Concrete Driveways or Lawns? Protect Them While You Can!
Concrete Driveways or Lawns? Protect them while you can!
Most of our driveways and pavements around lawns are built of concrete- a material which people around the world make extensive use of. A survey conducted in 2006 revealed that approximately 7.5 cubic kilometers of concrete is made every year! More so, concrete provides immense strength and endurance to the driveways or lawns, thereby raising their durability and longevity. However, despite the innumerable amount of uses that concrete is put to, it does suffer the disadvantage of being exposed to a few damages. It is thus considerably better to protect your driveway and lawns while you still can!
Types of Damage:
While working with concrete, not only its qualities but also the damage modes of its workability should be kept in mind. These include the following-
Fire-
Generally, considering concrete to be a material with low thermal conductivity, it is used for the process of fireproofing in most homes. What is not known is the fact that concrete itself is a material which may be damaged by fire! Up till a temperature of 300 degrees concrete can prevent itself from being harmed, but after that it begins to shrink and loose its property of thermal conductivit.
Expansion-
Aggregates are used as a basic ingredient in the formation of concrete. These aggregates, over time undergo gradual expansion by reacting with various other elements- including something as mild as water! Due to this, cracks begin to develop, destroying the very structure.
Corrosion-
On being exposed to water, concrete corrodes over time. This happens primarily as water materials collide with concrete and cause damage. Corrosion may also occur by means of bacteria, especially the anaerobic bacteria which initially might not affect the substance but later they may cause it to react and corrode.
Chemical damage-
By a chemical reaction which occurs between different ingredients and the outside environment via the process of carbonation or oxidation, substances like chlorides and sulfates are released. These substances have the capability of leaching the concrete and causing it to develop cracks.
Physical damage-
Be it while casting, shuttering, de-shuttering or leveling, concrete at each and every stage is susceptible to physical damage. This type of damage is purely incidental and need not happen at all, if adequate care regarding the same is taken. Thereby, being avoidable, physical damages must be prevented.
With such damages, a few curative measures need to be taken to help prevent the ones which can be stopped. For damages which occur over time, there is no prevention, but there are a number of cures which may assist in reducing these ones intended. It is time to seek professional help and preserve the integrity of the driveway, lawn and pavement around your house! After all, maintaining outer strength is as important as maintaining inner décor!
