Tips To Make Effective Exposure of Aggregate and Maintain It

Concrete is a smaller piece of stone, sturdy and durable sort of building material, used in a variety of construction works in different formats. When this concrete is applied under the layer of cement and other material mix and it gets washed away after getting dry, through water and brush, the covered concrete starts appearing.

• This layer of concrete which lies beneath the surface, when made to showed-up, is called exposed aggregate. This exposed aggregate is primarily used in outdoor areas such as patio, driveways, sidewalks and plaza like open or closed arenas, which are supposed to be used by the people for daily and recurrent walks or movements.
• This type of concrete provides surfaces with the finest grip and this is why it is used at such places which are mostly exposed to general public and vehicles. It also mainly considered for outer area or home outdoor area because it is comparatively much reasonable in pricing than to other options of flooring, at similar area, such as granite and marble.
• Exposed aggregate concrete requires very little maintenance and, that too, with nominal cost. It is also very resistant to rain and weather extremes as well as for heavy traffic, as it is sturdy and non-slippery surface, ideal for driveways and sidewalks.

Concreter

Exposed Aggregate can be of Different Types:

Aggregates are of different types. Decorative aggregate is one of the most used aggregate to provide an exclusive looks to the surface, where it is applied. This decorative aggregate can be incorporated into the concrete slabs in such a way that it can be easily exposed later.

There are three Methods by which these Decorative Aggregates can be exposed, effectively and efficiently later, can be enumerated as:

1. Aggregate Seeding Over the Surface

It simply requires decorative aggregate to be seeded over the slab surface, immediately after placing the concrete as well as bull floated and struck off. This process involves sprinkling aggregates simply by hand or uniformly shovels the surface and embeds it with the help of Darby or bull float until it gets coated under the paste of cement.

2. Mixing Concrete and Aggregate

Mixing of aggregate with concrete eliminates the process of seeding, after the concrete placement. It can be more costly than that of previous one, as it requires a large amount of aggregates and there is also a variation of cost associated with different kind of decorative aggregate as well.

3. Putting Aggregate under the thin topping

A course of thin topping concrete, carrying decorative aggregate, over the conventional concrete base slab is the process under this method. The thickness of the topping can vary from 1-2 inches, in accordance with the size of decorative aggregate. This process is ideal with the procedure, which requires aggregates of smaller size.

Exposure of Aggregate Concrete

Maintenance of Exposed Aggregate Concrete

• Exposed aggregated concrete is tough in nature and does not require a lot of maintenance other than the resealing and sporadic cleaning. In a way to provide it better looks and resistant towards various hazardous issues like dusting, spalling, abrasion, freeze-thaw and deicing salts, special care procedure can be rendered to the surface.

• This special care can provide the exposed aggregate concrete surface an improved appearance and performance together, by just applying TRANSPARENT CONCRETE SEALER over it.

• The sealer is capable of enhancing color of the exposed aggregate as well as highlights richness and depth of the floor.

It should be taken good care while applying concrete sealer over the aggregate surface. Before applying concrete sealer it should be made sure that floor is free of any dust particles and containments. To make the floor free from such containments brush, airless sprayers and short-nap roller can be used.