Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Okay when it comes to concrete on driveways a majority of contractors,(even good contractors),have been led to believe that prep for concrete is not that big an issue as with asphalt. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Have you ever seen concrete driveways/parkinglots cracked? I know you have ,especially cracks that one side of the crack appears to be higher or lower than the other. This is the tell-tale sign of poor prep and or compaction. Where most think concrete is stronger than asphalt asphalt is "pliable". Concrete is not,it is very brittle and under its own weight will create "settling in un-compacted or soft subgrade or base."Due to the extreme difficulty and cost of repairing concrete it is very important to expect any contractor doing work for you to follow the same specs as asphalt.. When the begin to argue their point with you,(and they will),don't back down.unless you want a driveway that will not stand the test of time,or you have money to burn and like having a demo saw and jack-hammer defoning the neighborhood. I have, unfortunately,repaired more of these "pour on dirt"and "an inch of #57 stone " jobs than I would ever want. Wire re-enforcing is also a must,without wire or steel"rebar"re-enforcing you are simply wasting your time and money. If you don't believe me I'm sure it will not take you long to find someone in your area that will tell you they wish that they had been educated on the subject before they had their job done. Myself personally I prefer asphalt to concrete anyway due to concrete's blinding reflection in sunlight,it's really hard on automotive tires,tends to hold water more often,does not flex if you scrub your toe on the highly abrasive brushed surface. and is very difficult and expensive to repair. Anyway in my next post we will get deeper into the do's and don'ts

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for the post. I'm not a DIY kind of guy so I usually rely on a professional and its usually a hit and miss type of thing. But driveway contractors dallas are a great option for anyone looking for a professional.

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  2. Your welcome and thank you.I haven't posted in a while I've been so very busy but I'm about caught up now and I will complete the blog and include some more tips and specs for anyone that needs or wants to know.

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    Replies
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