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There are alternatives to concrete and some of them are indeed better suited for certain portions of a larger construction. However, concrete is the chief material of choice for most commercial-grade constructions. If you have a project in mind, you should get to know why concrete is so popular and how that popular opinion is not wrong in this instance.
Cost-Effectiveness
Concrete is the most widely utilized construction material on a global scale, which is a well-known fact. However, that does not answer the question of why it is so popular among commercial contractors. The answer is simple enough: no other construction material known to us can provide a better balance between cost, strength, durability, resilience, and versatility than high-quality concrete.
Self-Healing
Reinforced concrete structures like precast concrete pipes can heal cracks on their own, provided that there is enough moisture to support the process. No other material that can be used to manufacture precast water drainage pipes has that capability.
Weather Resistant
Wood, steel alloys, and even artificial polymers are not immune to the effects of weathering. Concrete, on the other hand, is significantly more resistant to the effects of heat, cold, frost, rain, snow, and wind. Provided that it is mixed well, concrete structures can maintain their integrity even while facing extreme weather conditions for decades.
Look Out for the Cracks!
Concrete does not rust or rot, and it doesn’t chip away as easily. It’s also highly resistant to corrosion and fire damage. It would take decades before even the harshest weather conditions can penetrate deep enough to cause any real damage to its core. However, that is provided you have the building inspected for unseen damages regularly.
Consult commercial contractors with the necessary experience for regular inspections and especially if you start to see cracks on the structure. It’s true that concrete walls only need to be repainted and repaired occasionally, but they are still necessary procedures. Unrepaired cracks can eventually turn into ugly fissures and even superficial cracks do look unsightly on any business structure. Also, paint does not last too long on any surface. Loss of paint can leave any building looking more dilapidated than it actually is!
What Causes the Cracks on a Concrete Structure?
Extreme heat and cold can lead to the formation of surface cracks on old concrete surfaces, although they are initially just superficial. If those crack(s) look too deep, wide, and long, they can be a sign of impending structural damage. However, fissures or deep cracks only appear on a concrete structure when it has not been professionally inspected and repaired for a long time. If the cracks are deep enough, reinforced structures are known to suffer from dangerous rebar corrosions as well.
Other possible reasons as to why a concrete structure might develop deep cracks include collisions with large vehicles, earthquakes, excess pressure, alkali-silica reactions, and of course, poor construction. We also need to take the concrete’s original quality into account. Mixing cement is the right quantity of quality aggregates which is not something that all commercial contractors pay enough attention to.
