Whether a project is residential or commercial, every job is a custom job to Kenny Pattillo, owner of Concrete Cosmetics located in Crowley, Texas. It could require T-Rex footprints to wander through a room or to make giant, carved-out Texas wildflowers —he's up for the challenge. "The ones that challenge you are the ones that I like," Pattillo says. "I love it when they want something different."
Pattillo is no stranger to concrete, having worked with it for 33 years. He began with his own business in Florida, and then he moved to Texas where he worked as a factory representative for an epoxy manufacturing company. He then began Concrete Cosmetics.
Currently, Pattillo's service area is the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. However, he has worked on projects from Florida to California and has an upcoming job in Montana. With three full time employees, the company offers decorative concrete overlays, concrete countertops, decorative acid staining, industrial flooring and engraving.
Pattillo has had several large jobs where he performed both decorative concrete and concrete floors. "We've done industrial epoxy flooring in the back of a warehouse and decorative concrete in the office areas," Pattillo says.
The majority of Pattillo's clients are referrals, but he does get some clients from the Internet. "Most of my business is word of mouth," Pattillo says. "I take care of my customers, and it paid off. I've gotten a pretty decent reputation out of the deal and have been blessed with some cool jobs."
With an extensive portfolio, Pattillo has worked on many unique projects. On one of his projects he collaborated with an artist to create and install an abstract mural at the Christ for the Nations church located in Dallas. Pattillo has also carved Bible scripture into a floor.
His work can also be seen at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport where he encountered a slightly different bidding process than most situations. Pattillo received a call from Austin Commercial, the general contractor for the project, and then he participated in an audition with five other decorative contractors.
"They poured 6 by 6 feet slabs of concrete," Pattillo says. "Each guy bidding on the job was required to do a mockup. I drove to the airport with a flatbed trailer, picked up this giant slab of concrete, took it back to my shop and carved out a giant Firewheel flower. We cut it out and stained it."
After winning the bid, the general contractor had several things he wanted Pattillo to do; however, being a smaller company, Pattillo knew he would be unable to complete all of the work. Ultimately, he was hired as a sub-sub contractor. Pattillo worked on the project for almost a year carving out nine different varieties of Texas wildflowers and staining them different colors.
Pattillo has also had the opportunity to have several floor projects featured in McKinnon Materials, Inc. advertisements.
Regardless of the situation, Pattillo believes that it is important to listen to what the customer wants and make it happen, giving every customer personalized service. "I'm going to go in and talk to whoever's floor it's going to be and find out what they want," Pattillo says. "That's what I'm going to give them. Sometimes you have to improvise, adapt and over come."
