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                                                                    Exhibit 10.2



                           DAYTON SUPERIOR CORPORATION

                   1997 NONEMPLOYEE DIRECTOR STOCK OPTION PLAN
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     1. PURPOSE. The purpose of the Plan is to promote the interests of the
shareholders of the Company by increasing the identity of interests among the
directors of the Company who are not employees of the Company and the
shareholders of the Company.

     2. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of the Plan:

          "AGREEMENT" means a written agreement between the Company and a
     Nonemployee Director evidencing the grant of an Option and setting forth
     the terms and conditions of the Option.

          "BOARD" means the Board of Directors of the Company.

          "CHANGE IN CAPITALIZATION" means any increase, reduction or change or
     exchange of Shares for a different number or kind of shares or other
     securities of the Company by reason of a reclassification,
     recapitalization, merger, consolidation, reorganization, issuance of
     warrants or rights, stock dividend, stock split or reverse stock split,
     combination or exchange of shares, repurchase of shares, change in
     corporate structure or otherwise.

          "CODE" means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

          "COMMON SHARES" means any class of common shares of the Company.

          "COMPANY" means Dayton Superior Corporation, an Ohio corporation.

          "EXCHANGE ACT" means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

          "FAIR MARKET VALUE" means the average of the highest sale price and
     the lowest sale price of a Share on the date the value of a Share is to be
     determined, as reported on the New York Stock Exchange and published in the
     WALL STREET JOURNAL or, if no sale is reported for such date, then on the
     next preceding date for which a sale is reported or, if the Shares no
     longer are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the determination of such
     value as shall be determined by the Board in good faith.

          "NONEMPLOYEE DIRECTOR". means a director of the Company who is not an
     employee of the Company or any subsidiary of the Company; provided,
     however, that the Board, in its discretion, from time to time may further
     limit the directors who constitute Nonemployee Directors for purposes of
     the Plan.



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          "OPTION" means a right to purchase Shares granted under the Plan.
     Options granted under the Plan are not intended to qualify as incentive
     stock options under Section 422 of the Code.

          "PLAN" means this 1997 Nonemployee Director Stock Option Plan, as
     amended from time to time.

          "QUALIFIED DOMESTIC RELATIONS ORDER" means a qualified domestic
     relations order as defined in Section 414(p)(1)(B) of the Code which
     satisfies the conditions of Section 414(p)(1)(A) of the Code.

          "RIPPLEWOOD" means Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C., a Delaware limited
     liability company.

          "SECURITIES ACT" means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

          "SHARES" means the Class A Common Shares, without par value, of the
     Company (including any new, additional or different shares or securities
     resulting from a Change in Capitalization).

     3. ADMINISTRATION. The Plan shall be administered by the Board. Subject to
the express terms and conditions set forth in the Plan, the Board shall have the
power from time to time: (i) to construe and interpret the terms of the Plan and
the Options including, without limitation, to correct any defect or omission or
to reconcile any inconsistency in the Plan or in any Agreement and to establish,
amend and revoke rules and regulations for the administration of the Plan, in
the manner and to the extent the Board deems necessary or advisable to make the
Plan fully effective (and all decisions and determinations by the Board in the
exercise of this power shall be final and binding upon the Company and each
Nonemployee Director), and (ii) generally, to exercise such powers and to
perform such acts as the Board deems necessary or advisable to promote the best
interests of the Company with respect to the Plan.

     4. SHARES SUBJECT TO THE PLAN. (a) The maximum number of Shares that may be
issued or delivered pursuant to Options granted under the Plan is 40,000,
subject to adjustment as provided in Section 9. Such Shares may be authorized
but unissued Shares or Shares held in treasury. The Company shall reserve, for
purposes of the Plan, out of its authorized but unissued Shares or treasury
Shares, or partly out of each, such number of Shares as shall be determined by
the Board.

     (b) Whenever any outstanding Option or any portion of an outstanding Option
expires, is canceled or otherwise terminates (other than by exercise), the
Shares subject to the unexercised portion of the Option which has expired, been
canceled or has terminated again shall be available for the grant of Options
hereunder without reducing the number of Shares otherwise available under the
Plan. Shares which have been surrendered to or withheld by the Company to
satisfy all or a portion of the purchase price of an Option or a tax withholding
obligation with respect to an Option thereafter shall not be available under the
Plan.


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     5. GRANT OF OPTIONS. During the term of the Plan: (i) each Person who is a
Nonemployee Director immediately following each Annual Meeting of Shareholders
of the Company, commencing with the 1997 Annual Meeting of Shareholders,
automatically shall be granted an Option to purchase 2,000 Shares, effective as
of the date that such Annual Meeting of Shareholders is concluded, and (ii) each
person who, after the effective date of the Plan, first becomes a Nonemployee
Director at any time other than at an Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the
Company shall be granted an Option to purchase a number of Shares (rounded to
the nearest whole Share) determined by multiplying 2,000 by a fraction, the
numerator of which is twelve less the number of months (rounded to the nearest
whole month) from the most recent Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the Company
to the date such Person first becomes a Nonemployee Director and the denominator
of which is twelve, effective as of the date such Person first becomes a
Nonemployee Director. Except as set forth in this Section 5, no Options may be
granted under the Plan.

     6. TERMS OF OPTIONS. The terms and conditions of each Option granted under
the Plan shall be set forth in an Agreement. Each Option and Agreement shall be
subject to the following conditions:

          (a) EXERCISE PRICE. The exercise price per Share of each Option shall
     be the Fair Market Value of a Share on the date the Option is granted.

          (b) DURATION. Each Option shall have a term of ten years from the date
     the Option is granted.

          (c) EXERCISABILITY. Each Option granted under the Plan shall be fully
     exercisable at the time the Option is granted.

          (d) NON-TRANSFERABILITY. No Option granted under the Plan shall be
     pledged, assigned, hypothecated or transferred by the Nonemployee Director
     other than by will or the laws of descent and distribution or pursuant to a
     Qualified Domestic Relations Order. Options may be exercised during the
     lifetime of a Nonemployee Director only by the Nonemployee Director or the
     Nonemployee Director's guardian or legal representative or the transferee
     under a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. A Nonemployee Director may
     designate a person or persons to receive, in the event of such Nonemployee
     Director's death, an Option or portion of an Option held by the Nonemployee
     Director at the time of death or any amount payable with respect thereto to
     which the Nonemployee Director then would be entitled.

          (e) EXERCISE OF OPTION. (i) An Option may be exercised only by a
     written notice delivered to the Secretary of the Company at the Company's
     principal executive office, specifying the number of Shares to be purchased
     and accompanied by payment therefor and otherwise in accordance with the
     Agreement. The exercise price for the Shares to be purchased pursuant to
     the exercise of an Option shall be paid in full upon such exercise in cash,
     by check or by transferring Shares to the Company or by the retention by
     the Company of Shares to be issued upon the exercise of such Option, or any
     combination thereof. Any Shares transferred to the Company or retained by
     the Company as payment of the exercise price of an Option shall be valued
     at their Fair Market Value on the date the Option is exercised. If required
     by the Board, 


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     the Nonemployee Director shall deliver the Agreement evidencing the Option
     to the Secretary of the Company, who shall endorse on the Agreement a
     notation of such exercise and shall return such Agreement to the
     Nonemployee Director. Any exercise of an Option for fewer than all of the
     Shares covered by the Option shall be for at least ten Shares. No
     fractional Shares shall be issued upon the exercise of an Option.

          (ii) If the Plan or any law, regulation or interpretation requires the
     Company to take any action regarding the Shares before the Company issues
     certificates for the Shares being purchased, the Company may delay
     delivering the certificates for the Shares for the period necessary to take
     such action; provided, however, that the Company shall use its reasonable
     best efforts to promptly take any such action. The certificate or
     certificates representing Shares acquired upon the exercise of an Option
     may bear a legend restricting the transfer of such Shares to the extent
     required by applicable law, regulation or interpretation, and the Company
     may impose stop transfer instructions to implement such restrictions, if
     applicable.

          (f) RIGHTS OF NONEMPLOYEE DIRECTOR. No Nonemployee Director shall be
     deemed for any purpose to be the owner of any Shares subject to an Option
     unless and until the Option has been validly exercised, the Company has
     issued and delivered certificates for the Shares to the Nonemployee
     Director, and the Nonemployee Director's name has been entered as a
     shareholder of record on the books of the Company.

          (g) AMENDMENT OF OPTIONS. Subject to the terms and provisions of the
     Plan, the Board may amend any outstanding Option in any respect; provided,
     however, that (i) no such amendment shall reduce the exercise price of the
     Option (except to set forth an adjustment in the exercise price made
     pursuant to Section 9), and (ii) the consent of the Nonemployee Director of
     the Option to such amendment must be obtained if the amendment would
     adversely affect the rights of the Nonemployee Director under the Option.

     7. ADJUSTMENT UPON CHANGES IN CAPITALIZATION. In the event of a Change in
Capitalization, the Board shall determine the appropriate adjustments, if any,
to the maximum number and class of shares with respect to which Options may be
granted under the Plan, the number and class of shares subject to outstanding
Options granted under the Plan and the exercise price thereof, if applicable,
and any such determination by the Board shall be conclusive.

     8. TERMINATION AND AMENDMENT OF THE PLAN. Unless earlier terminated by the
Board, the Plan shall terminate on March 17, 2007 (or such earlier date as of
which the maximum number of Shares which may be issued or delivered upon the
exercise of Options granted under the Plan have been so issued or delivered),
and no Options thereafter shall be granted under the Plan. The Board may
terminate the Plan at any time and may amend the Plan and outstanding Agreements
from time to time; provided, however, that no such amendment shall be effective
unless approved by the shareholders of the Company, if such shareholder approval
is required (a) so that transactions hereunder will be exempt under Rule 16b-3
under the Exchange Act or (b) to comply with any other applicable law,
regulation or stock exchange rule. The rights and obligations of a Nonemployee
Director with respect to any Option outstanding at the time of any such
amendment to the Plan or 


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any Agreement shall not be adversely altered or impaired by such amendment,
except with the consent of such Nonemployee Director.

     9. GOVERNING LAW; APPROVALS. (a) The Plan and the rights of all persons
claiming hereunder shall be construed and determined in accordance with the laws
of the State of Ohio without giving effect to the choice of law principles
thereof.

     (b) The obligation of the Company to sell or deliver Shares with respect to
Options granted under the Plan shall be subject to all applicable laws, rules
and regulations, including all applicable federal and state securities laws and
the rules of any stock exchange on which the Shares are listed.

     (c) If at any time the Board determines, in its absolute discretion, that
the listing, registration or qualification of Shares issuable pursuant to the
Plan is required by any securities exchange or under any state or federal law,
or the consent or approval of any governmental regulatory body is necessary or
desirable as a condition of, or in connection with, the grant of an Option or
the issuance of Shares upon the exercise of an Option, no Option shall be
granted or payment made or Shares issued, in whole or in part, unless such
listing, registration, qualification, consent or approval has been effected or
obtained free of any conditions not acceptable to the Board.

     10. EFFECTIVE DATE. The Plan was approved by the Board on March 17, 1997,
subject to approval by the affirmative vote of the holders of Common Shares
entitling them to a majority of the voting power of the Company present in
person or by proxy at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the Company to be
held on May 8, 1997. The Plan shall become effective upon the approval of Plan
by the holders of Common Shares entitling them to exercise a majority of the
voting power of the Company present at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in
person or in proxy.