|
Q. We need to resurface our driveway and I seek your advice about what substance you think to be the most durable and attractive. I had been considering stamped concrete. Do you have advice about whether this lasts. I’ve heard it can crack. Thanks for your help.
A. The factors that impact durability of any paving material most are the qualities of the both the materials and the workmanship of installation. The most durable material for paving-- if done right-- is also the more expensive and that would be concret e. Asphalt paving is the most common due to its relative lower cost and it is a material that performs well but has to be maintained with sealcoating from time to time to prevent breaking up from freeze/thaw cycling. Plus,a freshly sealcoated driveway lo oks great.
Like a good paint job, close attention to details of preparation make all the difference in the finished product. When you discuss the job with any prospective paving contractor be sure such things as base materials and thicknesses and compaction of base materials are discussed. If your driveway is in need of replacement it’s probably due to a less than proper initial installation. I’ve seen blacktop driveways less than three inches thick placed directly over marginal soils that fell apart in just a cou ple of years. By then any warranty claims would fall on deaf ears.
Stamped concrete a decade or so ago was a west coast oddity. I’d see specialty articles about it occasionally in trade publications but recently it has become an industry staple. Stamped concrete normally has a color cast into it so the finished product mimics cobble stones, brick or any of a variety of attractive surfaces. Las Vegas is literally covered in stamped, colored and textured concrete as a relatively inexpensive but good looking and durable walking surface. Seeing that degree of use tells us it’s a product and technique worthy of consideration.
As for cracking, all concrete is going to crack so the trick is to control where it happens and in doing that the job will look like it was intended to do what it does. The purpose of steel wire mesh and fiberglass fibers used with concrete are for crack control. Those joint lines you see struck in concrete slabs, sidewalks and driveways often referred to as expansion joints are really control joints. They are placed there to encourage the concrete, which shrinks ever so slightly as it cures, to crack i n the joint and not out in the broad, finished surface field.
The trick to placing a good control joint is that it be at least one third as deep as the slab is thick. On big jobs you’ll see workers using big walk behind motorized concrete saws cutting the joints in after the pour and finish set. Stamped concrete ca n disguise the location of control joints nicely losing them in the pattern.
Q. Is there anything that can be done to porcelain tile on the shower floor to give it a "shinier" appearance? Our floor is just a few months old and looks great while wet, but when dry, it has a "chalky" appearance.
A. I think what you are seeing is a texture imparted to the tile surface during manufacture as a non-skid surface when wet. If you put a truly glazed tile on the floor of a shower it wouldn’t be long before someone would slip and fall hurting themselves . Slippery tub and tile surfaces caused lots of lacerations and broken bones over the years. You still find glazed tub bottoms and floor tiles in service in older home which gave rise to using the rubber shower mats with the little suction cups on one si de so folks could stand in the tub and shower safely.