Concrete driveways are growing in popularity, surpassing bitumen, asphalt, or other paving materials. Concrete driveways concrete contractors Knoxville tn are also referred to as concrete driveways, provide various decorative options to make them distinct from other driveway construction techniques. Here, the construction and finishing requirements of concrete driveway construction are briefly explained.
Concrete Driveway construction
The construction of the concrete driveway has to be properly guided by the contractor in charge, in order to obtain the desired finish, quality and durability. Concrete driveway performance and aesthetics depend on the quality of the work and the material used. These are the essentials for a concrete driveway constructed correctly.
Appropriate Subgrade Planning
The subgrade must be laid out to ensure consistency in the soil composition as well as the compaction. This will help give adequate support to the load that is pushed across the driveway.
Selecting the right concrete mix
ASTM C-94 advises using ready-mix concrete in driveways made of concrete since they are a an even concrete mix. Cracks that are random can be avoided by the use of the correct concrete mix.
Placement of Reinforcement
Most of the light-duty driveways are constructed with concrete plainly. In order to increase the structural capacity of the driveway, concrete as well as reinforced concrete driveway contractors Knoxville tn can be used. In areas that have heavy traffic, a reinforced concrete driveway is the ideal choice. Cracks can still be caused by reinforcement. The reinforcement will not stop cracks from forming. However the rebars can hold the cracks in place and prevent them from spreading. Concrete driveway reinforcement is orally in the form of a wire mesh or a grid pattern. Blocks can be positioned underneath the rebars in order to aid in locating reinforcements in the middle of concrete driveway. Nowadays, the use of synthetic fibers as reinforcements are gaining popularity because they help in preventing shrinkage cracks to great extent. They are not utilized as structural reinforcement , but instead as secondary reinforcement along with the steel reinforcement.
Concrete Position
The strength of the concrete driveway is heavily affected by the thickness used. A driveway made of concrete should be at least 4 inches in thickness. A structural increase of 4 to 5 inches can boost the capacity by 50%. This is determined by the specifications and requirements of the driveway.
Concrete Driveways need to be properly finished
It is essential to take care when finishing the concrete driveway. The majority of the time, the work is damaged by overworking the surface or operations that are performed on top of bleeding water.
Properly positioned joints
Control joints that are placed at an appropriate spacing will help to prevent the problems of cracking that occurs randomly. For a driveway made of concrete with 4 inches of thickness the spacing will typically be 10 feet. Cracks that appear randomly are not structural failure issue. However, it can affect the aesthetics of the driveway.
Random cracks can be prevented by eliminating joint patterns with triangular or rectangular sections. The thickness of the control joints must be 1/4th of the thickness of the driveway slab. It is essential to create isolated joints where the driveway intersects other surfaces or garage floor slabs. Before you start construction your driveway, plan your joints.
Adequate Drainage Facility
A well-planned drainage plan for concrete driveways can help to prevent standing water from entering the driveway. Concrete driveway drainage can be done by:
Concrete driveways that slope towards the streets. The side facing existing structures should be high.
If sloping isn't possible the drain should be installed at a lower part of the concrete driveway. This water is then channeled away.
Correct Curing
The curing process is often ignored in most concrete contractor Knoxville tn driveways. Curing is equally important as the other steps. When you finish, it's crucial to cure the surface immediately.