If you are going to install a concrete driveway you have to make sure that you put in expansion joints. These are necessary because concrete expands and contracts depending on the temperature. If your driveway was one big slab it would crack, the expansion joints prevent this from happening by giving the concrete room to expand. Installing expansion joints is fairly easy if you know what you are doing and have the right tools.
The first thing that you have to do in order to install expansion joints in your concrete driveway is to determine where they are needed.
As a general rule you are going to want to limit each section of concrete to being no bigger than a 4 foot by six foot slab. This however requires a lot of expansion joints and most people think that it destroys the look of the driveway. You can get around this problem by using steel grids to strengthen the concrete which means that you can have bigger sections. If you do this your best bet is to put one expansion joint down the center and then have them going horizontally every six to eight feet.
It is also important to realize that how closely you need to space your expansion joints will depend on the concrete that you are using.
High quality concrete is much stronger than low quality concrete and it does not need as many expansion joints. It is therefore a good idea to ask your concrete supplier how many expansion joints they recommend for their product.
When it comes time to actually install the expansion joints there are basically two options that you can use. The first is to put wooden slats in between each section of concrete. These slats will then need to be removed once the concrete is hard enough that it will not flow in and fill the slats.
In order to make sure that you can get the slats out you will need to spray them with a releasing agent that keeps the concrete from sticking to them. This approach makes it easier to ensure that your expansion joints are straight but it does take more time because of all the prep work that is involved. It also offers the disadvantage of requiring quite a bit of wood which adds to the expense of your driveway.
The other option that you have for putting in expansion joints is to simply use your trowel while you are smoothing the surface.
To do this as soon as you have poured the concrete and smoothed the surface you will want to take your trowel and make the joints. The big issue that you will have here is making sure that they are straight, it is usually best to run a piece of string from on side of the driveway to the other attached to wooden spikes along the edge of the driveway that you can follow to stay in a straight line. The other big thing is to make sure that you get your joints to the right depth, they should be a quarter of the thickness of the slab. So if you have a four inch slab you need your expansion joints to go down 1 inch.
Showing posts with label stamped concrete driveway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stamped concrete driveway. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
What is a Patterned Concrete Driveway?
A patterned concrete driveway, also known as a pattern imprinted concrete driveway is simple a driveway that allows for unique design options. You can get your driveway poured so that it has almost any design that you could you possibly want. This gives you a lot of options when it comes to the look of your driveway which is what makes this option so appealing.
Most driveways are made of either asphalt or concrete and while they may be very functional they are not exactly the most attractive of options. In the past if you wanted to use more elaborate design you had to go with bricks or paving stones. This approach allowed you to design the driveway that you want but it did come at the expense of durability, driveways made out of bricks or paving stones generally don’t last very long. A patterned concrete driveway allows you to get the look of stone with the durability of concrete.
The way that patterned concrete works is that it is poured in the same way as any other concrete would be. However there are coloring agents that can be applied to the concrete while it is drying. This allows you to have certain parts of the driveway a certain color which gives you a great many design options. Several different colors can be used so that that you can have some very elaborate designs.
The next step in the process of building a patterned concrete driveway is to apply a release agent. This is done so that the concrete will not stick to the imprint mats. However in many cases there is also a dye that is mixed with the release agents. This allows for additional color tones to be included in the design of the driveway.
Once the release agent has been applied the next step is to put the imprint mats on the driveway. This is what will actually create the desired design in the concrete. The mats are basically moulds that have the desired shape in them. They are placed on the surface and then tapped down so that they are firmly in place. The concrete will take about three or four days to dry at which point the mats will be removed.
After the mats have been removed the concrete is given a good wash down and then a sealant is applied to protect the surface. This is really all there is to creating a patterned driveway. While the process is simple in theory in practice it takes a great deal of skill to do, especially if you are looking for an elaborate design.
A patterned concrete driveway is not really something that you can do yourself. The skills involved take some real effort to learn. In addition the imprint mats are very expensive; they are not worth buying for a one time job. Therefore even though it may be possible to do a simple design on your own you will almost have to hire a professional to pour your patterned concrete driveway.
Most driveways are made of either asphalt or concrete and while they may be very functional they are not exactly the most attractive of options. In the past if you wanted to use more elaborate design you had to go with bricks or paving stones. This approach allowed you to design the driveway that you want but it did come at the expense of durability, driveways made out of bricks or paving stones generally don’t last very long. A patterned concrete driveway allows you to get the look of stone with the durability of concrete.
The way that patterned concrete works is that it is poured in the same way as any other concrete would be. However there are coloring agents that can be applied to the concrete while it is drying. This allows you to have certain parts of the driveway a certain color which gives you a great many design options. Several different colors can be used so that that you can have some very elaborate designs.
The next step in the process of building a patterned concrete driveway is to apply a release agent. This is done so that the concrete will not stick to the imprint mats. However in many cases there is also a dye that is mixed with the release agents. This allows for additional color tones to be included in the design of the driveway.
Once the release agent has been applied the next step is to put the imprint mats on the driveway. This is what will actually create the desired design in the concrete. The mats are basically moulds that have the desired shape in them. They are placed on the surface and then tapped down so that they are firmly in place. The concrete will take about three or four days to dry at which point the mats will be removed.
After the mats have been removed the concrete is given a good wash down and then a sealant is applied to protect the surface. This is really all there is to creating a patterned driveway. While the process is simple in theory in practice it takes a great deal of skill to do, especially if you are looking for an elaborate design.
A patterned concrete driveway is not really something that you can do yourself. The skills involved take some real effort to learn. In addition the imprint mats are very expensive; they are not worth buying for a one time job. Therefore even though it may be possible to do a simple design on your own you will almost have to hire a professional to pour your patterned concrete driveway.
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