Customer Reviews

Decorative Concrete (Sunset)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've purchased other books on decorative concrete, but this is the first one that I think is worth what I paid! It has excellent discussions of different techniques and materials, something that other books lacked. And, since they are not promoting some specific product, they provide information about products that are not as expensive as some of the systems that are being sold. The pictures are not as detailed as would be helpful on some pages, but that is a minor issue. There are enough step by step instructions to make it possible to do projects from the book as you learn the techniques. I highly recommend it.

I have a business doing stained and scored concrete, so I am familiar with the field. This book is a very good overview, and has a lot of neat techniques, including some I had not thought of. I would highly recommend it, with one caveat: If you are planning to do something important, like stain a floor or make countertops for a restaurant, then read some of the more in-depth books. Still, it it an excellent book.

This author really helps those who want to "Do It Yourself" or gives outstanding examples and ideas. We used this as a resourse
guide and by trial and error ( as the book states ) have successfully updated our exterior, interior flooring, kitchen/bath
countertops and sinks to model home quality for pennies on the dollar.

Just purchased a home with painted concrete countertops and wanted to learn more. Lots of pictures and information on how to start outdoor and indoor projects. I don't know if it is quite detailed enough for doing your own countertops but lots of pix and ideas for someone interested in the subject. Gave me the information I was looking for in expanding the use of concrete into other parts of my home and garden.

I bought this book in conjunction with another book so I wasn't really expecting it to be very detailed. What this book does for me is offer a lot of ideas with great pictures and some steps to achieving the end result. If you've ever read a more detailed step-by-step book and then you read this book you'll see that this book leaves out a lot of detail but it does serve as a good book for concrete project ideas and works great in conjunction with other more detail material on working with concrete.

This book was great! It has all the necessary information needed for making stepping stones and other neat projects, including types of cement and sand and stuff needed for those projects. A must have!!

This book is not bad, but as another reviewer says, it lacks detail. It badly needs an expanded contents page. However, for the price the book is worth it.

It has a lot of really nice pictures that give good inspiration, such as stains, test blocks and sinks. It has several good step by step examples, such as building a cast in place counter top, an upside down counter and a farm sink.

The 'section' on floors is three inches of half page text and four pages of pictures, plus a two page project of covering a concrete floor with a commercial topping product.

The center of my copy has sixteen pages duplicated upside down. Not a big deal, but the printer needs a bit better quality control.

This is a surprisingly comprehensive overview of the potentials and techniques of creating concrete projects for the average homeowner. It shows both process and end product for a number of highly creative results, from polished concrete counters, to tinted floors and sidewalks, to one-of-a-kind sinks. As with most Sunset books, the illustrations are clear, the photos are gorgeous and unique, and the content an inspiration. While, for example, you'd probably not be able to create one the sinks pictured just from the instructions in the book, you'd still be inspired to create.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It has great information and ideas for anyone starting out with using concrete creatively. Good old Sunset books...always lots of solid information for beginners!

Not enough how-to in this book for me. I was interested in concrete for countertops, tables, BBQ area, etc. I highly recommend any of the books by Fu-Tung Cheng, for those interested in the principles of making concrete pieces. His book, "Concrete Countertops Made Simple" (with DVD) were excellent. Only around 15 bucks for his book and I have made beautiful counters, & learned a lot about form building along the way. If you're looking for ideas of what to do with concrete, you might find "Decorative Concrete" useful.