Why Concrete Is a Must for Commercial Properties


Many commercial property owners way concrete versus a variety of other building materials mainly do to financial constraints and limited budgets. Although concrete proves to be more expensive in the beginning as compared to asphalt or other paving options, over the long run concrete proves to be more durable, better looking and less expensive over time. Below are six reasons why concrete has proven to be a extremely popular construction material, especially for commercial properties.

Impressive Strength and Durability

Due to the makeup of concrete, its principal elements or substances rather is water, cement and aggregate such as sand for example. The stronger the concrete, the more dense it is which can be achieved by giving it minimal water and increasing the amount of cement. As this mixed agent dries, it "cures" or become stronger. A couple of days after having been set, concrete will seem as though it is completely cured, the truth of the matter is that the remaining moisture within the concrete continues to "react" and bind the cement and the aggregate together which when completely cured means that the concrete will be a more firm and denser product.
  

More Environmentally Friendly Or Advantageous


Unlike other options such as asphalt, concrete is actually porous which allows water and moisture to flow through the pad and into the ground beneath. Stormwater on asphalt carries pollutants and waste particles from the streets and gutters and introduces those pollutants into our local water sources. Concrete also has many other benefits and the fact that it is naturally fire resistant and can withstand major "acts of God" such as tornadoes and hurricanes, as well as termites for example.

Little to No Maintenance


Compared to wood or asphalt, the maintenance on concrete patios, sidewalks, driveways and steps is minimal. Concrete does crack and over time those cracks need to be caulked and sealed so as not to allow moisture or water to enter those voids. Water is concrete's biggest enemy naturally. Regularly cleaning and sealing concrete can help boost the life of any concrete installation.

Clean Look and Feel Compared To Other Finishes


Concrete maintains it's look and feel much longer than asphalt, wood or other hardscapes. Asphalt needs to be maintained every year in Colorado at least, and it does not stand to weathering like concrete does. As for wood, in Denver's dry climate wood needs to be treated each and every year and if it is not maintained it will start to look very bad, whatever finish will start to fail and it just looks horrible. As for flagstone, brick pavers, etc. in the beginning these look great, however if they are not maintained the substraight tends to heave and change over time giving way to very uneven surface over time.

Concrete has many uses in the commercial property world and is definitely not among the highest priced options compared to other building materials. If you manage a commercial property and are considering concrete, depending on the application most flat work will run around $6.00 - $7.00 per square foot installed. This does not include preparation or any kind of demolition that might need to be completed in preparation for the new install.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Stamped Concrete Expensive?

Image
The average price for simple colored and stamped concrete is $8.00 - $12.00 per sqft. This "wood finish" patio is completely made of concrete. So, stamped concrete can be relatively inexpensive. You can get very basic stamped concrete as a new installation for as low as $12.00 per/sqft. This of course does not include any other decorative finishes that the customer might like to have installed (i.e. lighting, saw cuts, borders, etc). So, a very basic colored and stamped patio could go for even lower if the colors chosen were lighter and more neutral, with a very basic stamp could be done as low as $8.00 per/sqft. So, compared to basic concrete (grey concrete), stamped concrete can be almost as reasonably priced. The price of stamped concrete really depends on three different aspects of the project: Is the concrete going to be colored? If you will be adding color to the concrete (most stamped concrete does make use of colored concrete) than this will ...
Read more

Small Extension for Concrete Patio in Lowry (Smaller Projects)

Image
Denver Concrete Inc., was hired to excavate, form and install an extension on this already existing patio. The total extension to be added is 11' x 1.5'. Perhaps one of the most frustrating things about approaching any concrete contractor in Denver is talking with them ( concrete contractor ) about smaller projects. Our team at Denver Concrete Inc handles smaller projects a little differently, we know and understand that sometimes a small extension or small concrete section replacement is all that is needed. Unfortunately when it comes to smaller projects, many concrete contractors have pretty significant "project minimums" making smaller concrete project too high-priced to consider. In the case of Denver Concrete Inc, we also have project minimums. Our project minimum is $1,500.00. So for most projects you would want to have a project around at least 100 sq ft to make sense of the project minimum. Regardless, we do consider projects that are smaller and esp...
Read more

Stamped Concrete Project Highlands Ranch

Image
This project was completed at the end of last season (July 2018). The customer wanted to replace the existing deck with a stamped concrete patio. Not only was the deck to be torn out and replaced with a slate colored and textured patio, but the patio was going to extend around the side of the house where eventually a hot tub would reside. The new proposed concrete patio would have two new landings that would be formed and poured at each of the back entries (one sliding rear door as well as one other regular door) with half-moon landings and steps that would land onto the patio. A couple of challenges with the project is that there is limited access to the back yard with equipment, so this means that the grading of the new patio would need to be completed with out the use of heavy equipment. Additionally there would be some other "regular concrete" that needs to be poured and finished same day, so the colored concrete for the patio would have to be added into the batch aft...
Read more