REGULAR / COLORED CONCRETE

A Concrete Driveway can have a dramatic effect on the first impression, value, and resale potential for a home.

Concrete Driveways are preferred over other paving materials for a variety of reasons:

• Durability is a key to the longevity of driveways. Concrete driveways stand up to traffic day in ad day out, year after year, often for over 30 years.
• Versatility is important, especially in today’s upscale housing market. Concrete can be colored, stamped, or stenciled to create a variety of textures and decorative finishes.
• Maintenance free concrete does not need to be seal coated every year.
• Environmentally friendly products are becoming more and more important every year. Cured concrete is an inert material and can be recycled.
• Homeowner Satisfaction Homeowners were surveyed, and of those already owning a concrete driveway, 96% said they would choose concrete again.
• Appearance is a critical component in selecting a driveway paving material. Concrete, with its smooth, bright surface or beautiful broom finish with smooth edges, provides an important safety feature by increasing the effectiveness of exterior lighting.

PROCEDURE

After the organic ground is excavated and removed and replaced with a crushed stone. The area then is formed up creating a pitch of 1/4″, allowing water to flow in that direction. Once the forms are up, the sub-grade is ready to be graded. Depending on the project, the slab thickness should be 4″ to 5″ thick. Grading the sub-grade uniformly is crucial. Not only does it make it easier to estimate the amount of concrete needed for the job, it cuts down the chances of unwanted cracking, since concrete will crack at the thinnest depth of the slab. Concrete will always crack. That is the reason for control joints, to control the crack. Once the sub-grade is graded it must be compacted. 10M rebar as an option and depending on end use and load factors on concrete can be now be put into place 18″ on center, wherever stamped concrete is being placed. Depending on the temperature, the sub-grade is sometimes dampened.

Next, the project is ready to cast the concrete in place. Concrete is placed, screeded, floated and troweled. Once excess water has disappeared concrete surface must be troweled to attain a smooth and honeycomb free surface, after which a broom finish is applied to the surface and the edges are smoothed out with an appropriate smooth egder.

For colored concrete we at Pro Pavement Services Ltd. use the integral color method, which is where the coloring is mixed right at the concrete plant and delivered in the concrete truck, giving the concrete color consistency throughout the slab. This is the best way. After placing the concrete the concrete surface is screeded, floated and troweled, after which a broom finish is applied to the surface and the edges are smoothed out with an appropriate smooth edger.