Specialty Items

The Sparkle Grain Finish system is an eye-catching, black (or white) sparkle which is an iridescent black sil-car abbrasive (or white oxide) grit concrete additive that provides a mirror like sparkle that is dramatic both day and night. The sparkle grain can also provide a surface that has better traction and it has been used in the Union Square in San Francisco, The Moscone Center, in Airports around the United States, driveways, patios, pool decks and countertops. The Pacific Palette Company in Santa Cruz, CA provides Sparkle Grain and instructs users how to use it. Call 831-457-4566 for more information.

Tom Ralston Concrete was asked to pour skim coat overlays to refurbish the old Four Seasons Chapel. Shortly thereafter the new expanse opened as the Pacific Garden Chapel and the entire front hardscape was refurbished with a circular driveway, walkways and planter walls.  Shortly after the work was completed the new owner had a new issue to contend with --  "railing" skateboarders. The city sidewalks were great launching pads to gain speed on and local skating hot shots would see just how far they could rail their boards on the new concrete planter wall edges. TRC was asked to come up with an artful solution to the problem which was to cast engineered cement into some molds cast from the Monterey Bay Moon Shells. Later the shells were coated with a metallic copper. Vandals destroyed many of the shells by beating on them with metal bars and eventually we used a simple piece of bronze to replace each of these beautiful artful shells. Read more about it in Feb 2004 Concrete Decor - "Tom Ralston Concrete, Santa Cruz, Calif", Oct/Nov 2003 Concrete Decor - "The Final Pour Artistic solution prevents Skateboard Damage. and Tom Ralston Concrete: Decorative Concrete Company Devises Anti-skateboard Solution and Tom Ralston Concrete: Decorative Concrete Company Devises Anti-skateboard Solution.

The large California Gray Whale located at the Natural History Museum on East Cliff Drive near Seabright Avenue in Santa Cruz CA was in disrepair when TRC was asked to help restore the whale's original colors.  The TRC team patched some areas that were chipped and frayed with an engineered cement.  Subsequent to the cement repairs was an acrylic coloration that was applied with rags, brushes and sponges to achieve the color mottling of an actual gray whale including barnacles and all.

The Milky Way Medallion was created for the Larry and Lisa Pott residence using the Tom Ralston Concrete Lumi Lumi Product. The Pott’s decided to hire Tom Ralston Concrete and create a grand getaway right in their own back yard. This particular paradise will include a swimming pool and a giant slide, a jacuzzi, a 1200 SF guest house, a grand Rumford Fireplace, Bocce Ball court and a BBQ and sink. What could be more fitting than to incorporate a Lumi Lumi Milky Way Medallion--a signature piece by Tom Ralston Concrete—to highlight the new play land.

This project won a first place award in the Cast-In-Place Special Finishes, Under 5000 Square Feet category of the Decorative Concrete Council Awards in 2014.

More details can be found on the Pott project by viewing the Concrete Construction June 2014 article.

We are proud that this project won the cover of August 2014 Durability + Design magazine.

Tom Ralston Concrete was asked to bid a public works project on the cliff directly above the surf breaks of First and Second Peaks at Pleasure Point on the East Side of Santa Cruz. The project is a terrace/amphitheater which incorporates beautifully colored concrete with sea shells and beach glass as well as fossils from the Monterey Bay that are thousands of years old. The main embed was a 5-million year old whale bone that was located in May of 2010 approximately 500 yards south of the project where the replica now rests. As the pictures will indicate, a polyurethane mold was made, a special concrete mix design was poured into the mold and then craftsmen from TRC acid stained the “bones”.  A close up of the concrete bones looks incredibly realistic. TRC worked with Sean Monaghan of Santa Cruz Bronze Works on the project.