There are so many benefits of a concrete driveway it’s hard not to love them. Concrete is a very durable material and extremely strong. It can easily handle the weight of even the heaviest vehicles, and weather conditions aren’t an issue. It’s also a beautiful building material that has tons of style options like coloring, texturing, stamps and can be formed into any shape. It works with any style home and it’s cheaper than most other driveway materials other than asphalt, gravel or dirt.
Driveways need to be strong enough to handle the weight of all vehicles. The great thing about concrete is the specifications of the material itself can usually be adjusted to accommodate the weight of any vehicle without the need of the sub-base. Generally a residential driveway only needs to have 3000 psi concrete for standard cars and pickup trucks and only 4 inches thick. These are the same specs for patios and walkways. To reinforce the concrete wire and /or fiber mesh can be added along with calcium which assists the new concrete of curing faster. For larger vehicles and equipment you would want to increase the thickness, the psi, and often include mesh and/or rebar (garbage trucks, tractor-trailers, etc)
Concrete flat work (driveways, parking lots, patios, etc) requires skilled labor with special masonry skills, tools, and equipment. Always make sure to hire a skilled concrete contractor with experience pouring large flat slabs. Once poured, the surface of concrete dries very quickly and can become unmanageable in a very short amount of time. Once it hardens there is nothing more that can be done to it. A skilled concrete mason has the experience to calculate how much time they have prior to finishing the concrete to create a beautiful surface that will last for decades.
What is Concrete Made Of?
Concrete is a mixture of a stone, water, lime and Portland cement. The cement is a pulverized powder made from limestone and clay. Concrete is a complicated mixture so it’s strength can vary depending on the mix. If you look at a building plan and it calls for 3500 psi concrete required. That means 3500 pounds of strength per square inch. It’s very important to use the right mixture for your project. Generally we use a 3000 – 4000 psi mix for a residential driveway at 4″ thick and 4000 – 5000 psi mix for industrial & commercial projects
The size of the stone in your concrete mixture can be varied depending on the intended use of the concrete. For typical driveways the concrete is made with gravel sized stones about the size of a quarter. For finer work and a smoother finish smaller rocks and even sands can be used in place of the gravel.When you reduce the size and amount of the stone it also reduces the strength of the concrete.
The typical mixture used for a driveway slab is made from stones ranging in size from gravel to sand sized particles.
In addition to a standard concrete pour there are other options that can add to the aesthetics of your new concrete surface and they can include adding dye which completely changes the color of the concrete, stamped concrete that has texture (cobblestone, brick, etc) designs. But these options can become very expensive so a beautiful picture frame finish which mosts good contractor’s include within their price is usually more than acceptable by most residential homeowners. There are so many different styles, It just depends on the customer’s budget.
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