Know-how library
Straight answers on formliners
Most of this trade hides its knowledge in PDFs and sales calls. We put it in plain writing. Here is how formliners work, how to specify them, and how to design so they cast clean.
What a concrete formliner is and how it works
A concrete formliner is a textured mold liner that gives a precast panel a pattern or profile straight from the pour, no masonry trades needed.
Read →Why liner seams show in finished concrete, and how seamless liners solve it
Butt two liner sheets together and the finished panel shows the seam. Here is what causes that joint line and how seamless liners take it out of the concrete.
Read →How to choose between single-use and multi-use liners
Single-use liners fit deep one-off textures. Multi-use liners pay off over volume. Here is the cost-per-panel math and when each one wins.
Read →What starter and ender sheets are and why trimming wastes money
Starter and ender sheets close out a liner run so the pattern resolves clean at panel edges. Skip them and crews trim liner in the bed and lose time.
Read →How embedded thin brick systems work (and what a ledge is)
Thin brick gets cast into a precast or tilt-up panel in the plant, not laid on scaffolding. Here is how the system works and why a clean seal matters.
Read →How to specify a formliner: a plain guide for architects
What to put in a formliner spec so panels strip clean: pattern, depth, draft, joints, finish, and mockups. Plus spec sheets and samples with no form.
Read →Thin brick basics: sizes, coursing, and what non-uniform really means
Thin brick is a face-slice of real fired brick. Here are the basics on sizes, coursing, bond patterns, and why brick that is not uniform matters for the liner.
Read →How formliners get installed in a precast bed, step by step
A plain walkthrough of setting a formliner in a precast bed so the panel strips clean and the bed turns faster, from prep to storage.
Read →What to expect on lead times, shipping, and ordering
How a formliner order flows from pattern to delivery, why custom takes longer, and how to order through your rep, with exact numbers confirmed for your job.
Read →Designing for the formliner: draft, depth, and details that cast cleanly
Depth, draft, and edge details decide whether a formliner panel strips clean or chips. A plain guide to designing texture that casts the way you drew it.
Read →How samples and mockups work on a precast job, and where the formliner fits
Samples and mockups approve the look of a precast panel before the real ones cast. Here is the sequence, and why a small flat sample cannot show a full panel.
Read →Want to see the texture in your own hands?
Samples ship straight to your plant or office, no gate, no sales runaround. Tell us the system or pattern you are after and we will get it moving.
Direct contacts
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Bob, Midwest and Canada
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Dawson, Eastern and Western