Ask Jeeves Answer - who can I hire in houston to build my driveway?

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Ask Jeeves Answer - who can I hire in houston to build my patio?

Ask Jeeves Answer - who can I hire in houston to build my patio?

Stamped Concrete Houston > Stamped Concrete > Houston Patterned Concrete > Decorative Concrete >Texas, tx, Decorative patios and Stamped Concrete patios,

Stamped Concrete Houston > Stamped Concrete > Houston Patterned Concrete > Decorative Concrete >Texas, tx, Decorative patios and Stamped Concrete patios"Stamped concrete pricing and stamped concrete costs are a viable alternative to a natural slate
or stone application. Stamped Concrete is concrete that is patterned to resemble brick, slate,
flagstone, stone, tile- and even wood. In this section you will see how stamped concrete can be
used to beautify pool decks, driveways, entries and courtyards, and patios. Desire a faux finish?
Exotic faux polished concrete is now at your fingertips if you call us now...

Due to the wide array of patterns and colors available, and the cost of stamped concrete in
relation to the materials stamped concrete is a substitute for, the choice of stamped concrete is
becoming more popular and frequent.

Colors and patterns for stamped concrete are often chosen to blend with other stone or tile
elements at the residence. Complex houston landscaping designs incorporating steps,
courtyards, and fountains can be achieved. Stamped concrete can also be blended with other
decorative concrete elements such as exposed aggregate finishes and acid-etch and engraved
stained flooring.

Many homeowners don�t realize that a stamped concrete patio is a viable landscape option � and
one that costs less than other patio materials. Landscaping Houston Homes can be elegant with a
distinguished decorative driveway or walkway, Houston Landscape companies generally sub out
their concrete work so now homeowners can go to the SOURCE!

�People don�t know anything about it. Then they see stamped concrete in a magazine and they
have to have it.�

�Juan Torres, AAA Affordable Contractors

A form of ",:

Patios > Stamped concrete Patios > Decorative Concrete Patios

Patios > Stamped concrete Patios > Decorative Concrete Patios
Stamped Concrete has been around for many years. Over the years the creative mason artisans that have articulated this fine art
have infused concrete casting and science into the most innovative & elegant flooring on the market today.

Chemically engineering the concrete to simulate brick, stone, slate, cobblestone and even wood is an integral part of any decorative
concrete project.

If these consequential variables are not encompassed into the stamped concrete equation the result can be a finish that will be
noticeably artificial not to mention antonymous to the purpose of installing stamped concrete versus the natural stone or slate
appearance intended.

A synthetic slate, cobble or flagstone stamped concrete patio for instance will be just like its natural counterpart in virtually every way.
This includes the same basic geological structure, chemical composition, colors, and other characteristics. Many times the synthetic
slate or cobblestone patio will fool even seasoned masons. Only minor characteristics allow separation of a synthetic slate or cobble
stamped concrete from the natural materials.

The rationalization of the maintenance free characteristics of a synthetic reinforced stamped concrete floor, patio or driveway
compared to installing the actual natural stone materials is that the stones will require continuous maintenance and requires a
reinforced concrete sub-base that will drive the cost up an average 32% to 41% more than using the elegant, ever-lasting and
distinguished decorative concrete systems available by a few very select companies in the USA.

The cost differential of decorative concrete versus plain concrete is about 38% higher: "

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Stamped Concrete,Decorative Concrete,Concrete Patios,Concrete Driveways,Concrete Information Database,Houston - Texas -Check out over 170 pages of information, products and services on Houston Stamped Concrete Construction - a consumers comprehensive guide to Stamped Concrete Houston Texas - Installations and quality service

Patios - Stamped concrete Patios > Decorative Concrete Patios

Patios > Stamped concrete Patios > Decorative Concrete Patios

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1-Affordable Concrete Contractors of Houston Texas

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Houston's most exotic custom decorative concrete patios - We want to thank the people of Houston Texas for our continued success and tremendous growth over the last 20 years and for nominating us as National Decorative Concrete Contractors of the year, 2005

Stamped Concrete Houston Texas

Stamped Concrete Houston Texas - As the areas most prominent Decorative Concrete Contractor we take pride in our Certified Stamped Concrete Artisans that specialize in strictly Decorative Concrete Applications including Concrete Stamping, Concrete Molding, Concrete Textures, Decorative Concrete Borders, Stamped Concrete Antiquing, Concrete Engraving, Concrete Stenciling, Concrete Etching, Concrete Acid Stain Applications, Faux Concrete Finishes, Faux cement applications, Cement Staining, Houston Stamped Concrete & Concrete patio Installations, Concrete Walkway Installations, Concrete Driveway Installation and Decorative Concrete Foundations..(Call us before you build)

To view our

Houston stamped concrete projects just click on this link to be taken to our decorative concrete photo gallery and click on Residential or Commercial

Pavers - Houston Interlocking Paver Contractors > Home Depot

Pavers - Houston Interlocking Paver Contractors > Home Depot - Considering Pavers? - Check out your options.....If you live in Texas you better think again because the unstable soil in this region will require a paver installation to be regularly maintained by constantly releveling the pavestones, applying more stablized sand, re-compacting, stocking up on ant and weed killer not to mention the cost factor.
Stamped Concrete is much more affordable, Elegant and prestigous than bricks set in sand could ever be. Ashlar slate stamped concrete or European cleft slate stamped concrete can add elegance to any home with zero maintenance. For those "old school" customers we also offer competitive paver installations for the knuckle heads that insist on bricks set into a sand base....:)

Home Designs & Feng Shui Concrete Design ~ Landscaping ideas

Home Designs & Feng Shui Concrete Design ~ Landscaping ideas

Building a Concrete Driveway > Do it yourself? > International Driveway Specifications

Building a Concrete Driveway > Do it yourself? > International Driveway Specifications - If your in the market for a new driveway and you live in Houston,Texas or any part of South Texas then you
might want to catch up on the latest engineered specifications criteria for building a reinforced Concrete
Driveway designed specifically for our soil condition parameters in this region of the country.



Our Stamped
Concrete Patio
Video Gallery


Pouring a slab? Use
our online concrete mix
optimization tools


While your removing your old driveway, dig down 8" deeper and remove the black soil.
Distribute 6" of crushed concrete, granite or gravel and machine pack the sub base to a
minimum 90% compaction of uniform density and thickness.

Once you;ve compacted your sub-base then distribute clean washed sand a minimum 2"
deep. Mist the sand with water as you machine vibra-plate the sand to a minimum 95%
compaction of soil uniform density and thickness.

Set your forms up for your new driveway 12 ft apart for a single car
driveway and 24 ft apart if you want a two car driveway. The Concrete
needs to be 6" thick to meet national building codes requiring that all
steel reinforcement encased with concrete a minimum 3". (to prevent
hydrostatic expansion deterioration. Where the driveway meets the
street you'll need to make the radius a minimum 48". Incert 18" dowels
#5 rebar rods into the street @ 24" on center with epoxy -
maintain an exposure of 9"

Measure 10' ft back from the street and install an expansion joint as per city municipality
building codes. This section of concrete drive needs to have #4 steel Rebar rods spaced
12" apart each way forming a grid that is placed on 3" chairs. All dowels must be a min 9"
(preferably 12" overlap) Tie these grids into you drilled into the street, (3" below
elevation).

If your neighborhood has a sidewalk running through your driveway then you will need to
match the width (48" and incert your form for your sidewalk closest to your residence level,
while the form closest to the street needs to have a 1/8" per ft fall.

Your curb and gutter needs to be formed up to continue across uninhibited. The depth
of the curb and gutter should be 12" deep by 16" wide with cont reinforcement.

At this point your ready to install your #3 steel rods in your driveway spaced 15" apart on
center each way and placed on 3" chairs to maintain the 3" encasement.

Now your ready to order concrete. Call a ready mix company (preferably Metro Concrete
if you live in Houston, they don't "cut" the Portland cement with fly ash like many of the
ready mix companies are beginning to do).

You'll need to order 1" gravel aggregate with 7 sacks of pure Portland per cubic yard
concrete with a maximum 4" slump. Once the concrete arrives on site you will need to
measure the concrete temperature. It is well known that the chemical reaction of cement
with water is exothermic and liberates a considerable quantity of heat during the curing
period. When cement, water, stone and sand are mixed together, a chemical reaction
starts. This is between the cement paste and water. In this curing process, the volume of
the slab, and the inner pressure/strain exerted on the rebar will change in a fashion that
depends on the composition of the concrete mixture.

The curing process is affected by the water to cement ratio, the curing
temperature, humidity and the type of cement. Hydration is responsible
for the hardening (strength) of the concrete. For concrete, the gain in
strength continues for a long time, and theoretically for an indefinite
period of time. However, the strength of the concrete reaches a peak
within 7days. During this process something else happens. Water in
the concrete mixture will evaporate, resulting in a decrease in the volume of the concrete.
The volume of concrete also decreases due to re-arrangement of finer particles within the
larger ones. The different proportions of cement, water, air entrainements, admixtures
and sand will bring about different temperatures, pressure and strain variations within the
concrete slab as well. The result of the volume change is strain, also known as shrinkage
strain, and this is responsible for some small cracks that may appear after the curing
process of an improperly optimized concrete mix, also aggrevating the thermal stresses
induced during the curing process may cause cracks within the structure, thus weakening
it.

The maximum optimum temperature of the concrete cannot exceed 40.2 °C. The
temperature change measured within the concrete follows the same trend as the ambient
air and surface temperatures surrounding the slab but with a larger change in the initial
stage and tailing off to the ambient temperature with increasing time. Adjust air
entrainment and tri-calcium silicate admixture proportions according to the absorption
component properties criteria.

The barometric pressure variables and humidity criteria need to be calibrated into the
optimization performance variables table (provided by a www.concreteforever.com on site
project manager) prior to the pour by a qualified engineer or by a one of the qualified
Concreteforever.com technicians, as this will determine the performance criteria and the
optimum amounts of air entrainment and bi-calcium silicates admixtures required to
optimize the mix according to these variables

Now that you've optimized your concrete mix you are ready to pour the cement.
Screeding the cement off must be done with an .o24 min aluminum professional grade
concrete screed 2x4 and NOT a wood 2x4. (wooden 2x4 will flex and bow causing
undesirable surface variations). Plus we will laugh you off the job-site if we catch you!

Float the surface with magnesium floats and texture with a horse hair broom resulting in
a fine textured finish that will be slip free.

If a stamped concrete finish is desired then our SCI certified Stamped Concrete
Technicians should perform all texturing, stamping & concrete mix optimizations.


"If you made it way down here then you must be spinning by now from all the specs.....give
us a call and we'll install your upcoming exotic concrete driveway at an affordable price!"


article written by D. Hunt


Concrete Pricing
Update


Acid Stained
Flooring


Custom
Driveways


Building a
Concrete Patio


Design
Considerations


Custom
Waterscapes


What is Stamped
Concrete?







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