CONCRETE WITH A DIFFERENCE
Man brings new product to city businesses
PEOPLE from across the country are set to travel to Toowoomba to learn a new skill in concreting, only you would not know it is concrete.
Mark Kendrick has opened a new business, Kryptonite Coatings, in the city after recently moving from Tasmania.
Kryptonite Coatings is a unique concept that transforms plain concrete into what looks like everything from floor boards, to sandstone and slate.
“I train people to use the products and then they can go out into the wide world and use it,” Mr Kendrick said.
While Mr Kendrick sells the product Australia-wide, it is training other people to use it and then bring to customers that is his main business.
Mr Kendrick moved from Tasmania only a couple of months ago, getting a house and the location for his business before setting foot in Toowoomba.
His decision was based on his two young children, after noticing the high unemployment rate in his former state.
“Most kids they move from Tasmania to the mainland anyway so I thought we would move before they want to move,” he said.
“I did a bit of research on Toowoomba, not too big and not too small and a nice climate.”
Mr Kendrick spent about 19 years at sea as an engineer before deciding he wanted to spend more time at home, which was when he discovered decorative concreting.
He almost gave that up, spray concreting, before he found epoxy flooring about seven years ago.
Mr Kendrick no longer works the tools and instead has dedicated his time to teaching others about what he loved to do.
“People fly from all around Australia and they will spend their three nights here to do the training and then they will take that knowledge away and put it into the workplace,” he said.
“I expect 200 people a year to come here and I will train them up.”
The majority of people who learn to create the cement overlays are concreters, spray pavers, tilers, people who lay vinyl or others who just want to branch out on their business.
“It is really cool. I can do nearly anything on concrete,” Mr Kendrick said.
“Nothing is ever the same and every job is different.”
He especially wants to encourage locals to learn the new skill, that he said was a cost-effective option for their customers that was also good for allergies and was a seamless flooring.
It doesn’t just have to be used as flooring, it can be used for everything from kitchen splash backs, bench tops and shower cubicles.
Kryptonite Coatings is located in shed 2/621 Alderley St, Toowoomba. For more about the product, find Kryptonite Coatings on Facebook or go to alluvius.com.au.