Weatherly contractor took first place in an international competition for a decorative concrete project and the judges’ overall award among the top projects worldwide.

Emil Gera of Emil J. Gera Concrete Contractor Inc. accepted the awards at the American Society of Concrete Contractors’ annual conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, in September.

He received first place in the 2025 Decorative Concrete Council International Project Award for multiple applications in a job under 5,000 square feet, and the WOW! Award, recognizing overall best in show.

Gera, a second-generation mason with more than 30 years of experience in the concrete industry, described the project as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in which the homeowner allowed him free reign to design and build.

“This customer gave us some parameters of what they wanted and from there we made a design for them,” he said. “We were able to really do what I feel is something special for them.”

The three-month-long project, an outdoor living space, features a 34-foot by 34-foot timber frame pavilion; a hand-carved concrete fireplace with a 48-inch firebox that looks like real stone; a full outdoor kitchen; a large fire pit; backlit water wall; and gas lanterns for lighting.

The outdoor kitchen itself has a pizza oven, grill, farmhouse sink and two refrigerators, a 10-foot farmhouse table with a fire feature, and bar seating at the end of the kitchen.

The floor is all decorative, stamped concrete designed to look like 16-inch, wood planks that are all hand-stained and detailed, Gera said.

“The best compliment for me is when somebody walks in there and they’re standing on the floor and they say, ‘Is this concrete?’ ” Gera said. “I just say, ‘Thank you.’

“We spent a tremendous amount of time with the details to make sure that it did not look like concrete.”

The homeowner, at one point, asked about how long the project was taking to complete, and Gera said that he had to explain the amount of hands-on work that went into this type of custom project.

“A lot of things they build on TV … all of that comes from a store or box or a supplier,” he said. “Everything that is on that project was touched by our hands and built custom.”

A four-man crew worked every day from July through September of last year for the custom build — and the only part subcontracted was the timber work of the pavilion, Gera said.

Despite the amount of time on the project, Gera had never seen the complete job at night until this year.

“The customer kept telling me over and over you have to see this at night,” he said. “I was like, ‘Holy cow!’

“At night, with the water going, the gas lanterns burning, the fire pit and table burning, it’s really something.”

The Decorative Concrete Council judges apparently thought so, too, giving the project its prestigious WOW! Award. Gera knew that he had won the first place award, but not the overall award for best in show.

Both he and his wife, Lenora, who accompanied him to the conference, were surprised when their name was called and not one of the large design firms with projects for architectural buildings and theme parks.

“I was sitting at the table with two of the judges, when they started to announce this, before they called our name, they stood up and everyone was looking at me,” Gera said. “It was one of those moments in life you don’t get too many of for sure.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing for us.

“After 30-plus years of doing this, to receive an award like that,” Gera said, pausing. “We sacrifice a lot of family time and things like that running our own business to do these things, so it was nice to be recognized for one of them.”

After the dinner and throughout the three-day conference, people continued to come up to him and congratulate him for winning the WOW! Award, he said.

“It was nice, because several of my friends were in the crowd, and I got to celebrate with them,” Gera said, noting that another friend drove three hours to have dinner and congratulate him.

He formed many relationships through training events around the country, which allowed him to learn from some of the best concrete artists in the country — even though he said he’s been watching cement come off a truck since he was 10 years old and working with his father.

“I learned a tremendous amount from my dad,” he said. “He is still a better finisher than I am today at 69 years old. He is still at with me every day.”

Gera now shares what he’s learned about decorative concrete through trainings and demonstrations for manufacturers and distributors of the products each winter, he said.

Overall, it was great experience, he said. Gera has been a member of the American Society of Concrete Contractors for six years, he said, and looks forward to attending future conferences.