Nu-Crete Designs: Creating with Concrete from Staining to Sandblasting
About five years ago, Emily Heroman fell in love with the art of concrete. At the time, she had been the head golf pro at the University Club in Baton Rouge for eight years with sponsorships from Callaway, Nike and Polo. Her fellow PGA members and pupils might be shocked at her newfound love, but so are most people who recognize her running errands, splattered with dots of concrete. She may have held quite a few peoples’ dream job, but now she has her dream job with Nu-Crete Designs.
“This is what gets me out of bed in the morning,” she says. “I love what I do.”
Her love is creating decorative concrete: stained and scored floors, stamps, pool decks and patios, overlays, counter tops, and architectural stencils and sandblasting. Working on residential and commercial projects, Heroman takes on renovations or new constructions. Every job is different, requiring new attention to landscaping, housing materials, color choice and more. Nu-Crete Designs can be found both indoors and outdoors, though stamped concrete is typically found outdoors. No matter where it is, concrete has its perks: durability, ease of maintenance, allergen-free, acting like an insulator, cost-efficiency, eco-friendly, and versatility.
Stained and scored concrete floors are made with permanent acid stains or water-based stains, depending on the desired style and color. Heroman works with clients in-home or at her office to determine the color. Once the concrete is poured, she manipulates the color until its perfect and applies a sealant. The most popular stain color is an antique-brown cola color that’s neutral, warm, inviting and homey. If the client has a stencil of their own creation or one chosen from Heroman’s endless catalogs, the stencil is scored into the concrete using various blades and saws. Fleur de lis are popular, as is in LSU, alongside patterns for hallways or foyers. One recent special project involved duplicating a client’s Frank Lloyd Wright windows onto her floor resembling a rug.
Stamped concrete works by creating various textures and patterns like slate, cobblestone, and brick. After the concrete is poured and while it is still wet, patterns are “stamped” and created. Color combinations and accents can be incorporated into stamps as well, making stamped pieces of concrete slate nearly indiscernible from the real thing with a lower price tag. Plus, stamped concrete’s texture makes it non-slip friendly and is ideal in the home or around the pool.
Heroman’s artistic side truly shines with architectural stencils, a process that uses sandblasting to create an image, etching the concrete and nearly exposing the aggregate. The technique can be executed in any design on nearly any surface, whether the design is a logo on the floor, a name on a wall or a flowery flourish on a countertop.
“It’s very, very unique that nobody else is really doing,” she says. “When people see it, they’re taken aback.”
Although Nu-Crete Designs works within Louisiana, Heroman’s efforts have been seen nationally on The View and in Time magazine for her work on the Rosie’s For All Kids project at Renaissance Village in Baker. In that concrete, Nu-Crete incorporated picture frames for sidewalk chalk artisans, frogs playing leap frog, tic tac toe and hopscotch boards, tricycle tracks circling the world, and more. Contact Nu-Crete Designs today to see what Emily Heroman can create in concrete for you. ✦
Nu-Crete Designs
11930 Industriplex Blvd., Ste. 13
Baton Rouge, LA
ph. (225) 572-6005
www.nucretedesigns.com
