TRC Acid Stain Projects
As of 2020, Tom Ralston Concrete will refer all projects that require acid staining to other contractors.
The Los Altos Hardscape project was an artful project that used blended acid stain concrete for both the front and back yards. The front entry steps are flanked by stone walls that had Alice in Wonderland vertical and horizontal curvature on the wall caps. The 4000 PSI flatwork was also stained with a TRC special blend of acid stains and incorporated the TRC Victorian Swirl texture.
The Alma Johnson Street Project in Saratoga, CA was an expansive acid staining project with lots of nooks and crannys that included pool and jacuzzi copings, stepping stones, stairs, porches and a BBQ countertop. The acid stain is a Faded Terra Cotta that was liberally applied so that it could mimick what nature can do over hundreds…even thousands…of years. Thus the Alma Johnson Street Acid Staining project boasts of an aged Tuscan style home and surrounds.
The Glenview Driveway has a bit of a Byzantine flair with its geometric patterns, imported tile and acid stained concrete. Perhaps this is one of TRC's most ornate driveway expanses and belongs to a very nice home that sits atop an Almaden, CA hillside. The Custom Concrete Compass Rose that Tom Ralston Concrete made has 5-different acid stains and is surrounded by custom tile. Double takes on this particular driveway are fairly commonplace.
At first, skateboarding and decorative acid-stained concrete may not seem to have much in common, but think freedom, creativity, passion - sheer love of the art - and you'll see the two were meant for each other. In 1974, Wormhoudt Inc. built the world's first public skate park in Santa Cruz, Calif. Long before construction began, Wormhoudt had been thinking about how to color the park. He had worked with Tom Ralston, owner of Tom Ralston Concrete in Santa Cruz, to have accents in an earlier park acid-stained, and together they thought it was time to bring this technique to an entire project making it the first ever Skate Park that was entirely colored with Acid Stain. The Tom Ralston Team led by Colorist Bill Goff used 3-different acid stains a combination of extension handles, brushes and sprayers to create a dramatic and colorful skate park.
The Rose Ann Balla Project involved acid staining interior floors including a bathroom that used randomly placed black Mexican pebbles to give a nice juxtoposition in texture and color as the floors had a hardtroweled concrete coupled with an Antique Amber Acid Stain. All of the floors were coated with a clear 2-part epoxy. The living room floors employed saw cuts that would bend and meander in easy and artful ways as per Rose Ann's vision. Tom Ralston Concrete completed these beautiful Foster City floors in 2007 much to the liking of their owner Rose Ann.
The New York Acid Staining project is located on the Gold Coast in New York appoximately 40 minutes outside of Midtown Manhatten. The grounds of the residence once belonged to Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and TRC was asked by the new owner to stain the entire exterior which was approximately 27,000 SF. This project was very unique and there were over 125 large concrete pieces that were lifted by crane to set in place. The contractor who placed the concrete, Tommy Ruttura of New York, said "it was like putting together an extremely large concrete jig saw puzzle with a crane and I have never built a pre-cast building quite like it." In order to stain this much vertical surface TRC used a gas powered sprayer to spray the acid stain with and had another man, sometimes 2-men, brush any runs that frequently happen on vertical surfaces.
The Kelleher Patio is in Santa Cruz CA and is a unique blend of acid stains on a Light Italian Slate texture. The stains were blended by two applicators at the same time using two different colors. The "wet on wet" process resulted in a better blend and meld of color. There are drifts of acid stained color that fall toward the drains in a random fashion. The "drifting and dripping" coloration is commonly seen in nature on cliff and mountain sides that are laden with iron oxides.
The Monte Sereno project is located in Monte Sereno, CA and Tom Ralston Concrete was asked to stain and seal the porch, steps and column caps. Using a wet on wet technique, a combination of two of the darkest browns available produced a rich and painterly looking cast concrete. The main purpose of the coloration was to tie into the tone of the existing stonework featured on the columns and small walls and the owner was very pleased with the results.
