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Concrete
By Gordon wéék'é
gordon@masoncounty.com
helton resident Travis Pierce is
the fourth generation of his fam—
ily to work professionally with
concrete.
His great grandfather introduced
him to the craft, and he worked for nine
years with West Coast Construction
in Seattle before signing up with his
friend’s business, All Coast Concrete,
two years ago. The Tumwater-based
business’s offerings include sheet rock—
ing, roofing, asphalt and indoor and
outdoor painting, but “concrete is what
we started off specializing in,” Pierce
said.
Concrete is used in diverse ways in
home construction, including creating
and repairing foundations, walkways,
patios and even building concrete step
waterfalls.
Concrete “lasts a lot longer than
asphalt sidewalks can last you a
hundred years,” Pierce said. Stamp con-
crete, which features colors, patterns
or textures that makes it resemble an-
other material such as brick or tile, is
a popular at All Coast Concrete, Pierce
said. The business also has stained con—
crete, with red being a favorite, Pierce
said. Pierce said he’s helped build four—
story buildings entirely of concrete.
The end of May to the end of Sep—
tember is the best time to lay concrete
outside, and the project should be cov-
ered if it’s raining, Pierce said. Com-
mon mistakes made in laying concrete
include not compacting it to make it
level, using the wrong grade and not
using the proper mix, Pierce said. Use
power trowels on bigger projects, he
said.
ways for home construction
Concrete is used in many ways during home constuction, including
foundations, driveways and steps. Metro
Creative
The website Family Handyman
offers these tips on working with
concrete:
I If you have a batch of cement but
nothing to mix it in, try a 4- by 8—foot
sheet of 1A or 3/8ainch plywood, and
place a few bricks of scraps of 2x4 un-
der all four plywood corners to form a
shallow, concave mixing tub.
I Paint doesn’t adhere well to moist
concrete.
I Consider concrete countertops.
‘ I Don’t drill too close to the edges
of concrete to avoid busting off a chunk
of a concrete stair step or cracking the
corner of a patio slab.
‘ I Use a vacuum or blower to blast
the dust out of holes so fasteners can go
on all the way. A baby’s ear syringe will
also work.
I Moderate temperatures are al-
ways the best for pouring concrete.
Concrete loses a tremendous amount of
strength if it freezes before curing, and
if poured when its 80 degrees or hotter,
it can harden sooner than you can get. it
poured and troweled. '
WINTER 2024 ESTATE HOME IMPROVEMENT GUIDE —