THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 17, 1995 TAG: 9505160110
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Face it, concrete isn't the prettiest thing you've ever seen. Especially when it's riddled with oil stains and cracks, it can detract from the value and beauty of a home or business.
Tom Durst and his company, Beautiful Driveways by Durst Painting and Pressure Washing, specializes in making old concrete and asphalt look new.
Using a special acrylic-based paint, Durst can recoat a driveway in several patterns and any color.
``The idea was to make the driveways more aesthetically pleasing while not detracting from the beauty of the home,'' said Durst, a West Virginia native.
His company offers non-skid coatings painted in several different patterns such as flat brick, raised brick with grout lines and different types of tile such as hexagon-shaped and flagstone.
He can coat any concrete surface, most commonly sidewalks, patios, driveways, garages and even pool decks.
He showed off his skills at last year's Homearama at Church Point. He and one full-time employee and three part-time employees did a brick pattern in a three-car garage.
``Over 80,000 people walked on that floor,'' said Durst. ``I sold a lot of garage floors because of that.''
Typically, his charges start at $1 per foot for a flat surface coating with two colors and $3 a foot for a two-color raised-surface coating.
His tools for patterns include stencils and masking tape. Most of the work he and his employees do can be done within one or two days.
The material and craftsmanship of his work is guaranteed for five years and resurfacing a topcoat is half-price for the next 10 years, although, Durst says, resurfacing is hardly ever needed.
His own brick-patterned sidewalk is a good example. His four children have been tossing toys and throwing their bikes down on it for the three years and there's not one chip in it, he said.
Durst coated the sidewalk and patterned it in the same color of brick as his Salem Woods home.
``The best thing about this is it's also a sealant,'' said Durst, a former life insurance salesman for 15 years. ``If oil gets on it, you can wipe it up with a paper towel.''
Durst knows this firsthand, too, because his wife's car leaks oil on their driveway all the time.
Durst began his painting and pressure washing business more than three years ago. Since, he has incorporated Beautiful Driveways as part of it.
He first got the idea from his father who lives in Florida where upgraded driveways are more common.
He researched the needed materials and found an out-of-state supplier who ships the supplies directly to him.
``It's taken me three years to get it where it is today because I wanted the best materials - the most durable with a high gloss,'' Durst said.
He traveled to the material manufacturer to learn the art of stenciling and coating.
Eventually, he hopes to get out of the painting business altogether and just concentrate on pressure washing and concrete work.
Durst Painting and Pressure Washing does about 600 homes a year. Durst does the special coating of asphalt and concrete about 40 times a year.
He began the business after his wife asked him to spend more time at home in the evenings. Previously, as a life insurance salesman, he spent long hours at the office and out on appointments.
With four children, 3 to 21, Elaine Durst was looking for more help around the house.
He decided to retire from the insurance business and hasn't looked back.
Prior to insurance, Durst built swimming pools for extra money in college and then became a laborer at a steel mill and then a manufacturer's representative for the mill.
He came across the pressure-washing idea when he saw a neighbor's house being washed.
``I thought, that guy just made $150 for a couple of hours work,'' said Durst. ``So I designed some fliers and had two or three phone calls waiting when I got home from work that day.''
Durst does commercial and residential work and travels as far as Williamsburg and Nags Head, N.C. MEMO: To reach Beautiful Driveways by Durst Painting and Pressure Washing,
call 495-8801.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Tom Durst's company, Beautiful Driveways, offers non-skid coatings
painted in several different patterns such as flat brick, raised
brick with grout lines, hexagon-shaped tile and flagstone. Durst
coated and patterned his own sidewalk in the same color of brick as
his Salem Woods home.
by CNB