Concrete History and Facts

Jul 16
08:08

2012

Thor Nolan

Thor Nolan

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Concrete is a powerful substance that holds together much of our residential and commercial building. Here are a few facts about concrete and how it works to make your home a living palace.

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Concrete has been used for many years to enhance Minnesota homes. Driveways,Concrete History and Facts Articles steps, patios and walkways are just some of the concrete options available to Minneapolis property owners. A concrete patio can provide you with many years of enjoyment. It can be a place of relaxation or social gatherings with a table and chairs. And the great thing about a concrete patio is that it will very rarely require any concrete repair. After years of use, it may require concrete resurfacing to bring back that old shine. Concrete contractors are available to help you with any concrete repair you may need.

 

Concrete driveways can be an important investment as this is the gateway to your home. A broken down asphalt or concrete driveway can cause many headaches when trying to use a snow blower during the winter in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Nobody wants a muddy driveway every time it rains. This mud can then be tracked into your home by you, your kids or your visitors. MN Concrete contractors can give you an estimate on the price of a concrete driveway. If you need concrete resurfacing or a simple concrete repair on your concrete driveway, concrete contractors will be able to help you with this project.

 

You may want to enhance your Minneapolis/St. Paul MN property in an artistic format by adding stamped or stained concrete. This adds a bit of flair to your concrete patio, driveway, walkway, steps, garage floor or more. There are many different designs and colors to choose from and concrete contractors will work with you to ensure the scheme you wish to have implemented gets installed correctly.

 

Concrete steps in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area have many added benefits over wood or other types of material. Wood can rot, become waterlogged and sink and attracts many unwanted insects. Concrete is completely waterproof and when properly installed it will last for many years with little to no maintenance.  For sturdiness and reliability, you should consider concrete steps for your home.

 

This may be a surprise to some people but concrete and cement are not the same thing. Cement is kind of like the glue that holds all the ingredients in concrete together. A basic concrete mix consists of three components: cement, water and aggregates, which are usually rock and sand. Concrete contractors will mix all this together and pour it into the frame of your new concrete patio, concrete driveway, concrete walkway or steps.

 

Some benefits of concrete are that it can be waterproof, resistant to freezing and thawing, resistant to deicing and cleaning chemicals, resistant to wear and constant use and strength. These qualities are what concrete contractors try to achieve when mixing concrete for a concrete patio or other project. Concrete repair is rarely needed but occasionally if the concrete has been used by extremely heavy objects or vehicles, cracking and chipping may occur. Concrete repair may be able to be fixed with a simple patchwork but other cases may need a complete concrete resurfacing. Over time concrete can crack and break due to the earth shifting and other weather-related situations. In these cases concrete contractors will generally have to enact a concrete repair or a concrete resurfacing to bring the concrete patio or concrete driveway back up to full strength.

 

If you wish to add extra strength to your concrete mix, you can add wire mesh or fibers to enhance the strength and quality of the concrete. Fibers are most effective. When small cracks begin to appear, the fibers block the cracks from continuing any further and in most cases can eliminate any problem right there. Concrete contractors also use accelerants at times to speed up the drying time of concrete or retardants to slow down the drying time of concrete. These are generally used depending on the weather conditions when the concrete mix is being mixed.

 

So, as you can see, concrete is used to strengthen and increase the life of your home. A concrete patio, driveway, walkway, garage or shed floor, steps or other projects can all be improved by concrete. And, although it's rare for concrete to need repair, concrete contractors are available for concrete repair and concrete resurfacing if you should need their services.