Art awaiting an audience
by Rich Shopes
Engrave-A-Crete offers alternative
to tile, brick
Manatee County- In the world of decorative
surfaces, engraved concrete lacks
snob appeal.
Home improvements retailers stack
ceramic tiles, stones and brick pavers
floor to ceiling.
Most folks who spiff up their driveways
turn to decorative overlays or rip
up the concrete and start over with
pavers.
So...engraved concrete?
Darrel and Brandon Adamson, president
and vice president, respectively
of Engrave-A-Crete in southern Manatee
County, insist it’s misunderstood
art awaiting for an audience.
It could become the next big thing
in home improvement, like marble
countertops.
Already the father and son company
is causing a stir in a relatively
young decorative concrete industry.
"What Darrel is doing is absolutely
unique. He has a machine that will
do three dimensional cutting," said
Joe Nasvik. senior editor at Concrete
Construction magazine, a trade journal.
I’m not aware of anyone that
has anything like that.?
For 50 years, beautifying your concrete
driveway meant painting it, staining
it or applying a thin layer of tile
or simulated brick, like veneer.
Then, 10 years ago, Adamson, a longtime
concrete worker figured out how to
stain concrete and cut deep grooves
to simulate mortar.
He made concrete driveways look like
brick, potentially saving money for
homeowners. More importantly, his
technique opened doors to elaborate
custom designs and shortened the
time it took to decorate driveways
and sidewalks.
He learned how to cut tight circles
and simulate tile and cobblestones.
Eventually, his machine and template
system was carving eagles and butterflies
- all using existing concrete. Aged,
severely cracked driveways become "flagstone" and
other rustic surfaces.
"You design it so the joints
follow the cracks," Adamson
said, pointing out his brochures.
Adamson founded Engrave-A-Crete in
a garage in 1992. That year, his
machines fetched $100,000 in sales.
This past year, the five-employee
company posted $2 million in sales.
A few months ago it purchased a 20,00
square foot warehouse in southern
Manatee.
"We get people in here from
all over - Italy, Japan, Germany," says
Brandon.
The two expect to more than double
their sales in five years. One main
contention between them: just how
fast should they grow the company.
"I’m one for explosive
growth. Dad keeps me on the ground," says
Brandon Adamson, 30.
Early on the two both made the machines
and customized the driveways. Eventually,
they shifted to making and selling
the engravers and demonstrating to
contractors how the machines work.
The process can be completed in a
couple days: Clean the concrete and
patch any cracks, stain it, clean
and seal the driveway, engrave the
pattern and seal it again.
In the late 1990s, Brandon Adamson
spun off a sideline business, Elegant
Concrete Engraving, but sold it two
years ago to Jerry Piotrowicz, who
expanded the company to 10 employees
and will post about a $1million in
sales this year using the engravers. "I’ve got four crews.
We’re pretty busy," he
says
"Marketing the machines wasn’t
as difficult as inventing them."
Adamson says they are patented for
17 years.
Word of mouth buzz among concrete
contractors still generates most
of his sales. Also, the company maintains
a web site - www.Engrave-A-Crete.com
- and regularly attends trade shows
to spark interest.
It does little other advertising,
but so far hasn’t needed to
advertise. At the company’s
first trade show demonstration in
1992, "I was embarrassed by
how much attention we were getting," Adamson
said.
Now the contractors come to him.
He runs paid seminars at his warehouse,
charging $375 each. It’s part
demonstration and part sales pitch.
The machines cost $500 to $37,500.
Elaborate custom-made templates,
from eagles to motorcycles, cost
extra.
"It usually doesn’t take
long before they’re all talking
about it," Adamson said. "We
don’t have to do much selling.
They sell themselves."
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