One of the most dreaded things about winter is its damaging effects on concrete. This can be a costly and frustrating problem, but it doesn’t have to be! 

There are numerous easy ways to help avoid concrete cracks this winter. Follow these steps to prepare your driveway or other concrete slabs for the cold months ahead.

Seal your concrete surfaces 

In winter months when snowfall and low temperatures freeze the top of your concrete, frost damage can occur if they are not sealed. Sealing your concrete protects the surface and makes it easier to remove any ice as well. 

Remove debris

Regularly scraping away any leaves that fall onto your concrete as the seasons change is vital to protecting your driveway or other concrete fixtures. Leaves and other organic matter will prevent your concrete from getting the proper exposure to sunlight it needs in order to avoid freezing.

Repair any damaged concrete

If your concrete has become damaged or is already cracking, you need to take care of it as soon as possible. 

Cracked concrete exposed to freezing temperatures can cost thousands of dollars to replace and is likely to continue deteriorating over time if you do not repair it before temperatures continue to drop. 

Be sure to inspect all areas of your property that have concrete. It is possible that your gazebo, deck, or walkway might need replacement too.

Be careful with salt 

Using too much salt as a melting agent can actually damage your concrete, causing it to become brittle and more likely to crack. It should only be used in moderation. Fortunately, in Louisiana, this shouldn’t be too much of a concern for us. 

If you follow these steps, you can avoid the nightmare of having to replace cracked concrete this winter season. Don’t wait another day to start protecting your concrete. 

With the Louisiana weather being as unpredictable as it has been the past couple of years, there’s no telling what this winter will bring. Start taking steps to protect your driveway now and contact Port Aggregates for assistance. We look forward to helping you keep your concrete safe this winter!

The post Avoiding Concrete Cracks in the Winter: How to Prepare Your Concrete appeared first on Port Aggregates.

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Women in South Asia have long been doing intense physical labor in building sites and brick industries for relatively low pay. And, yet it is discouraging to be a part of a heavily male-dominated construction industry. Whenever I passed by a construction site, I felt powerless and afraid of the tools that men carried effortlessly, as if to prove that gender disparity in the labor market exists for a reason. In other words, the construction world felt unattainable in all its toughness.

Image Source: Women at work © The Record Nepal

As an aspiring architect, the dichotomy between architecture and construction seems nonsensical, particularly in the ever-evolving realm of sustainable architecture, where prototyping and experimenting are at the core of design processes. There is also an assumption that architects are above construction workers – a dynamic that sustains social and class imbalance. While there are many structures to criticize about, luckily, there are also associations like Critical Concrete who facilitate three-weeks of intense, hands-on workshops to understand the material, building techniques, and teamwork as part of the post-graduation course in sustainable architecture. The workshop positively shifted my perspective of the construction industry and further expanded my own personal boundaries.

“Let’s get our hands dirty!” architect Hanno Burtscher, instructed a team of ten women who came from different professional backgrounds, race, and geographical locations. Hanno introduced himself as an earthman, with an Austrian sense of humor, quick wit, and great teaching style, he grouped students in pairs to use all four senses except for sight to identify the local materials used for raw earth construction. This is how the welcome ceremony to the workshop began and it had already set a higher bar for the rest of the workshop. The joy of sharing stories moved the conversation from endless banter about cheese and food to serious topics like what sustainable construction means and how the uncertainty during the time of pandemic has affected our lives. In short, the day exuded a sense of togetherness. 

*Sketch by Charlotte Schneider, Alumni, Post Graduation 2020-2021

WEEK 1 | RAW EARTH CONSTRUCTION | HANNO BURTSCHER

The first week of the workshop was a battle – a battle to make proper earth mix to build a heated earthen bench and flooring for the kitchen at Critical Concrete. From the start, we learned that the key components of earth mix are clay, small gravel (0-5 mm), big gravel (5-15 mm), sand (0-4 mm), and water.

Most of us were already aware of the composition elements through our Raw Earth online course, but what made the difference in the practical workshop was the experimentation and improvisation in the mixing process since the excavation materials were available in limited amounts. The question constantly surfaced during the workshop – how do we make the most use of what is available around us? And this was a revelation in itself because theoretically, we learn the ratio – 40% of excavation, 20% of small gravel, 20% of big gravel, 20% of clay, and water – to achieve the desired mix. 

In practice, however, there had to be adjustments in the ratio based on the materials that were available to us. The way we integrated the composite materials together also made a big difference in the quality of the earth mix. So, at times we had to find creative ways of using what was available to us.

“While nearing the end of the earth mix for the floor, we ran out of the large size rocks. My typical mindset is to say, “Let’s just go buy more.” However, with the mindset of Critical Concrete to use what we already have, we were not going to buy more. To finish the mix, we scrounged throughout the construction yard looking for proper sized rocks and were able to get the right volume,” Mary shared her experience. And this was the general experience during the workshop – how to find sustainable solutions when we hit a roadblock.

In our earliest days of the workshop, we dropped a fist-sized earth mix balls from 1 meter height to see whether they stuck together or crumbled. We concluded that the ball should drop in larger pieces rather than completely shattering or sticking together. If it’s too sticky, either the clay or water content is too high which will result in a mixture that won’t be suitable to create a form. The same logic applies for the dry mixture as well. After a process of trial and error, we realized that there was no concrete recipe to achieve the perfect mix. But there were a number of factors that determined the quality of the mix. One of them is the clay content, which is normally 20 percent in total but depending on the situation, it could range from 5 – 30 percent. The purpose of the clay is to bind the materials but the more surface area we have in the mix, the more clay we require, from which we can derive that the smaller the surface area of excavation, the higher clay content would be required to bind it. Simple physics!

Many construction sites are not inviting spaces for women. Women’s work is often considered too frivolous to the degree that they are rendered valueless in the number-driven capitalist economic system. During the workshop, this dynamic was challenged. A team of mostly women and Hanno prepared the foundation for raw earth flooring and built the formwork for the bench. As I was lifting heavy stones and using power tools, I occupied a space that was not ‘normalized’ for women. I quickly realized that the problem wasn’t these too feminine, delicate hands but rather it was the devaluation of women’s work that put women in confinement of patriarchal ideas.

“We either put 100 percent into this or we don’t do it at all,” Hanno remarked while we were putting earth mix into the form work. The workshop was fueled by this exact mindset but was also filled with laughter and leisure in between our hard work. Overall, during the first week with Hanno, he guided us by observing the way we were interpreting the materials. We were able to experiment with the materials and make decisions based on our judgement.

Week 2 | Esposende Building Site | Hugo Dourado, Pietro

Degli Esposti, Martina Eandi

Esposende was roughly a forty-minute drive away from the city of Porto. And when the drive is long, conversations of past, present, and future start bouncing around.

“How do you say it?” Bara from Czech Republic asked.

“Vastu Shastra,” I repeated.

“And that means harmony of energy through design? That is how I would like to design the interior of my place one day,” remarked Charly from Germany. 

The conversation moved in such a way during the Esposende trip. The practical workshop as a part of the post graduation course merged people with similar ideologies, dreams, and passion of bringing social and political change through architecture and urban planning. The workshop also meant more than fulfilling a part of the course. Some of us had flown miles away leaving their usual life to come to Portugal to venture in a new journey.

*Sketch by Charlotte Schneider, Alumni, Post Graduation 2020-2021

The building site was under construction, so there were different tasks that the students could choose from such as fixing the board and batten cladding system, wood charring station, tiling the roof, or constructing a rocket stove.

The name rocket stove in itself made me curious. On top of that, I had also done some research on rocket stoves in one of the Participatory Design courses. I started my second week with Pietro, our Raw Earth course instructor and Martina, Mycelium course instructor, to complete the stove that could be used for both cooking and heating the entire house.

The making of the rocket stove involved lots of earth mix, it didn’t involve knowing rocket science at all. First, a stone wall had to be built to lay an exhaust pipe with an inclination of 30 degrees. The purpose of this was to carry the smoke from the rocket stove out of the house. For the stone wall, we prepared Argamassa (mortar) to attach stones of many sizes together and this alone took days to finish. As soon as the wall was completed, we started to make the exterior of the rocket stove with earth mix. The earth mix was ¼ part lime, 2 ½ part excavation, and ½ part straw. Since we were working with materials that were locally available, the excavation we were using included large stones. We wanted the mix to be a combination of lime, earth, and straw, so we sieved the stones out.

At times building with raw earth felt like cooking, in a sense that there is a process to achieve the result. You cannot skip a part to make the process faster, there is a procedure that you must follow otherwise the mix will not be suitable for construction. Therefore, while making the earth mix, it is important to completely let lime and excavation combine before putting any water. Once lime and excavation are completely mixed, giving off a grey-brown color, you slowly add water and straw to make a mixture. We used the cob technique to compress and compact fist sized balls, smashing it to attach them onto the pre-existing walls.

Slap slap slap!! We were hitting the earth mix on the side with a board to pack it down together. Another important thing that Pietro shared with us was that the cob technique allows us to build 30 cm per day. Since the earth mix is massive and wet, it needs time to dry and be compacted to build another layer on top of it. To keep the layers of earth mix interconnected, we created a vertebra-like structure at the end.

​​The rocket stove workshop made me realize how earth as a material is flexible. I could mold it in any shape I wanted and working on it with hands felt therapeutic. With the rocket stove, we were trying to achieve a dome shaped exterior to give it a character of its own. We molded the earth mix into long tiny sausages to create a curve on the upper part of the stove. It was interesting to see how earth could be shaped into any form with the right formwork which is also one of the big advantages of working with this natural material.

Life on Site

The Esposende building site was located between the ocean and mountains. In the early morning, you could see the tip of the mountains covered in fog and in the late afternoon during those early hot, summer days, you could see the blue ocean in the distance. With our cup of coffee that the Critical Concrete team prepared for us every morning, the day started with division of tasks and the students always got to pick first which task they wanted to be involved in.

After our coffee we all got into the groove and the site came to life again. Some of us were carrying heavy stones, using power tools, hanging on the roof putting tiles while others were listening carefully to what Hugo, our Vernacular Architecture course instructor, with immense knowledge and a sense of perfection, had to teach about board and batten cladding systems. It was fascinating to observe how everybody worked individually and in teams and clearly I wasn’t the only one who thought this. The neighbors in Esposende would walk by observing, commenting on our work, with their hands clasped behind their backs!

“It’s called umarell in Italian,” Linda shared jokingly.

Apparently, in Italian slang, umarell is when elderly people gather to observe construction sites and comment on how to do the work, often with holding their hands behind their back.

I became a umarell when it came to food. The Critical Concrete team prepared big batches of healthy, colorful vegan food during lunch time and we would all observe in awe. The variety of food made from simple ingredients that Critical Concrete provided us inspired me to be creative with food that we eat on a day-to-day basis. How many times do we actually think about eating in a sustainable manner? How do we creatively use leftover food in our diet? These questions among many others helped me unlearn and learn new ways of looking at sustainability.

Week 3 | Furniture Workshop | Samuel Kalika

I noticed how different building materials can be. Whereas with raw earth, exactness is not so important, with wood each millimeter is important. Building beautiful furniture requires many steps, patience, and exactness,” Viviana shared. After working with flexible material like earth, wood seemed like unlocking a whole different dimension. Samuel, our Participatory Design course instructor, understood this well and he made our work easier by giving us instructions on every powerful tool we were using.

Precision was the key. While cutting wood, if it’s 1 cm off, what could we do? We could not undo a cut once it was made neither could we adjust it, so a big part of the furniture workshop was to find a solution on the spot. We used many different tools to achieve the desired finish and construction: a universal machine to obtain desired thickness, sizes, flatness, and straight surfaces; the meter saw; the sander. Gradually the counters for the kitchen in Esposende house began to take shape. “As soon as I started approaching the work, I understood the importance of being precise in all the small details. Once we developed a good flow in the process, the work became easier and faster,” commented participant Linda Tonin.

*Sketch by Charlotte Schneider, Alumni, Post Graduation 2020-2021

While trying to achieve precision, mistakes are bound to occur but this is part of the learning process and that made the experience lighter and took away the fear of judgment. 

“To assemble the pieces, in particular for the bigger elements, we set up a strategy, naming the pieces of wood and measuring the different thicknesses needed for the joining beams. Since different people worked on the cutting process, sometimes the joints’ holes had different sizes. We took these mistakes as an occasion to add different colors of wood to fill the spaces: the mistakes, at the end, added aesthetic value to the furniture pieces,” Linda reflected.

REFLECTION

During the whole workshop, each one of us were sharing our experience of working in different environments. We were trying to understand what our preferences are, what materials, tools we like to use, and which instructors’ teaching style catered to our learning approach.

“Beyond the excitement, time passing and the verge to finish, it was necessary to maintain a safe working space, making sure you and everyone around is comfortable and don’t cause any danger. Having this in mind, I learned how to remain calm and careful with all the tasks, machines and my colleagues. This atmosphere brought a lot of awareness and future-thinking into my habits,” Agnieszka described her experience.

“Starting with the fact that the workshop took me out of all my comfort zones, I can say that the first learning was that the “unknown” can be very good. And the learnings went beyond practical. Being in contact with such an international and so human team certainly awakened in me my best version, my confidence in a more correct and viable future and made me reflect and work on my limiting standards. It was definitely a great achievement to be in a healthy work environment,” shared Júlia.

I resonate with both Agnieszka and Júlia. My experience with working in a group was liberating. It taught me how everybody in a team works differently — how each individual works, thinks, coordinates and cooperates while working on a project. On top of that, our group was very diverse, so learning from each one of them and getting to interact with everybody in-person felt special during this uncertain pandemic time. We were able to transfer our expertise and learn from each other’s skills. At the same time, we were a group of women doing construction work, realizing our own potential and that was empowerment in itself.

On a personal note, the workshop also altered my relationship with the construction industry and my perception of emancipated women. Historically, women have existed within the confinement of domestic space therefore women who occupy space outside of the predictable situations are labeled ‘modern’. And if the working conditions are healthy and their work is comparable to the status of a male, they are given recognition and visibility. But are all women able to get the same visibility and prestige as the emancipated, educated women? Women from lower class and caste in South Asia have been working in extreme conditions in construction sites and brick factories out of economic necessity. They have to go through daily work toxicity in a largely male-dominated workplace. While reflecting back on the practical workshop, I realize the utter importance of an equal workplace environment in the labor industry and greater recognition of those women who have paved the way.

The post An SSA student’s perspective on working in construction and practical workshops appeared first on Critical Concrete.

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A lot of you will be familiar with reinforced concrete as a building material, but may not be aware of the finer details. Commercial concrete is often a good solution for building work, we will be discovering a bit more about why this is the case, and the best ways to go about using the material for your building projects.

Everything You Need to Know About Reinforced Concrete

Commercial Concrete

This is concrete used as part of a building project, often used to create or enhance business facilities, industrial buildings, warehouses and retail stores. In an average building, you will find commercial concrete in plenty of spaces, such as the walls, floors and even some architectural details. A large majority of commercial buildings would have been put together with heavy use of commercial concrete. Like domestic concrete it has many benefits when used on a building site, durability being one of the most obvious.

Domestic Concrete

Domestic, or residential concrete usually has less demand placed on it in terms of structural performance and durability, but in itself, it is still considered a durable building material. Domestic concrete floors and pavements usually require a lower strength mix design and lighter reinforcement than commercial concrete.

Concrete Pumps

The purpose of a concrete pump is to have a tool that can convey liquid concrete. This works by having one piston drawing liquid concrete into a cylinder from a hopper while the other piston simultaneously pushes concrete out into discharge pipes. There will be a valve which can determine the cylinder that is open to the concrete hopper and the one which is open to the discharge pipes, which gets switched over each time the pistons reach an endpoint, with the process continuing with the first cylinder now discharging and the second drawing fresh concrete from the hopper.

Concrete Services

If you need to deal with reinforced concrete there are a couple of things that are crucial to consider. You need to make sure that if you are laying the material yourself you know what you are doing with it. You must also make sure that the concrete is of a high-quality standard. You must have the facilities to mix it correctly as well as an appropriate skill/strength level to physically handle it/the required machinery.

Alternatively, you may need to use the services of a professional concrete company, like Base Concrete, to prepare and lay the concrete and get your building project completed. Commercial concrete can be a great asset to all sorts of projects and can be purchased with some very good deals, just make sure you are only ever involved in using the services of professional and trusted companies. It is almost a guarantee that your area will have quite a lot of concrete services operating in your area where you can purchase your desired amounts of commercial concrete or have a service bring around the material and lay it on your behalf.

So, for all your concrete needs, contact Base Concrete today on 01442 389105. For more details, visit our contact page.

The post What is Reinforced Concrete? first appeared on Base Concrete.

You may just see concrete as a flooring option that is a pretty standard arrangement, one that places tend to opt for if they can’t think of a better choice. But some noteworthy reasons make concrete a great choice for flooring, it can elevate a stepping space to the next level… Let us take a look at 6 great benefits of concrete flooring and how it can transform the look of your property.

Strength 

If you know anything about the strengths of concrete, you will know that it’s a very durable mixture indeed. We’re talking about a material that can withstand very high volumes of weight, with strong pressure presenting no issues whatsoever. Heavy equipment and vehicles would not be enough to make a dent on a concrete floor. So a concrete floor can easily take all the foot traffic and moving of furniture that the average household is likely to take part in regularly without any issues!

Long-lasting

This durability means that the concrete will hold up and last for years to come. Especially if the concrete flooring is well looked after and sealed, you can expect it to last for a very long period before it becomes anywhere near being worn down. And even when the texture and colour begin to change with age, a long way down the line, that adds a bit of ‘character’ to the style of the flooring and is not a practical issue unless it actually becomes damaged in any respects.

Plenty of design options

Concrete does seem to be stereotyped as a boring flooring type, but that is quite unfair. Designers have come up with a wide range of options, with absolutely loads of different colour and textual effects to choose from. And don’t forget you can stain or paint the surface of concrete for your desired effects and also opt for other specialities such as polished concretes.

Reasonable 

If you’re cost-conscious, whether you’re looking to purchase domestic concrete or require flooring for office space, it remains one of the more economical options available. The clever aspect is that you can choose a faux floor pattern that resembles the style of a much more expensive flooring type for a fraction of the cost.

Easy to Maintain

Another big benefit of concrete is that it’s very easy to maintain. As mentioned, it will keep even better with a seal of some kind, a protective sealant that should be reapplied every 3-9 months on average. Regular sweeping and mopping will help keep the concrete looking fresh and new, but other than that, not much maintenance is required. Polishing your concrete is also a great way to keep it looking its best.

Good for Indoor and Outdoor

A final benefit of concrete flooring is it’s a reliable choice for both indoors and outdoors, so you can have it set up in your home or garden area.

You should enjoy selecting a great looking concrete flooring style, but there is also an alternative option. Consider hiring a mini concrete mixer which for a very small daily fee can produce your required amounts of concrete from the comfort of your garden! This can work out to be a very affordable way of getting the job done! So, for all your concrete needs, contact Base Concrete today on 01442 389105. For more details, visit our contact page.

The post Why Concrete is a Great Choice for Floors first appeared on Base Concrete.

Lots of people fear using concrete. If it goes wrong, it can be difficult to fix, but for smaller domestic jobs it’s actually a lot easier than many people think. With this guide, we’ll go over the different ways to mix concrete so you can decide what’s best for you when attempting your DIY project.

Concrete Proportions

Concrete has 3 main ingredients. Cement, aggregate, and sand. These ingredients are mixed with water, which when dried out, binds into a solid, very hard material. Depending on what you’re using the concrete for, these can be mixed in different proportions to give you different finishes and strengths.

It’s very important to get these proportions correct. With too much sand, your concrete won’t be hard enough to withstand the test of time. However, too much aggregate and you’ll be rushing to find a way to cover it up and pretend that it isn’t there.

Mixing Methods

In a domestic setting, there are several different approaches you can take to mix your concrete. If you’re happy giving the different proportions a go, you can either do this by hand or by using a mixer. For small scale jobs, mixing by hand can be ideal as it’s easy to keep track of the consistency and see how it’s going. This can often be a good thing to do as a practice if this is your first time. For larger jobs, a concrete mixer can save you hours of time and strength mixing larger amounts of concrete together.

When it comes to domestic concrete, it’s often overlooked that there are some other options also available to you, especially for slightly larger jobs such as concrete bases for sheds, summerhouses and other garden accessories. The main differences between domestic and commercial worksites are space. Often with a commercial worksite, the work will be planned to make these processes as efficient as possible, allowing the concrete mixers to reverse right up to where they’re going. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t utilise similar methods.

Types of Concrete Mixers

There are two main different types of concrete mixer. There are ordinary concrete mixers and also volumetric concrete mixers and both of these have different uses. You’ll likely have seen ordinary concrete mixers or mini mixers driving around quite frequently. These have the advantage of being able to transport one of many different mixes of concrete. Extra ingredients can be added to the concrete at the factory in order to provide different properties such as waterproofing or extra fibres for additional strength. However, this isn’t often needed when it comes to domestic concrete.

The other type of concrete mixer is a volumetric concrete mixer. These are ideal for domestic concrete as you don’t need to worry about having too little or too much. ‘Mix as you go’ concrete mixers contain the raw ingredients needed and as you pour out the concrete will mix it straight away. They also have the added advantage over traditional concrete mixers of being able to supply multiple different mixes of concrete to the same job without having to pay the additional cost of bringing in a second load.

Concrete mixers and volumetric concrete mixers are also a great choice for people taking on DIY projects that don’t want to take the risk of getting the mix wrong. All you’ve got to worry about is where it goes with the extra guarantee of knowing that it will stand the test of time. Thank you for reading this blog post. Should you have any enquiries, feel free to call us on 07812 182778 or visit our contact page for more information.

The post How to Mix Concrete by Hand or in a Mixer first appeared on Base Concrete.