Pioneering Efforts in Decorative Concrete Flatwork

This article provides a historical overview of the development and use of decorative concrete. Profiles are given of the people responsible for making decorative concrete both possible and practical. Brief histories are provided for: modern colored concrete, first developed in the early decades of the 20th century; stamping tools for patterning and texturing concrete; chemical stains; overlay cement; paper stencil patterns; sandblast stenciling and polished concrete. The evolution of decorative concrete suggests that even more new techniques and equipment will be available in the future.