Concrete is among the most common flooring materials in building construction. Decorative concrete is even gaining more popularity today than ever before. But unlike many other surfaces, concrete floors do not have joints, pores, or fibers that can trap dust easily. It also does not absorb water or stains as fast as many other surfaces. 

Therefore, concrete surfaces are easier to maintain, and they naturally last longer. But that does not mean that concrete does not require proper cleaning. How best can you clean your concrete surface, and how can you keep it clean over long periods of time?

Ways to Keep Concrete Surfaces Clean

It may be difficult to tell exactly when a concrete surface requires cleaning as dirt may build up gradually without being conspicuous. To ensure your concrete surface is always clean, you must follow these basic steps:

• Mop the concrete surface with cleaner immediately if it is stained
• Dry mop every day if there is no stain
• Damp-mop with cleaner occasionally

How to Choose Concrete Cleaners?

If you have a decorative concrete floor, it is better to ask the contractor what the best way to maintain the floor is. The contractor will tell you what to use and what not to use. Generally, there are four main types of cleaners in the market. They are categorized based on their pH.

• Neutral cleaners
• Alkaline cleaners
• Acidic cleaners
• Oxidation cleaners

The fifth type of cleaner available is a combination of the above cleaners. These are cleaners that are specially designed to remove a specific stain like rust. This cleaner is called a specialty cleaner.

Your choice of cleaner will depend on the kind of stain you are trying to remove.

• Use neutral cleaners for routine cleaning of a concrete surface if there is no serious dirt or stain.
• Use alkaline cleaners to clean surfaces that are contaminated by oil or greasy stains that will not mix with water.
• Use acidic cleaners to clean surfaces that are stained by insoluble metallic salts that will only dissolve in acids, like efflorescence.
• Use oxidation cleaners to clean surfaces stained by pet urine and other types of organic substances.
• Use specialty cleaners to remove special stains.

Apart from removing a particular stain or dirt, how do you ensure that your concrete surfaces are always clean?

How to Keep your Concrete Surface Always Clean

To properly maintain your concrete surface so that it is always clean, it is essential that you follow the following steps:

• Polish your floor surface

Choose a polished floor over any other types of concrete floors. Polishing will prevent stains and dirt from penetrating the surface and, therefore, make it much easier to clean. Polished floors also last a lot longer.

• Use floor mats in an area that is experiencing heavy foot traffic.

Places like the entrance to your building usually have more people passing through it and may require cleaning every day. To prevent this, you may cover such surfaces with floor mats or rugs.

Finally, cleaning the surface regularly will ensure that your concrete surface is clean. In other words, observing a routine cleaning pattern will be ideal.

Concrete is strong, durable, cheap, and easy to maintain. But not many people consider it to be beautiful. However, concrete can be decorated, hence enabling it to combine all its excellent properties as a construction material with the ability to beautify your floor and walls. Decorative concrete is concrete that has been processed by adding color, pattern, surface finishing, or distinctive texture.

Decorative concrete could be used both as an interior floor and as an exterior floor. Using decorative concrete as your interior floor will serve both the purpose of the building floor and that of floor covering. While using it at your driveway it may help you prevent cracks that other materials may not be able to. Yet, there are still more reasons to add decorative concrete to your property.

Let’s check them out.

Benefits of Decorative Concrete

• It is strong and durable
• It can withstand more load than many other materials, hence will serve better as driveway floor
• Will add more beauty to your home
• Will reduce slip, hence it is good around areas where kids play.
• It is cheap
• It is easy to maintain
• It has excellent resistance to stain and moisture
• Concrete is friendly to the environment
• It is safe for pets

How Best To Use Decorative Concrete

There are different types of decorative concrete, each one having its unique features. The most common types are:

• Stamped concrete
• Engraved Concrete
• Dyed Concrete 
• Polished Concrete
• Polymer Cement Overlay

• Stamped Concrete

Before concrete solidifies, moulds are used to imprint the desired pattern on it. Colour may also be added. This kind of concrete is ideal for both interior and exterior floors. Stamped concretes have different textures based on the pattern of imprints on them. They are often not slippery. They are therefore of great benefits where kids are playing, especially around places like swimming pools. They are also good on your driveway, as they will provide the needed friction for your car tyres.

• Dyed Concrete

Concrete could be dyed to give it the desired color. Different dyes are available, but your choice must depend on where you want to apply the concrete. For interior floors, alcohol-based dyes could be used, but they are not perfect for exterior use, as the color quickly fades on exposure to sunlight. For exterior use, concrete dyed with ultraviolet inhibiting agents is ideal. 

• Polished Concrete

If you are worried about stains on your floor, then it will be good to consider polished concrete. This kind of decorative concrete has a high resistance to stain and moisture, and it is easy to maintain. It could be used both as an interior floor as well as an exterior floor.

• Polymer Cement Overlays

When polymer resins are added to concrete, it gives it more strength and makes it last longer. The resin will also add texture and color to the concrete. This type of decorative concrete is of great benefit, where strength and durability are desired. You can rest assured that this concrete will add both beauty and value to your home.

Finally, the choice is yours to make. As a matter of fact, it is better to use decorative concrete that is safe and stylish too. For more decorative concrete feel free to visit www.honolulu-concrete.com and get a feel for how real companies do work.

Concrete is simple, flexible, robust and economical to work with. It is also one of the strongest construction materials known, by taking a few simple precautions. Relatively few individuals involved in concrete mixing, storage, and finishing have suffered injuries. Building equipment and devices pose possible constant hazards for busy construction workers. This is why the building projects need hard hats. Consequently, it is recommended that some kind of head cover, such as a hard hat or safety cap, be worn while employed on any construction job; big or small.

Proper eye protection is important for work with concrete or cement. Eyes are highly susceptible to dust flying, asphalt splattering, and other objects from outside. Wearing full-cover goggles or protective glasses with side covers may be advisable on some workers. Vision is essential. Using proper protective devices and existing alert to protect the head and eyes.

Also in small amounts, all materials used to produce concrete – portland cement, coarse aggregate, sand, and water – are pretty strong. The back should be straight when carrying heavy objects, knees bent and the weight between the knees should be as close to the body as possible. Do not twist these things at the waist when lifting or holding them. Instead of straining your back under a heavy load, get help.. Remember to use your head, not your back.

Let the hydraulic machinery work to your benefit by placing the concrete as close to its final location as possible. After the concrete is poured by chute, pump, or wheelbarrow in the desired location, it should be moved – not raised – with a shovel to the final position. A short-handled, square-end shovel is an excellent tool for spreading concrete but it is also possible to use special concrete rakes or come-alongs. Excessive horizontal concrete movement requires not only extra effort but can also contribute to the separation of concrete materials.

Care should be taken while working on fresh concrete to prevent skin irritation or chemical burns. Frequent contact between fresh concrete and skin surfaces, eyes, and clothing can lead to very serious burns, including burns in third degree. When pain persists, consult a doctor. For extreme burns or large areas of the burned skin, seek urgent medical attention.

• Abrasive sand is abrasive to bare skin embedded in fresh concrete.
• Foundation & portland cement is naturally alkaline, so wet 
• Caustic concrete and other mixtures of cement are highly fundamental (pH 12 to 13).
• Strong bases, including strong acids, are toxic to the skin or are caustic.
• The drying of cement from portland is hygroscopic-it absorbs water. In reality, cement on the portland needs to harden with water. It can remove water from any substance, including skin, that it touches. 

Since saturated clothing can transfer alkaline or hygroscopic effects to the skin, clothing worn as protection from fresh concrete should not become saturated with moisture from fresh concrete.

We should wear waterproof boots, a long-sleeved shirt, and long pants. When you have to stand in fresh concrete as it is being poured, screed, or floated, wear rubber boots that are high enough to prevent concrete from reaching them.

Concrete and its binding cloth cement are essentials for the achievement of creative projects. The rising need for pre-fabricated production will augment the global concrete and cement market’s increase to ensure the integrity of constructing infrastructures. Varieties of cement are available desirable for varying requirements of creative projects. The concrete and cement marketplace has an intensive application in the creative enterprise for various activities such as delivery infrastructure, residential, and business infrastructure.

Significant elements that cause the boom of the worldwide concrete and cement marketplace encompass the increasing fee of populace and urbanization, which augments the number of residential construction projects. Increasing government investments in road structures and re-improvement is also expected to gas the worldwide concrete and cement market at some point in the forecast period. The booming industrial zone is expected to offer profitable boom opportunities for the global concrete and cement market at some stage in the forecast period. However, the marketplace is anticipated to witness restraints inside the increase because of the much less flexibility of concrete and the presence of soluble salts in concrete, which can motive efflorescence. 

             The worldwide concrete and cement market is segmented based on product type, end-user industry, and geography. The idea of product type is far categorized into rapid hardening cement, low warmth cement, white glue, hydrophobic cement, and others (colored cement and Portland pozzolana cement). Based on the end-user industry, it is segmented into shipping, residential, and business. Globally, the concrete and cement market has been observed across North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and LAMEA. 

The key gamers that operate within the worldwide concrete and cement enterprise are Anhui Conch Cement, CNBM, Heidelberg Cement, LafargeHolcim, Birla Cement, Cemex, JK Cement, Ramco Cement, Prism Cement, and Huaxin.

Key Benefits:

• The observe affords an in-depth evaluation of the global concrete and cement enterprise and current & destiny trends to explain imminent investment pockets.
• Information approximately crucial drivers, restraints, opportunities, and effect evaluation in the marketplace has been provided.
• Porter’s five forces evaluation illustrates the efficiency of buyers & suppliers that operate in the industry.
• The quantitative analysis of the worldwide concrete and cement market from 2017 to 2023 has been supplied to decide the market potential.

Concrete And Cement Market Key Segments:

This marketplace research file segments the concrete and cement market by using the product (cement and concrete), end-user (residential and non-residential), and geographic segmentation (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America).

The APAC vicinity led the concrete and cement market in 2019, observed with the aid of Europe, North America, South America, and MEA. During the forecast period, the APAC place is expected to check in the very best incremental growth because of several elements such as a growing number of manufacturing plants, full availability of raw substances, and the presence of favorable government policies.

By Product Type:

• Rapid Hardening Cement
• Low Heat Cement, White Cement
• Hydrophobic Cement
• Others (Colored Cement, Portland Pozzolana Cement)

By End-User Industry

• Transport
• Residential
• Commercial

By Geography

North America

• The U.S.
• Canada
• Mexico

Europe

• Germany
• France
• UK 
• Italy
• Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific

• China
• India
• Japan
• Rest of Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

• Latin America
• The Middle East
• Africa

Key Market Players

• Anhui Conch Cement
• Birla Cement
• Cemex
• CNBM
• Heidelberg Cement
• Huaxin.
• JK Cement
• LafargeHolcim
• Prism Cement
• Ramco Cement

The most widely renowned materials utilized for the streets or asphalt are concrete and asphalt. The difficultly is to pick the right thing either for driveway or garages. Before let us examine the pros and cons of these various materials.

Which material is best either concrete or asphalt? A question; that may arise in mind. The material choice often depends on the cost or budget of a person or company. Everyone wants a solution that is within budget.

Both materials have their pros and cons over one another. We are going to narrate the facts; why one should choose concrete as a choice. The novel argument will give you the reason to choose concrete over asphalt. 

Driveways are more popular with concrete than asphalt. Let discuss why concrete driveways is the best solution for you.

Durable than Asphalt:      

The concrete is rigid and long-lasting having an average life of 20-40 years. It is resistive against heavy rain and can withstand extreme weather conditions. The lasting life span of concrete is quite enough to choose the concrete.

Safety: 

Concrete is safer when it comes to the driveway. Unlike asphalt, which is unsafe due to its rough surface. On the other hand, concrete makes it easy to walk and maintain, especially having kids around.

Quick-Maintenance:

 Asphalt does not go well when it comes to driveways, as it does not give a good impression. On the contrary, concrete maintenance is a lot easier, and it does not require regular maintenance. 

Comfortable:

As concrete is more effective in extreme weather conditions. It’s the best choice for the driveways, keeping in mind that it is a commonly used area of a house. The concrete is a far better choice over asphalt, as it is comfy to walk on. Along with the fact that asphalt gets hot during the hot season, that makes it dangerous to walk on. 

Environmental:

Asphalt is non-eco-friendly as melting asphalt could give rise to toxic gases. Whereas, concrete possesses no harm and is eco-friendly, with the fact that it is 100% recyclable.

Attractive: 

 The concrete can be colored according to need, while asphalt is black in color. Various shades of color can be added to make it more appealing and attractive.

Time-Saver and Lasting:

The concrete is lasting, therefore, requires no extra attention. Thus, it provides you time to spend with your loved ones. On the other hand, asphalt needs extra care and cautions.

Therefore, concrete is the best choice for users due to its variant features. The factor that is crucial in choosing any good is durability, the cost for maintenance, and the material best fit within the budget is selected. 

The use of concrete material is the most chosen in most cases. The concrete driveway can reduce maintenance costs and time due to its long-lasting and endurance capacity.

If you are still unable to choose between the concrete and asphalt. Choose the materials that provide a more feasible solution for you with the best results.

Contact experts, it is better to get the opinion of an expert who knows what is best for you according to your budget.