Engrave-A-Crete Transforming
Concrete Into Art
by Margi Nanney
The Harley Davison in
the lobby was a dead giveaway. Suddenly it became evident
that this interview about a decorative concrete company
was going to be an adventure. The owner of the bike is
the owner of Engrave-A-Crete, Darrel Adamson. His “engraved” concrete system
is just about as novel an idea as riding his Harley back
and forth to his former home state of Montana…it
takes guts.
According to Adamson, concrete does not have to be down
and dirty. You walk on it, spill things on it, put your
car on it and even rollerblade on it, but… did
you ever think of making it into art? He did and built
an entire company around the concept.
Engrave-A-Crete is a family-run Manatee County business
that manufactures the equipment capable of transforming
existing or new concrete into art. “We have over
400 customers all over the world using our equipment.
We offer hands-on training from the start and invite
them back as many times as they want to our monthly workshops,” stated
Adamson. These monthly training seminars teach the owner-operators
how to run a profitable decorative concrete business.
Since it was founded in 1992, Engrave-A-Crete has experienced
tremendous growth. Just over a year ago they moved from
their former 4,000 sq. ft. facility into a 20,000 sq.
ft. building. Here they manufacture all of their equipment
with separate areas for training. The floor of the building
showcases the results of their products… you walk
on a huge array of designs created by the Engrave-A-Crete systems products.
Adamson relocated his family to Bradenton from Montana
in 1986 and bought a decorative concrete contracting
company that also offered mudjacking and concrete repair
services. Darrel had worked in the concrete trade and
had excellent knowledge of concrete sawing and drilling.
He also loved to invent things and put his entrepreneurial
skills to the test figuring out the best way to cut decorative
patterns into existing concrete. The cutters and tools
he invented when he was in the trade were the basis for
the hi-tech Engrave-A-Crete precision technology.
With Adamson’s Engrave-A-Crete system concrete
can be made to look like high gloss polished marble of
any desired color or made dull like old clay bricks with
a long history. The Super Compact System was the first
to be perfected and is still the most popular model.
It is capable of cutting geometric lines and patterns.
The KaleidoCrete System can cut all the swirling curvy
patterns like giant butterflies, large plant designs
and striking wildlife images. Add the magic of color
to this and beautiful concrete is born.
“One of the most interesting patterns we recently
made was a huge razorback hog for concrete at the University
of Arkansas,” Adamson recalled. Logos for Brooks
and Dunn, Sweet Tomatoes Restaurants, a smiley face for
Wal-Mart…all in a days work for the Engrave-A-Crete system…
But what about that Harley in the lobby? Adamson admits
that even though he loves working hard in Manatee County,
feeling the wind in his face heading toward the big sky
and mountains of Montana is still the best gateway.
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