in the design process of this exclusive upcoming magazine, I am honored.  What astounded me about this project is that there are so many different artists in the industry and now they have the chance to display their unique ability to design.  Look for the upcoming Magazine and updates on the Vertical Artisans forum. 

Saturday, April 9, 2011

VERTICAL ARTISANS NEW E-MAGAZINE


What’s in the new Vertical Artisans Magazine? That is what I was thinking before I had an in depth conversation with Nathan Giffin of Vertical Artisans. I was excited about his approach to the new E-magazine by making the artisans the magazine. He will achieve his goal by showcasing the Artisans throughout the entire layout. Not only is it going to be loaded with many different styles of carving and colorations. Focusing on the many projects of artwork created by the many artisans featured. In our conversation he asked me to design the front cover of the very first magazine, I was honored and excited. In my approach to the design I wanted to focus on the creator of the magazine and show his very own talents of teaching the craft. I choose the project that Nathan created during a training class at the Rocketown Center located in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee. This training class was held during the Concrete Decor show of 2011. I have heard nothing but great reviews from the students and quests that had the opportunity to be a part of or just simply lay eyes on this remarkable project. I heard all of the reviews first hand being a member of the Vertical Artisans Forum and Vertical Artisans subscription site. The forum is a free forum allowing artisans to interact with one another and show their projects and share their advice in vertical decorative concrete. The subscription site is a training site that has over 145 training videos. It also allows you to learn from the best in the business by showcasing their talents on the Artisans Channel.

Nathan Giffin

 If you are not a member you are missing out learn the many years of tips and tricks shared. This site also has the new feature of live chat with the admin. The VA magazine is also going to have some advertising opportunities for various tool and product lines that are interested in reaching the artisans. The advertisers in the first magazine are Mortar Sprayer, Walt Tools, Concrete Earth and more. This magazine is going to have great linking opportunities for the artisans and advertising sections. The links will provide internet exposure that this industry needs to educate the potential client in the many approaches of design available in this craft. I recommend that all the artisans chip in to this Bob Vila advertising campaign. Nathan Giffin shared that all of the past issues of the E-magazine will be archived for continuous viewing. Where else can you spend money on advertising that is always being viewed and used as a linking tool, now that’s value. I also like the fact that the value of the advertising grows along with the magazine. The links created will continuously spread throughout the web and show relevancy for the featured links. I think that this E-magazine has a lot to offer to anyone featured or using it as an advertising campaign. . For all of you that have contributed, great job investing in yourselves.

I will look forward to working with Nathan and all of my fellow artisans to grow this E-magazine along with this wonderful craft.

Thanks Nathan for giving us artisans this great opportunity…..


Jody Smith






Friday, April 8, 2011

LATH MORTAR SPRAYERS AND DECORATIVE CONCRETE

This was a great video demonstration for two great products SpiderLath and Mortar Sprayer. I liked the speedy installation of the vertical scratch coat using these two products. I think that metal lath has met its match with the new fiberglass woven material that actually holds structural value instead of just being a simple backer for concrete. It is simple to cut, easy to handle and install. It is used stucco, plaster, tile, countertops, shower surrounds, manufactured stone, and natural stone veneers, brick, concrete stairs, concrete overlays and other masonry systems! SpiderLath can be used over existing surfaces to apply masonry finishes. SpiderLath is fully encapsulated in the mortar bed creating a fiberglass reinforced scratch coat. No more cuts from the old metal lath! SpiderLath is easy to handle and lightweight! Only 20 lbs per 300 square foot roll. One person can safely climb scaffolding with 300 sf of fiberglass mesh! SpiderLath is rust proof and non corrosive. Excellent for use in the coastal areas!




The Mortar Sprayer is one of my favorites that truly get’s the job done. I have fun using the sprayer and find it so much easier and faster putting on scratch and texture coats. It is very easy to create many different styles of texture using the Mortar Sprayer in creating Themed Environments.There are many different styles of Mortar Sprayers available at http://www.mortarsprayer.com/ to choose from. These stucco spraying tools are used to spray plaster, stucco, small scale shotcrete, papercrete, GFRC, earthen mixes and more. Stucco sprayers are used for traditional plastering and many alternative building methods. Stucco application with this hopper sprayer is efficient on traditional stucco, exterior stucco, straw bale, Earth bag, insulated panels, Surface Bonded Block and thin shell ferrocement. This mortar sprayer opens up the world of stucco application for small scale shotcrete, thinshell construction, LVSC (Low Velocity Sprayed Concrete) in structures like SCIPs (Structural Concrete Insulated Panels) and more. As a heavy texture sprayer, this tool is being used to spray popcorn texture using California Stucco. The range of this sprayer is from a heavy texture of 1/8″ up to 1″ thickness for structural layers.

The stucco sprayer (plaster sprayer) is useful on a scale from stucco repair to a complete exterior stucco coating. The result is often as fast or faster than using a stucco pump. This plaster sprayer will save you time and money up front especially compared to the high cost of a stucco pump. Spraying stucco with the stucco sprayer is also much easier than with a plaster pump. The Tirolessa USA sprayer costs less than the accessory package of a stucco pump. If your crew is less than 6 and you are not plastering every day, our stucco/plaster tool is the right choice.



I look forward to using these products in my future vertical decorative concrete projects.

http://www.coastalrockproductions.com/

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Vertical Artisans Advertising Campaign

Last night I had a great time on the Vertical Artisans Webinar hosted by Nathan Giffin. The webinar was focused on the Bob Vila web advertising campaign put together to share our craft with the world. There were some great vertical decorative concrete artists on last night. They shared their thoughts and insights on the campaign along with the new Vertical Artisans Magazine that will be going live very soon. Just to name a few of the artist Dion Battles of Vertical Concrete Creations, Will Allen of Clarksburg, Ontario Canada, Christian Maucieri of Concrete Evolution based out of Calgary, Alberta Canada, Rick Smith of Texas Concrete Solutions, Mark Whitten of Mason City, Iowa and many more talented artist. There are going to be many contributors in this magazine from product lines to innovative tools. Lines such as http://www.walttools.com/ , http://www.concreteearth.com/ and http://www.mortarsprayer.com/ were showcased in the draft of the first issue. Nathans idea of showcasing the artists and making their work the magazine is genius. Once the magazine is live it stays live for the duration even after the next issue is created and set live. The issues can be viewed at anytime and carry many linking options that you can’t get through many other advertising sites. The links can be added to your YouTube videos, Google Blogs, Websites, Face Book, Twitter, and many more. I thought the ideas of interaction in the magazine provides endless options to spreading our work throughout the net and created a useful tool educate our future clients. Creating a whole new audience of potential customers. All of the details on this campaign are located at http://www.verticalartisans.ning.com/ under the Bob Vila Campaign. This is a free forum that in it’s self has helped many of us stay connected in the industry. The vertical decorative concrete industry needs this type of marketing to flush the market in areas that are lacking the coverage needed.