Archives

No one wants to overspend on construction, whether it’s on a commercial or residential property. Regrettably though, only a few people know how to cut costs on construction projects. This has resulted in unnecessary expenses and money wasted.

But there are ways to stick to your project’s budget while not sacrificing its quality.   Here’s what you have to do.

 

Confirm the status of utilities and infrastructure before buying your lot

Watch out for budget building lots. The most affordable lots might cost more in the long run. Hence, you don’t want a lot that requires workers to blast through rock, provide extensive drainage, or clear away trees, just to mention a few.

Such hurdles make your overhead cost soar. To prevent this, make sure the lot you’re  interested in has good access to electricity and public water lines, lest you’re left to shoulder the cost of installing public utilities and services.

 

Collaborate with a friend or family and buy a large lot

You might not need a large parcel of land, but remember that some of the largest properties have the most attractive price tags. If it’s too large for what you can afford, the smart thing to do would be to find a friend or family member with whom you can split the parcel into two smaller lots.

Just be sure that the person with whom you are sharing the land is someone you don’t mind having around as a neighbor.

 

Go for a bay or canal lot if you need a waterfront site

The idea is to get your waterfront experience at less cost. Go for a bay or canal adjacent property, which cost less than an ocean or lakefront property.

Besides access to water, a bay or canal waterfront can shelter you against intemperate weather.

 

Purchase low-maintenance building materials

Construction materials such as metal for roofing and vinyl for siding can be particularly expensive to install. However, they will save you from repair or replacement costs for a long time.

 

Monitor your building allowances while construction is ongoing

Don’t leave everything in the hands of the contractor. Keep an eye on the ongoing building process to be sure you’re getting value for your money.

Make sure that the structural elements to decorative details are what you agreed on so that you can also stick to your set budget.

This also applies to the brand and quality of materials. Certain brands or qualities may be cheap at purchase, only to bring in regular maintenance expenses. Switching brands should merit the additional cost.  

 

Build compact

Sometimes it’s way cheaper to construct a two to three storied building instead of a single story house covering a wide area. A multi-story building is more compact but gives you the same amount of living space yet with a much smaller foundation and roof.

With it, you’ll have more affordable options for ventilation and plumbing, even though the initial cost and/or future maintenance may be higher because of the need for special equipment. However, you may find that a taller building is a more cost effective alternative.

 

Work with qualified professionals with a solid reputation

A certified general contractor will help you save money. They have an extensive experience thus can provide invaluable cost-benefit analysis.

Further, a professional who has been in the industry has established ties with suppliers and subcontractors. With this, you can possibly benefit in the form of discounts.

 

Reduce site preparation charges

You’ll save money if you can avoid site preparation costs such as grading charges, in-fill dirt hauling fees, the cost of clearing trees or blasting rocks. To avoid these, make sure you have bought the best site and have a plan that naturally fits that chosen site.

 

Avoid change orders

Know what you want right off the bat. Once you start, remember that any change in blueprints or materials will translate to additional costs and time, and will also cause frustration among people involved in the project.

Make sure things run smoothly by having an exact plan and structure beforehand so that the building work can be erected without any midway interruptions.

 

Conclusion

Whether you are building a new home or just doing a home renovation, it is always great when you can cut back on some overheads on your construction project. Fortunately, these ideas will ensure that you get value for your money and cash does not just fly off the window.

 

Related Articles:

10 Green Construction Practices That Boost Your Profits and Save Resources

Concrete Recycling: Mega Saw’s Contribution to a Greener Environment

 

Let’s face it – a lot of people use the words “concrete” and “cement” interchangeably mistakenly thinking these refer to the same thing.

This couldn’t be more incorrect. Cement refers to a broad variety of fine-ground powders that harden when mixed with water.  

On the other hand, concrete is a hardened construction material made by combining a chemically inert mineral aggregate – usually sand, crushed stone or gravel, or a mixture of two or all three, cement as the binder, chemical additives (optional) and water.

Cement is therefore is only one of the many components of modern concrete.

The cement and water that make up the paste coats the surface of the aggregate, both the fine and the coarse ones. Through hydration, a chemical reaction, the paste hardens as it dries to form the rock-like mass which is concrete.

When concrete is dry, it naturally acquires a hardness and consistency that can be likened to stone. This makes it deal for road construction, building of bridges, factories, railroads, sewerage and water supply systems, airports, mass transportation systems, waterways and other durable structures.

Concrete may differ in strength and density, depending on the proportions of its three key ingredients: cement, water and aggregate.

 

Quality Depends on Proportion

Depending on the kind of structure that would be made with the concrete, you will prepare proportions of water, cement and aggregate. These proportions and how you mix these elements will determine the quality of the concrete and the final structure.

Thus, if the mixture does not have enough paste to fill the gaps between the aggregates properly, it becomes difficult to manipulate the concrete and your mixture may become porous and rough on the surface.  

On the other hand, if the mixture contains excess cement paste, it will be easy to apply, and the final concrete will be smooth on the surface but can easily crack.

Given this, we see that the strength of the concrete depends on the ratio of water to cement.

This ratio refers to the weight of the water used to mix the concrete divided by the weight of the cement used.

To produce high-quality concrete, lower the ratio of water to cement as much as possible. Ensure that the fresh concrete can be properly placed and consolidated.

Setting the proportion of concrete can be done in two ways:

 

By Volume

This is usually used for small jobs. In doing this, you use gauge boxes to measure the fine and coarse aggregate.

Each gauge box has a volume equal to one bag of cement. This method is less accurate but takes less time.

 

By Weight

This method is way more accurate and makes for a more uniform process. It doesn’t have the uncertainties of bulking, hence is generally preferred over volume batching.  

In either case, the proportions of cement, water, and aggregate should produce concrete that has the following properties:

• Maximum density – the concrete should be as strongest and water-tight as it can be.
• Can be easily manipulated while it’s fresh. it should be easy to economically place in the formwork.

With these,  you are ready to make your first concrete. But, how do you go about it?

 

Step 1: Gather or Buy the Raw Materials

You may have to buy cement, but can gather the two other raw materials: water and builder’s sand/gravel or crushed limestone.

Determine the volume of concrete that you’ll need. You can do this by multiplying the thickness of the target area to its square footage.

 

Step 2: Find a Suitable Container for Mixing  

You may not always have a mixer unless you are in the construction business. But you can always borrow or rent a mechanical mixer. Don’t worry too much on the cost as this will considerably reduce the labour required.

For a small project, improvise a manual mixing box by building one from wood planks.  You can also use a strong wheelbarrow to mix the materials.

 

Step 3: Mix The Cement and Sand

Start off by preparing your dry mix. You do this by mixing the cement and sand. You can choose from these  two concrete preparation methods:

• Method 1 –  make a basic mixture for mortar using the ratio of 1 to 2 to 3 for water to cement to sand by volume.
• Method 2 – create a general purpose concrete using the ratio of 1 to 2 to 3 for cement to sand to gravel by volume.

 

Step 4: Add the Crushed Stone or Gravel  

Add the gravel or crushed stone at a ratio of up to 5 portions of gravel for every 1 portion of cement and sand mixture.

Don’t worry. The high ratio of gravel has no adverse effect on the tensile strength of the concrete unless it’s too much. Just be sure to leave enough cement paste to fill the spaces between the gravel. If this doesn’t happen then you know you’ve added too much of the gravel.

Note that concrete with too much gravel will be difficult to level and it will be hard to achieve a smooth finished surface where it’s curved.

 

Step 5: Add Water 

Water determines the quality of your concrete so it’s best to add water to the mixture slowly. Mix out the concrete continuously every time you add water until the concrete becomes plastic enough to place in your form.

 

Step 6: Mix the concrete thoroughly  

Once the desired volume of water has been added, continue mixing until the concrete achieves a uniform consistency.

The final wet concrete should be even all over, and have no packets of dry material. About two or three extra minutes of mixing after the desired consistency has been achieved will give you the perfect concrete.

With your concrete ready, you can then pour it and float it to create the structure you intended.

Concrete was by itself durable enough for construction until the 19th century when innovation led to the development of steel reinforcement. From then on, it didn’t take long for its popularity to spread.

Engineers saw reinforcing concrete as a way of reducing construction cost and saving time while bringing to life even stronger, more durable structures. Today, reinforced concrete has seen the rise of some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, biggest bridges, longest highways and deepest tunnels.

While these mega-structures have lived up to the expectation the inventors of reinforced concrete had regarding strength, durability has been a different situation altogether. But before we delve into that, let us first discuss what reinforced concrete entails.

What Is Reinforced Concrete?

Reinforced concrete is a composite material made by casing wet concrete around steel reinforcing bars tied together to make a cage.  The concrete settles and hardens around the bars.

At this point, you’d be glad to know any reasons behind concrete reinforcing.

To start with, concrete is known to have relatively low tensile strength and ductility.  

Reinforcing it counteracts both weaknesses resulting in a new material that works well in either tension or compression. The concrete resists squeezing while the steel resists bending and stretching.

 

Why Steel?

In theory, all kinds of metals can be used to reinforce concrete. However, steel is the most preferred because it expands and contracts almost the same way concrete does.  

This similarity in thermal expansion characteristics ensures the steel bars doesn’t crack the concrete that surrounds it.

Alternative materials for concrete reinforcement exist such as aluminium bronze, glass, and plastics. However, the affordability of plain steel makes it a lot more attractive to developers.

Reinforcing concrete is favoured among builders for numerous reasons. For starters, steel bars give strong building structures with thinner, less supported slabs. Such slabs require less concrete to pour making the construction process go faster.

 

Strength versus Durability

Many planners and developers, however, fail to consider the extended costs of maintenance and repair services of reinforced concrete construction. While blending steel with concrete improves the structure’s daily tolerance with tension, it reduces its durability in the long run.

How does this happen you ask? Let us elaborate.

Modern concrete structures fail through what is informally known as concrete cancer.  This destructive process involves the following three problems, all of which are interrelated.

 

1. Natural Deterioration

 

Concrete is a combination of three ingredients:

– A mixture of fine and coarse fragments of crushed rock, such as sand, gravel and stones, glass etc.;

– Cement; and

– Water

Over time, concrete decomposes naturally as a result of a slow but steady reaction between alkalis from the cement and silica from the fragments.

The crystals formed from this reaction occupy and spread spaces within the structure.  Eventually, we have cracks from the inside, or flaking from the surface. Through, either way, moisture finds its way into the structure and corrodes it.

 

2. Cold Temperatures

 

Water that has seeped into concrete through cracks can freeze in the winter. It will then expand causing further cracks and faults within the structure. More water can get in through these new entry points, making the vicious cycle of deterioration and decay continues.

 

3. Steel Rusting

 

Despite the inevitable natural deterioration of concrete and harsh environmental conditions, old structures such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon in Rome are proof of just how long concrete can last.

It is puzzling that many concrete structures erected in the 20th century have no more than a few decades of life to show for themselves.

Structures built with reinforced concrete experience a significantly accelerated rate of degradation due to rust. This is because moisture that enters through small, newly formed cracks can eventually come into contact with the reinforcing bars in the concrete, causing them to decay.

The rust that forms around the bars results in their rapid, uneven expansion. Rust can expand the reinforcing bars up to four times their size. This enlarges existing cracks and creates new ones, finally forcing the concrete to fall apart.

 

What are the Dangers of Reinforced Concrete?

By facilitating concrete cancer, construction with reinforced concrete poses a danger to the structure and the people using it.

Many of us wouldn’t expect to find cracks in a newly made, modern building or bridge. When such structures fall apart, it is very likely to take its unsuspecting occupants down with it.

Yet, the casualties left in the wake of reinforced concrete construction do not end there. Growing concerns about the environment and climate change have shed light on another major problem.

Concrete production is the third largest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions after automobiles and coal-fuelled power plants. In fact, cement manufacturing alone is responsible for about 5% of carbon dioxide emissions in the world.

Moreover, concrete waste represents roughly a third of all landfill waste, both an outcome largely attributed to the construction of short-lived structures.

Because recycling concrete is impractical, the only way to save our planet from its effects is to reduce its production. This will only be possible if we start building longer-lasting structures.

 

Potential Solutions

Fortunately, you can address the problem of steel corrosion in reinforced concrete in many ways including;

1. Pre-stressing/pre-tensioning: The reinforced steel is permanently compressed by first applying tension on the steel bars. As the concrete sets, the taught bars pull inwards, compressing the concrete and making it stronger.

2. Cathodic protection: The entire structure is connected to an electric current which prevents rust from forming around the steel bars.

3. Chemical treatment: The concrete is treated with a rust-inhibiting compound. A common mechanism of inhibiting corrosion with chemical treatment involves the formation of a coating onto the steel. This prevents moisture from reaching it.

While builders are widely applying the methods above to deal with degradation, nothing can fully mask the fact that reinforcing concrete with steel greatly reduces its durability.

Avoid the dangers and hire professional, hire MEGASAW call us at 1300 920 419.