Most buildings and houses in the modern world are made of concrete. It is, after all, one of the most popular and common construction materials used across the world.  You should engage with experienced structural assessors of concrete servicing for your construction needs. In fact, almost all kinds of structure have concrete in them. 

What you are probably not aware of is that there are different types of concrete. Even more so, each of these concrete Essex serves different purposes. Concrete used to be a mixture of hydrated lime and volcanic ash, but with the passing of time, it has evolved and become more diverse and advanced to adapt to the modern world.

Regular concrete is a mixture of water chemicals, aggregate, and Portland cement. Many people interchange concrete and cement. Cement is a powdered substance that is used to create concrete. Concrete, on the other hand, is the hard substance that is often seen in urbanised area

High-strength concrete resists more force without breaking easily compared to a normal-strength concrete. In case you did not know, a high-strength concrete has a compressive strength of about 6,000 pounds square inch compared to a normal-strength one. They also add silica fume to the original mixture of concrete to make the bond between the aggregate and cement stronger. The mixture dries quickly compared to the usual, allowing the balance between strength and workability of the cement to be more consistent. In addition, they add a superplasticizer to the high-strength concrete. The superplasticizer slows down the chemical reaction between the water and the cement, enabling workers to place concrete more effectively.

Stamped concrete is also commonly used which is often seen in pavements, parking lots, and other areas with high-traffic. Once concrete is placed, a mould is stamped or placed on top of it while the concrete is hardening in order to create the appearance of a natural stone. Upon the hardening of the ffloor, it will be sealed in to lengthen the life of the dried mixture.

Limecrete is short for lime concrete. Lime replaces cement in this mixture. Using this instead of the normal cement is more healthy and environmental-friendly. Lime easily absorbs carbon dioxide as it allows and sets natural products such as wood, hemp, and straw to be used as fibres without necessarily worrying that it might deteriorate or compost because limecrete controls moisture. Using limecrete prevents the growth of moulds because lime plaster gets moisture out from within which in turn regulates humidity control. Lime plasters and lime wash are non-toxic and they don’t contribute to air pollution.

High-performance concrete doesn’t have compressive resistance but it performs better compared to a high-strength concrete in terms of its toughness, how durable it is when it comes to varying weather conditions, and how easy it is to place without affecting its strength. It may also feature a high compressive strength.

There are various types of concrete and this type involves a lot of ingredients which includes fine silica sand, silica fume, Portland cement, and quartz flour. Because of the number of ingredients that are necessary to make it, it is usually pre-mixed in bags. Water, organic or steel fibres, and high-range water reducers strengthen the mixture. This type of concrete is very durable because of the good combination of fine powders. It has a compressive strength of about 29,000 psi.

Self-consolidating concrete uses high-range-water-reducing admixtures controls the stability and flowability of the mixture allowing it to be placed quicker. Concrete usually needs mechanical consolidation while setting it to be able to remove excess air that may be in the mixture. This process is eliminated in self-consolidating concrete which save s a lot of time, money, and labour. 

There are two types of shotcrete: wet-mix shotcrete and dry mix shotcrete. In the dry mix shotcrete, you need to use a compressed air nozzle that will be responsible for shooting dry mix. You also need to use a separate hose at the head of the nozzle to inject water while the dry ingredient is bounced on the wall. In wet-mix shotcrete, you use pre-mixed concrete. Dry mix concrete tends to create more waste compared to wet-mix concrete.

There are several types of concrete and although it is not necessarily important to know and understand each of them, it is recommended to know what they are and where they are used for. That way, you would know what type of concrete to use for your construction needs.