CD Designs Blog
Black is Back
Charcoal coloured pathway
Black has long been the colour of elegance and simplicity. In fashion, the black suit or tuxedo is the standard formal attire for men, and for women the black dress is regularly seen on red carpets and catwalks. Designer Karl Lagerfeld was once quoted as saying “Black is the color that goes with everything. If you’re wearing black, you’re on sure ground”. The same is true outside of fashion, and black is increasingly being used for interior and exterior decorating. White walls and black furniture is often considered a ‘modern’ look, and the contrast between black and other colours looks beautiful, adds drama and never goes out of style.
A good example of how we use black to contrast other features is a driveway we installed in Blackpool in 2011, as shown in the photo above. We used our charcoal colour on the whole of the front drive and side path leading to the front door, and in contrast with the white walls, doorway and gravel, the black concrete gives a stylish and sophisticated look. We also use charcoal for our McDonald’s and KFC drive-thru’s. We are finding that more and more customers are choosing black for their pattern imprinted concrete driveways.
Post Date: | 25th March 2013 |
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Tags: | Blackpool, Charcoal, concrete art, Driveway Design, pattern imprinted concrete driveway |
New Drive-thru Contracts
Concrete Being Pumped
Although the majority of the pattern imprinted concrete work that we do is on driveways and patios, we have also done more commercial installations with our McDonald’s and KFC drive-thru’s, which you can see in our case studies section here. We are delighted to announce that we have just won the contracts to supply and fit the concrete for two more McDonald’s Drive-Thru restaurants, one in Nottingham and the other in Audenshaw.
All Hands On Deck!
These specialist jobs require a slightly different specification in terms of the size, materials used and techniques employed, but the basic principles are exactly the same. The extra load that a drive-thru gets requires that the concrete is 50% thicker, and a steel mesh is employed within the concrete to further strengthen it. The concrete itself is exactly the same consistency as we use for domestic driveways, and it is imprinted and finished in exactly the same manner.
Work on the Nottingham drive-thru was started on Friday, and as you can see in the photos is going very well. We will have a full case study for you to look at once the job is complete. We start work on the Audenshaw project in March.
Post Date: | 18th February 2013 |
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Tags: | Audenshaw, Drive-Thru, driveway case studies, KFC, McDonald's, Nottingham, pattern imprinted concrete |
Best Blogs Of 2012
We have looked through our blogs over the last 12 months and picked out the 5 we think are the most interesting and informative.
In this blog from January, we looked at a job we did at St. George’s Primary School in Barrow-in-Furness. We created a dragon themed pattern imprinted concrete playground, which you can see pictures of in the entry.
Pattern Imprinted Concrete Dragon
2. Essential and Non-Essential Maintenance
In this blog from February, we looked at whether a pattern imprinted concrete driveway requires essential or non-essential maintenance.
Non-Essential Maintenance
3. Installation Of Your Driveway
In this June blog, we had a quick look at what to do during the installation of your driveway, and how look after it immediately after. The blog entry also has a link to another blog describing how to prepare before we arrive to install your driveway.
Applying Sealant
4. Do You Need Planning Permission
In this November blog we gave you a quick guide as to whether you will need planning permission when having a pattern imprinted driveway installed, or any other work done to your home.
Do You Need Planning Permission?
5. A Tribute To Oscar Niemeyer
In this blog from December, we paid tribute to Oscar Niemeyer, one of the 20th centuries most innovative designers of concrete structures.
The Niterói Contemporary Art Museum Designed by Niemeyer
Post Date: | 21st January 2013 |
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Tags: | concrete design, concrete driveway maintainance, dragon, Oscar Niemeyer, pattern imprinted concrete driveway, Planning Permission, playground, school |
Industry Wide Price Increases
Last month we were informed by one of our concrete suppliers Cemex that they are going to be increasing their prices at the start of 2013. The reasons given were that the combination of increased input costs such as rising fuel prices and investment in new equipment, along with the additonal costs of new EU legislation when Phase 3 of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme comes into effect, has left their business model unsubstainable for the future. Therefore they will have to pass the cost on to their customers.
Along with the new EU laws are existing laws like the Carbon Reduction Commitment and the Carbon Floor Price, which will also contribute to the increased costs. These costs will be the same for any company, and although we have not heard from our other suppliers, they may also have to raise their prices.
Here at CD Designs, we will try our best to not pass on any increased costs for our pattern imprinted concrete driveways and patios to our customers, but at the end of the day as with any business, if this is not sustainable we may have to regretably increase our base costs.
Post Date: | 17th January 2013 |
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Complete Driveway Designs Video Advert
A new Complete Driveway Designs advert is now available to view on our you tube channel and on our website. The advert features a few examples of our Pattern Imprinted Concrete Driveways and Patios and shows off a selection of decorative features such as walls, fencing and decking.
To see the video on our Youtube channel click here
Post Date: | 9th January 2013 |
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Tags: | concrete case studies, concrete in media, Concrete Video Northwest, home improvements |