Concrete contractors in Sacramento, CA

Benefits of concrete

You may not know it, but you rely on concrete every single day. From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep, there’s a good chance some form of concrete is in play somewhere around your home or business. Yes, this seemingly hard and unyielding building material offers more than just a lower cost per square foot to builders across the country. It provides durability, efficiency and flexibility. Concrete is known for its rugged durability, making it a highly dependable flooring material that provides protection against most weather conditions.

As a homeowner, you want to have a great looking exterior. A great looking property really does make for a great looking home! Concrete is a great addition to any property, and can be used both inside and out. Not only is it a cost-effective solution for any paved outdoor space, it can also be installed with a variety of colors, patterns, and styles. As a continuous surface made from the same material, decorative concrete is a highly durable and low-maintenance.

Decorative concrete can be added to patios, pool decks, driveways, entryways, and even an entire home if you have a vision for it. Having this feature can add substantial value to any property if you plan on selling. With decorative concrete, you can create seamless-looking walkways through your property or forms of artistic appeal that blend into the landscaping.

Disadvantages of concrete

Concrete has a tendency to crack as it dries (called tension cracks). This can be avoided by coring, but removal of excess water in the mix is the best way to reduce coring and cracking. When used for structural purposes, concrete is reinforced with rebar or steel mesh. Toward the end of finishing concrete, liquid cement along with fine aggregate are mixed to produce a slurry that enhances flowability and reduces bleeding (air entrapment). Concrete may crack due to thermal stress as its thermal expansion coefficient is less than one.

Expansion joints refer to the surfaces between two adjacent structural elements such as wall and floor for allowing concrete to expand and contract without putting too much stress respectively on these areas. These expansion joints are essential in longer structures otherwise the stress will be placed on an individual part of concrete. This is why they are usually preferred for long buildings providing more than 15 feet of variation.

A common problem in concrete is efflorescence. Efflorescence is the white powdery substance that you see on top of concrete surfaces which is caused by dissolved salts (magnesium, calcium, and potassium) which have come out of the concrete and have crystallized. This causes the powdered substance to appear on top of the concrete after it has gone through various weather conditions. The salts in the concrete will dissolve when it comes into contact with water and the chemical reaction creates a gas that will travel up through the concrete surface. However, salt crystals can also come out of concrete surfaces faster if there are low spots on them because water will sit there for an extended period of time and react with the salt crystals.

How to install concrete

A home-made laser level can be used to mark the outline of the concrete slab in your lawn. Screw four stakes into the ground, put on the laser level and shine it on the stakes, move it until you have the desired outline and press button. Repeat this along the whole perimeter of where you want to build your patio and make notes. This will give you a reference point as to how high or low the floor will be once you take off all that top soil.

Concrete is a mixture composed of natural and artificial hydraulic cement, sand, gravel and water. Concrete is widely used throughout the world as a construction material. Concrete is typically coarse at the top and bottom, with fine particles in the middle. The water/cement ratio by weight is about 1:3 for sidewalks, 1:4 for walks, and 1:5 to 1:6 for foundations, slabs, and walls.

Pouring concrete either straight into or around a form is called form work. There are two basic methods, which are used by concrete contractors in Sacramento. The first method is to call for the truck to back right up to the form, then elevate the tailgate until it lines up with the end of the form. You can also back the truck into position and tilt a wooden chute on wheels over the end of the truck. A person at this end begins to fill buckets and passes them to workers who slide them down chutes into the forms. Another and more efficient way is to load wheelbarrows with concrete and pour it directly through a hole in a side form or along a temporary plank.