Concrete is part of the movement
towards more environmentally sustainable built environments. As cities and
urban centers grew throughout the 20th century and environmental impacts of the
built environment became better understood, sustainable building practices have
become a focus of industries and states across the country. Documented by the
U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Certification, sustainable building
practices include concrete as a major building material. Concrete’s capacity to
recycle materials, its thermal properties, and other characteristics make it a
sustainable choice for many building projects, including concrete contractor projects in Portland.
At The Lumber Baron, we tell our
customers that one of the advantages of using reclaimed lumber is that it has
already stood the test of time. Because of that, it is not as susceptible to
rot, insects, or mildew as new growth lumber would be. With that said, there
are still some best practices that should be used to ensure that your reclaimed
lumber continues to be durable and look good for years to come. Additionally,
sealing exposed exterior lumber helps prevent mildew and mold from growing on
horizontal surfaces, keeping things like decks safer for the whole family to
use.
Improving
your home can be both fun and rewarding. It is exciting to plan a home
remodeling project and imagining new functional spaces for your changing needs
and updating the design of your home. However, depending on your project, it
may be better to work with a general contractor rather than do the whole
project by yourself. Here are a few things to keep in mind to know when you
should consider calling a general contractor in your area.
Decorative concrete is an easy to install, long lasting, and
sustainable flooring material. It is also extremely versatile and is an
aesthetically-pleasing surfacing that can be customized to work with nearly any
environment. With so many benefits, why is decorative concrete still
under-utilized, even in cities like Portland’s
concrete projects?
Modern cities have come to be defined in part by their skyline.
From the Space Needle in Seattle to the new Salesforce Tower in San Francisco
to the iconic Empire State Building in New York City, skyscrapers and the
innovation of concrete
construction techniques have become part of our cities'
identities.
Concrete is a
uniquely versatile building material because of its readily available
components, its ability to be placed as a liquid, and its high compression
strength that allows it to support the tremendous weights required in
construction. Despite these qualities, concrete alone does have a few
drawbacks. Concrete can be brittle and weak against lateral forces like
bending. Many techniques have been developed to improve concrete's performance
in certain situations, such as post-tensioning. Post-tensioning is a technique
used to reinforce concrete over unstable surfaces and across spans. It is a
very safe concrete strengthening technique that has gained popularity in the
last few decades as the technique has been perfected, with trainings and
certifications standardized. In any project that calls for reinforced concrete,
it is important to utilize a skilled concrete contracting team like The Conco
Companies, the leading steel reinforcing concrete contractor in Portland.
One of the main
characteristics that makes concrete a great construction material is that it
remains a liquid after mixing all its components until it cures to become a
solid. The fact that concrete is a liquid mixture allows it to be transported
through pressurized piping, like how water moves throughout a city. Pumping
concrete means that it can be mixed and held in a different location than where
it will be finally placed. Over the last 100 years, concrete pumping technology
has advanced to accelerate the concrete
placement process and push the boundaries of the scale and
accessibility of concrete projects.
