Polished concrete, used here in a school classroom, is still not widely understood in the commercial world, despite the fact that it is both functional and economical.

President Joe Yezzi and Vice President Rob Yezzi lead Yezco Concrete Polishing, a company dedicated to providing cutting-edge technology in polished concrete.

The Yezzi brothers took Arizona by storm with the launch of one of the first commercial polished concrete businesses in the state. They opened the doors of Yezco Concrete Polishing (Yezco) in 2002. Soon after, they were serving high-profile clients from Luke Air Force Base (Luke AFB) to the University of Phoenix Stadium, where the Arizona Cardinals play.

New Jersey native Joe Yezzi, Yezco President, saw opportunities in Arizona after high school graduation and made the move in 1992 to join his cousin in starting a pager company. After feeling like he was held hostage in a store all day, and because the pager market was quickly declining, he made another move. In 2001, he capitalized on the Arizona housing boom and started a business installing epoxy garage floors. After a year of that, he explored the idea of polished concrete floors. That’s when his brother, Rob Yezzi, Yezco Vice President, came on board to help.

“Concrete polishing is the most functional, ecological and economical flooring system suited for innovative commercial and industrial projects,” Joe says. “Concrete is the most commonly used construction material because of the many benefits it offers. Among these are strength, durability, a long life span and affordability; it is also environmentally friendly and recyclable. Why then have we chosen to cover it up with man-made petroleum-based materials that do not have these characteristics, which leads to expensive repairs and maintenance? Using polished concrete results in a finish that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also reduces maintenance costs and increases durability.”

Where it Started

Joe’s success is due in part to his ability to plan.

“I wanted to start a business that I could run out of my home with no inventory and call it a day when I was ready,” he says. “A company I could run off a laptop at the local coffee shop was perfect. That’s when I learned how to do epoxy floor coatings. I had always been interested in construction, and garage floor epoxy is big here. But, the fumes were getting to me, so I started learning about new flooring finishes and realized that polished concrete was the newest method to replace floor coatings because it is more durable and it lasts longer. With maintenance, there is no delamination.”

Joe says delamination can be a big deal. If that occurs, a subsurface void is created as the concrete hardens, which creates weakened areas below the surface that can eventually detach.

When Joe started the business, he was focused largely on residential and small commercial projects. With Rob coming on board, they made the move to expand to larger projects and bought three expensive machines. That is when the business took off.

“We ended up with a huge contract at Luke Air Force Base. Then, we bought another five machines. We were one of the first couple of companies in Arizona to have our own equipment,” he says. “That allowed us to move faster and we were self-contained, too, because we owned our own generators. It is a big selling point for us because we don’t have to use the building’s power.”

Why Polished Concrete?

“It is an education process for people who aren’t familiar with polished concrete,” Joe says. “We educate architects about this functionality and economics. It takes a lot of fuel and pollution to make a product like tile or a wood floor and get it to the site and install it. This uses the existing concrete which is structural. If you can make it aesthetic, that is about as green as it gets.”

Rob agrees. “Not a lot of people have great knowledge about polished concrete, even if they know of it. I find myself really educating potential clients on the process, step by step of what it is, how the system works, and what to look forward to in the future to keep the investment sustainable,” he says. “People appreciate that extra bit of time when talking to them instead of just giving them a bid and walking away.”

Rob says he also finds himself more of a design consultant while trying to gauge a client’s expectations, whether the project involves new or existing concrete. “The idea is to over deliver and maintain a good customer relationship. I’m consistently following up, checking in to see if all is great or if there is maintenance needed. People appreciate that. They like the time we take and the details that we provide. The way we treat people matters,” he adds.

Joe says that one ongoing challenge is combating the companies that do shoddy work, because bad experiences can, for example, make the leadership of national chains leery of trying it again. Often, they’re contracting for volume at a low cost and these companies are polishing scratches into the floor instead of doing the job right, Joe says. The return on investment for polished concrete is better than many flooring options because there is little to no maintenance compared to tile or wood. The coatings are very sustainable, too.

Throwing Bolts

At Luke AFB, Yezco did a polish concrete retrofit in all of the F16 hangers. When the F35s came in, Yezco did those hangars, too. “They were going to coat them again; instead, we had them come to the warehouse and demonstrated what happens when we drop a nut or bolt on the floor, tossing a handful of them onto the floor. They were impressed and we were hired,” Joe says.

“We wound up doing their jet propulsion rooms, bomb bays, and all of the hangers where they park the jets—literally hundreds of thousands of square feet at the base,” Joe says. “The big thing is teaching them how to maintain it. We’re the only company that does a lifetime warranty with the floor as long as we maintain it. If they opt into that, we tailor a program to the amount of traffic or use on that floor. Maintenance can be weekly, monthly or annually. We schedule it to best suit their needs and we stand by our work.”

For the University of Phoenix Stadium, Yezco has done about 300,000 to 400,000 square feet of concrete. That project started in 2010. The stadium had a red epoxy and a clear coat over the concrete. Yezco created dozens of samples of a red dye for polished concrete to match the Cardinals colors.

“We made a unique propriety red dye that matched their colors for the stadium, so we could dye the concrete and polish over it. They were sold on it. This was a challenging project because we had to do a lot of testing of the products that would naturally etch the concrete because there was no coating on there,” he says.

Concrete that hasn’t been treated in any way after being poured can be too hard and smooth to accept paint or protective sealants. However, etching (or washing) concrete opens the pores of the concrete and prepares the surface to accept its next treatment. Because it is a stadium, there were things from margarita mix to jalapeno juice, beer and mustard spilled on the floor, Joe says.

“Those were the main products that did a number on the floor. We worked with a chemical company to come up with a product that would resist those particular elements and they all passed the test,” he says. Yezco is at the stadium every offseason doing a little more, here and there, across three levels of the stadium.

Rob says polished concrete consistently outperforms other flooring options because it is abrasion resistant and will not delaminate. In the unlikely instance of damage, repair can usually be done in one day. Other flooring options typically involve prep work or have an area blocked off for more than one day. “It’s simply a sustainable solution to traditional flooring,” he adds.

“I tell potential customers to give me the worst spot in their space and we’ll give them a 4-by-4-foot sample. ‘Use and abuse it,’ I tell them, ‘and you’ll know right away whether you like it or not,’ ” he says. “Beyond aesthetics is the functionality, which can be even more important in schools or fire stations where they need it to be functional and nice.”

Another concern many businesses have—from big boxes to stadiums—is the liability from slips and falls. On some concrete floors, if water is spilled, you can’t see it and it can be like walking on ice. With polished concrete, there is a non-slip finish and you can see pooling water, which makes slip and fall liability decrease significantly, Joe explains.

Yezco does third-party slip tests with a machine called the BOT-3000, which will slowly go on the concrete and print out results that are measured by a code to help protect the building owner.

A newer line of business for Yezco has been flooring in storage facilities, which can bring a high premium for nicer facilities, he says. It is a popular industry for investors because of the residual income, and Yezco are seeing more and more facilities opening.

Industrial and manufacturing are other markets for polished concrete, Rob says. Yezco recently helped a bread company that had some issues with their flooring. “We created a polished concrete sample on a section of their flooring and, after trying it out for a while, they said ‘this is our solution,’ ” Rob says. It has been more functional, sustainable, easier to maintain and safer for them with no slip issues, he says.

How it Gets Done

Joe credits his company’s success to a strong work ethic shared by both the company leaders and the nine guys on the team.

“My goal for the company is to keep this business going and make sure my guys can pay their mortgages and have a retirement. I want them to be debt free with a 401(k) or an IRA. That is my ultimate goal. If that happens, then I know I did my job. I have some members of my team who have been with me since my pager days,” Joe says.

The key to keeping a high-quality team is to treat them right, he says. “They are the face of the company and, to some degree, I work for them. I treat them the way I would want to be treated and make it clear that family comes first and work is second. If you need to pick up your kid, let us know and we will work around it,” he says. “You don’t want them to miss out on anything in their lives because you can’t get those years back. You have to put people first.”

Beyond maintaining his own team, Joe says the No. 1 thing he does to keep customers happy is to do everything right and avoid cutting corners.

“Pay your taxes, pay your payroll tax. Do everything legal and you never have to worry about anything,” he says. “If you do the job the best you can and make sure it’s done right, you’re not going to have problems. Treat your employees right. If you apply those principles to any business, you’ll be successful.”

Yezco also gives back to the community by helping churches throughout the valley with their flooring needs. Rob says they’ve contributed floors to several churches and provide maintenance, as well. “We’re men of faith and when we get the opportunity to serve, we like to help in that way,” he says.

Ultimately, Joe wants his team and customers to know that the company is always going to be around. He knows relationships are the foundation of a great business—his relationship with his team, the contractors who hire him, as well as the owners he works for directly.

“They know what they’re going to get from us and they don’t have to put a project out to bid. We’ve been around a long time. We have the highest limits of insurance and we are all about quality first, then speed. We get it done fast with the best quality and no hiccups,” he says.