How Do You Maintain Outdoor Concrete?
To All Our Valued Customers, Over the past few years, the Covid 19 Pandemic has forced us to adapt and change the way we do things on a day-to-day basis. Florida Lumber is no exception. To make sure that we remain strong and competitive in the market for the years to come, Florida Lumber has had to adjust and change our vision for the future. In the last 2 years, we have stopped selling Sheetrock and drywall products, roofing felt and roofing materials, and have even closed on Saturdays.
Over the last few months, we have been transitioning our way out of the door supply business so on August 31, 2022, our door shop will stop assembling doors. We will continue liquidating our doors from inventory until we are out of material.
Some customers have asked if we are closing or even moving locations. To set the story straight, we are not closing or selling the business and we are not moving. These changes are all part of our new vision and path to continue serving South Florida and increasing our footprint in the construction supply industry.
Our focus is going to be on Lumber, Construction Materials, Rebar Fabrication and Rebar Accessories. As we have liquidated some of the items that we don’t sell anymore we have created more space to buy a larger volume of our core items and pass on the savings to our customers.
In the next year you will start seeing changes that will help improve our ability to serve you, our customers. We appreciate your business and your patience as Florida Lumber’s new vision becomes reality.
A Todos Nuestros Valiosos Clientes En los ultimos anos, la pandemia de el Virus (Covid 19) nos ha forzado a adaptarnos y cambiar la forma de hacer cosas en el dia a dia. Florida Lumber no ha sido una excepcion.
Para asegurarnos de mantenernos fuertes y competitivos en el mercado en los anos venideros, Florida Lumber ha tenido que ajustar y cambiar nuestra vision para el futuro. En los dos ultimos anos hemos dejado de vender los productos de yeso (sheetrock), paneles de yeso (drywall), tela asfaltica (roofing felt), materiales de techo y cerramos los Sabados. En los ultimos meses, hemos estado en transicion para salir del negocio de suministro de puertas, en Agosto 31, del 2022 nuestra tienda de puertas dejara de construir y/o cortar puertas. Vamos a continuar liquidando nuestro inventario de puertas haste que terminemos todo el material. Algunos de nuestros clientes han preguntado si estamos cerrando o si nos estamos moviendo a otra localidad. La verdad es que no estamos cerrando, no estamos vendiendo y no estamos cambiando de localidad. Estos cambios son todos parte de nuestra nueva vision y camino a continuar sirviendo al estado sur de la Florida y incrementar nuestras huellas en la industria de suministros de construccion.
paneles de yeso (drywall), tela asfaltica (roofing felt), materiales de techo y cerramos los Sabados.
En los ultimos meses, hemos estado en transicion para salir del negocio de suministro de puertas, en Agosto 31, del 2022 nuestra tienda de puertas dejara de construir y/o cortar puertas.
Vamos a continuar liquidando nuestro inventario de puertas haste que terminemos todo el material. Algunos de nuestros clientes han preguntado si estamos cerrando o si nos estamos moviendo a otra localidad.
La verdad es que no estamos cerrando, no estamos vendiendo y no estamos cambiando de localidad. Estos cambios son todos parte de nuestra nueva vision y camino a continuar sirviendo al estado sur de la Florida y incrementar nuestras huellas en la industria de suministros de construcción.
2431 N.W. 20TH ST.
MIAMI, FL 33142
PHONE: (305) 635-6412
Sales Fax: (305) 633-4054
Accounting Fax: (305) 635-3723
Email: sales@tloridalumber.com
Whether you own a tiny backyard patio or a large driveway, you are certainly curious about how to care for your outside concrete to increase its lifespan and maximize your investment. The distinction between concrete that attracts attention and concrete that makes people afraid to walk on can be made by understanding how to maintain concrete. Fortunately, preserving concrete is a straightforward job that you can complete by yourself. By giving your investment the right care and attention throughout the year, you can protect it. Use these ten concrete maintenance suggestions to benefit from our knowledge.
Tips to maintain outdoor concrete
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Know your environment
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Remove Stains Immediately
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Avoiding Destructive Chemicals
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Sealing concrete
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Clean Your Concrete
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Painting and staining concrete
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Check for cracks
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Managing Plant Growth
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Limiting Your Weight
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Apply a fresh finish
1. Know your environment
The varying weather conditions can be damaging to outdoor concrete surfaces, especially in the winter and summer. Concrete surfaces outside can sustain damage, particularly in the summer and winter. If they remain on the surface for too long, snow run-off and spring showers can harm the environment. To avoid water damage you the surface and the foundation, make sure to slope the concrete away from the house. Concrete drying times can be impacted by heat, snow, ice, rain, and ice. Making sure that concrete surfaces slope away from your home is our first piece of advice for safeguarding your investment. By doing this, water won't pool or freeze, which would weaken and harm the concrete.
2. Remove Stains Immediately
Cleaning stains and spills from concrete as soon as they occur is always a good idea even if your concrete sealer will help protect it. For instance, if you see that your automobile has spilled oil on your concrete driveway, clean it up as soon as you can. This will assist in avoiding any yellowing or stains, improving the appearance of your concrete. Clean up spills and debris right away as part of your routine for basic concrete maintenance to avoid stains and damage. Additionally, we advise you to pressure wash your concrete surfaces thoroughly many times a year.
3. Avoiding Destructive Chemicals
Concrete sealant is made to withstand everyday wear and tear as well as harmful factors. Heavy-duty chemicals with sulfates and ammonium nitrates, however, might erode the materials and remove the sheen of the sealant. If you want the finish on treated or stamped concrete to last, it's also a good idea to stay away from de-icing salts.
Additional Read
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUIKRETE AND TRADITIONAL CONCRETE
4. Sealing Concrete
To finish the process properly, it is essential to select the appropriate sealer for your concrete project. This final layer of defense can make decorative concrete seem better, block moisture, grime, grease, and stains, and guard against excessive wear. There are numerous varieties of concrete sealers on the market. Every few years, concrete's surface can be treated with topical sealers to stop stains and surface wear. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions for sealing concrete.
5. Clean your Concrete
Cleaning your concrete is necessary if you want to keep it looking excellent. Cleaning your concrete can assist get rid of dirt and debris and improve the aesthetics of the finished product. Choose the concrete cleaning method that fits your particular needs from the available choices. To prevent stains or other damage, practice basic maintenance by cleaning spills and debris off of concrete surfaces right away. This contains grass and weeds, grease, tyre prints, and other things. Outdoor concrete surfaces look their best after routine cleaning. After your patio has been cleaned and restored, use a concrete sealant to guard against new stains and damage.
6. Pouring and curing concrete
Concrete should be poured and dried at a temperature of between 50 and 90 degrees. Extremes in either direction could harm the outcome. Concrete can expand and contract due to extreme cold and the freeze-thaw cycle, leading to cracking and spalling. When it's too hot, concrete will form up more quickly, but its strength may suffer. In other words, for concrete to be as durable as possible, it needs to be properly cured.
7. Check for cracks
Check your residential concrete often if you want to extend its lifespan. Keep an eye out for material cracks and degeneration. Minor cracks can sometimes be simply fixed. However, if the crack is larger than your finger, you might want to think about getting it repaired or replaced by a professional.
8. Managing plant growth
When they grow beneath and push up on the concrete, plant and tree roots might jeopardize their structural integrity. By eliminating plant growth from concrete cracks as soon as it appears and regularly maintaining your vegetation, you can prevent these issues. Keep an eye out for any signs that adjacent trees or tree roots are penetrating the pavement.
9. Limiting your weight
Although concrete is a very durable and robust material, residential concrete pours are not intended to support very heavy loads. For instance, even while your driveway is perfectly capable of supporting the weight of your regular car, it is not designed to support the weight of large equipment or oversized vehicles like delivery or moving trucks. To prolong the life of your concrete, make sure these vehicles stay on the road and store heavy equipment somewhere other than your driveway.
10. Apply a fresh finish
For concrete to be stained or painted successfully, the surface must be clean. Sweep and pressure wash the concrete surface before putting a top coat, stain, or other decorative concrete. To safeguard the surface of concrete, it should be recoated every three to five years, especially in high-traffic areas like driveways, walkways, and patios.
Conclusion
A pound of treatment is worth an ounce of prevention. For a concrete investment that lasts, keep these ten suggestions in mind when pouring, curing, cleaning, and sealing concrete. As a property owner, you should take pride in your exterior areas. Using these ten methods to preserve outdoor concrete will help you make the most of your investment in high-quality materials and workmanship. Maintaining your concrete properly will help you keep your slab looking excellent for a long time.
For more information visit Florida Lumber.