Decorative Concrete Institute

Student of the Month

We here at the Decorative Concrete Institute have built a business model around educating the industry on all facets of decorative concrete. During the hectic first three years since opening the doors, Lee Ann and I as well as the DCI staff have been extremely fortunate to meet quality individuals through our teachings. Many of these relationships will last a lifetime. It was during a recent class while discussing business and how this individual started in this business it dawned on us, it was time for us to give back and acknowledge our students for their outstanding efforts and dedication to the decorative concrete business.

May, 2008

Domenic Mattei
Custom DesignCrete Inc.
Crescent, Pennsylvania
724-457-4110

Domenic Mattei has been in the concrete field since he was 13 years old. Having a family concrete construction business made it easy for him to become interested in the decorative aspect of concrete in 1997. With the economy constantly changing he felt that installing decorative concrete was the natural progression for his career. He started out installing small jobs for friends and family and since then he has built his own decorative concrete business.

Domenic has been involved in the concrete industry for 26 years, with the decorative aspect of it being his focus for the last eight. He has done everything from stamped concrete to staining and dying and installing concrete countertops whenever there is a want for them. His company has recently incorporated vertical stamped applications and has tried to install them as often as possible.

The job he is most proud of consisted of a 2,000 square foot stamped concrete pool deck. He incorporated exposed aggregate borders, vertical stamping wall applications and used multiple color combinations to achieve the final outcome. The client also wanted to add a large planter for her garden, so Domenic built one out of concrete and used FossilCrete to create the stone look that the client was trying to reach. He literally built the planter and applied the vertical overlay veneer only one month after returning home from the workshop “Getting Started in the Decorative Field of Concrete” held at the Decorative Concrete Institute.
Domenic says that training has helped him tremendously. It gives him new techniques as well as the confidence to successfully install what he has just learned. To him, that is the most important thing about training. He said, “ The single greatest aspect of training along side Bob Harris is that you know what he is teaching is like reading the Bible. He has tried and tested and perfected all of the products as well as the application methods.” Domenic believes another important thing about learning is networking with industry leaders and other contractors throughout the country. He has become very close friends with some of the other students he met while attending one of DCI’s training seminars.

One of the biggest challenges Domenic has incurred while in the industry is the lack of craftsmanship across the board. He has personally looked at a number of poor installations by unqualified companies. He says it seems that everyone is calling themselves “experts” in installing stamped concrete even when they only own one or two sets of stamps. He believes that the companies that are in business for a couple of years undercut the pricing and devalue the product, which in turn makes it harder for the true professionals to make ends meet and leaves them trying to restore the public’s confidence. He says another struggle is the economy. It seems the fuel bills and shipping costs are eating up everyone’s profits.

On the flip side of that, he thinks the industry has grown tremendously since he has first started. He has noticed the overlay market including vertical is a prime example. Domenic has also noticed the green movement as a driving force behind the changes in the decorative concrete market. Example: The use of water-based dyes instead of acid staining.

June, 2007

Ed Gruetzner
Concrete Surface Solutions
Thornwood, New York
(914) 747-4463

Meet Ed Gruetzner of Concrete Surface Solutions based out of Thornwood, New York. I asked Ed what he did before he jumped into the decorative business. He mentioned that he spent a full career as a New York City Firefighter, working most of his time in the Bronx and some in Manhattan. What was intriguing to me during this conversation was the fact that he spent virtually his whole life giving back to his community and protecting all of us on a daily basis. Some of these values and qualities transitioned over to his decorative concrete business. He mentioned that one of his first training seminars was with Engrave-A-Crete. After purchasing some of their tools and equipment he was ready to go. One of the stencils he purchased was of three fire fighters holding the water hose as to put out the fire. It is his intention to offer to all of the surrounding fire houses in his area that if one of their fellow comrades loses his or her life in the line of duty, Ed plans on donating his time in remembering them by engraving the three fireman graphic and their name in to the fire house floor as an eternal memorial.

We were curious how he made the transition from fighting fires to engraving, staining and polishing concrete. Ed could not find anyone to install epoxy on his garage floor, so he thought this would be a good opportunity for him. After attending the World of Concrete 2006, as he puts it; “it opened my eyes as to where this industry is heading and I wanted to be part of it.” The rest is history.

Ed feels that one oft the most important parts, if not the most important part, of starting any business is education. As he puts it; “I have spent a ton of time and a fair amount of money on learning as much as I can about every aspect of decorative concrete. I have trained at several different places, but DCI has been the most informative. Some of the schools were nothing more than a sales pitch for their product. DCI is about learning. Training has helped tremendously. I can pretty much walk in to any situation and explain to my customers why certain things happen and how to prevent them. Through the different classes I've taken I can usually find the best way to make the new or existing concrete beautiful, keeping my customers happy.”

In closing, we were wondering if the New York market was accepting of his new business?
“Since I retired I was looking for something part time, maybe 2-4 days a week. I could have held at that if I really wanted to, but I'm really enjoying what I do. I love seeing a customer's face when they see the final product. Finding work is probably the easiest part of the job. Every job I do leads to at least one more. People are still blown away that you can make concrete look so classy.”

Hats off to you Ed, we wish you success with your business! I’m sure we will see you in the near future.