As a concrete contractor in Los Angeles, Ca, we design, consult, place, and finish many types of concrete surfaces. We have the opportunity to service many types of clients with input from both our clients and their architects and or designers.
While being involved with so many talented clients and associates, we have been entrusted with many projects involving a combination of surfaces.
The following is a brief summary of the color options available to you.
Concrete Colors:
There are a few ways in which concrete can be colored.
Integral Concrete - This is the longest lasting method of coloring concrete. Integral concrete is the method of placing pigments into the concrete during the mixing process to achieve a color. While a sealer is definitely recommended to bring out the most color from the concrete, the color will not wear out as it remains throughout the entire thickness.
Dry Shake Color Hardener - This method is a process by which a concrete color pigment is added onto the top of the concrete once it has been poured while the concrete is still wet. The downside to this method is the natural gray color may bleed or wear through if not placed correctly or experiences excessive traffic without maintaining a sealer over it.
Stains - This method is spayed, rolled, or sponged onto the concrete once the concrete surface has cured. A sealer is almost always placed atop the surface to bring out the colors that have reacted or been absorbed by the concrete surface.
A concrete sealer is almost a necessity when adding color by any process to concrete. If one chooses to add a color be mindful of the maintenance required every 2-4 years.
Please feel free to contact us anytime with any questions: info@allconcrete.com
Thank you for the opportunity to enable you to make an informed decision on concrete color.
Please also visit:
Daviscolors.com
Regards,
Giulliano Prieto
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Asphalt Parking Lot Maintenance
Economically speaking there are not many maintenance items on a property that have the financial detriment of deferred maintenance on an asphalt parking lot. While well built asphalt parking lots may last 15 -20 years, there are many maintenance items that if over looked may either downgrade the life span or cause more costly repairs throughout the life cycle.
Asphalt is like the roof of a building, there is no real structural value from the roofing material itself. It is molded and shaped the same way the underlying structure is built. Conversely, asphalt’s strength derives from the aggregate base and or the sub-grade (soil) below . If either or both of those elements get wet through seepage within the cracks surface, the sub-grade under the asphalt pavement becomes soft and is subsequently susceptible to damage by the weight of vehicles driving over that area. This in-turn creates more cracks and soon enough there is a need to replace, rather than repair or maintain.
Asphaltic Concrete most commonly referred to as Asphalt is made up of rocks, sand, and an asphaltic binder holding it all together. As asphalt ages, the asphaltic binder wears away due to UV rays, and road wear and oxidation begin to occur within the capillaries of the asphalt. This causes the aggregate and sand to separate causing two major issues. The first, an unsightly sandy surface and the other an unsightly appeal. This separation also leads to cracks and segregation of the aggregates. Once cracks begin to form there is no stopping the deterioration of the asphalt unless vital maintenance and repairs are performed.
The two main components for maintaining an asphalt parking lot are crack sealing and seal coating, and many times both. Typically, cracks should be addressed yearly, while sealcoating is necessary every 3-5 years.
According to the National Pavement Contractors Association “Cost savings will be a substantial 65% if the pavement is maintained regularly. Estimated savings for a 10,000 sq. yd. asphalt pavement are 127,000 over 15 years”. The old adage “protect your investment” could not be more relevant.
Thank you for following our construction series articles.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
The most important things to inspect when purchasing a property.
Many home inspectors visually inspect several pieces and components of a home, property, or a building but, are limited in their expertise and abilities to evaluate the most important components.
The Most Important things to Inspect when purchasing a home, commercial property, or a building are the following:
1. Foundation / Structure
2. Sewer / Septic / Waste line
Foundations / Structure:
As a concrete contractor and foundation expert we have been retained to design, build, and evaluate foundations and building structures for clients ranging from homeowners, brokers, and property owners.
The most common foundation / Structural deficiencies for homes and buildings are as follows:
Seismic Deficiencies: Homes and Buildings lacking the type of construction components that will enable a structure to withstand an earthquake of a significant magnitute.
Foundation Settlement: Many older structures were constructed without the use of any structural engineering combined with any geological recommendations. Many older structures were not built deep enough into good soil and or was inadequately designed to support the size and weight of the structure. This in turn leads to floors settling, wall cracking, foundation separating, walls leaning, framing molding or rotting.
While there is always a solution to almost every situation, cost is a factor that may limit or inhibit the financial worthiness of a repair to a property.
We have on several occasions advised our clients not to make purchases or provided them with a budget proposal they can use to negotiate the cost of the repairs prior to removing their contingencies.
Sewer / Septic / Waste Line
As a General Engineering contractor we monitor, inspect, repair, and restore sewers / septic systems as well as designing and installing them. While many cities and counties require the inspection of septic systems, many if not almost all of them do not require any one to inspect the sewer system.
Both Septic Systems and Sewers can be expensive to repair or replace because of the amount of work involved to access and replace them. While there are several methods to repair them, their are limits, which many times turn into costly replacements.
More detailed posts to follow on both Foundations /Structures and Septic / Sewers.
Thank you for the opportunity to inform you about the two most vital inspections when purchasing a property.
Prieto Engineering
ALLConcrete.com
Concrete Contractor Foundation Contractor Sewer Contractor Septic Contractor Foundation Expert Foundation Inspector Septic Inspector
The Most Important things to Inspect when purchasing a home, commercial property, or a building are the following:
1. Foundation / Structure
2. Sewer / Septic / Waste line
Foundations / Structure:
As a concrete contractor and foundation expert we have been retained to design, build, and evaluate foundations and building structures for clients ranging from homeowners, brokers, and property owners.
The most common foundation / Structural deficiencies for homes and buildings are as follows:
Seismic Deficiencies: Homes and Buildings lacking the type of construction components that will enable a structure to withstand an earthquake of a significant magnitute.
Foundation Settlement: Many older structures were constructed without the use of any structural engineering combined with any geological recommendations. Many older structures were not built deep enough into good soil and or was inadequately designed to support the size and weight of the structure. This in turn leads to floors settling, wall cracking, foundation separating, walls leaning, framing molding or rotting.
While there is always a solution to almost every situation, cost is a factor that may limit or inhibit the financial worthiness of a repair to a property.
We have on several occasions advised our clients not to make purchases or provided them with a budget proposal they can use to negotiate the cost of the repairs prior to removing their contingencies.
Sewer / Septic / Waste Line
As a General Engineering contractor we monitor, inspect, repair, and restore sewers / septic systems as well as designing and installing them. While many cities and counties require the inspection of septic systems, many if not almost all of them do not require any one to inspect the sewer system.
Both Septic Systems and Sewers can be expensive to repair or replace because of the amount of work involved to access and replace them. While there are several methods to repair them, their are limits, which many times turn into costly replacements.
More detailed posts to follow on both Foundations /Structures and Septic / Sewers.
Thank you for the opportunity to inform you about the two most vital inspections when purchasing a property.
Prieto Engineering
ALLConcrete.com
Concrete Contractor Foundation Contractor Sewer Contractor Septic Contractor Foundation Expert Foundation Inspector Septic Inspector
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Hire a Licensed Professional Concrete Contractor
When hiring a Concrete Contractor please ensure you cover your bases.
1. Make sure he is Licensed, Bonded, and Insured. By doing so the contractor will be bound to his contract and a warranty is implied through his insurance company. If there are issues, a bond is in place to warrant anything that may go wrong for typically from $7,500 -$12,500. If his work causes injury or physical damage to a neighbor or the rest of your property, you may tender his insurance company for a claim. If he is unresponsive, you may call the CSLB Contractors state license board.
2. Do not give anyone a down payment not even 10%. Rather offer them the payment or deposit on the first day. If they are in business they should be able to start your job without it. This way you ensure that they show up to do the job.
3. Ensure all payments are made per progress either through clearly defined benchmarks and or line items and never pay them for 100% of their completed work leave a little bit for them to come back to. Many times contractors have evened up with the owner and rather than finish the job and possibly take a future loss they simply collect their payments to date and cancel or discredit the contract.
4. As part of your contract you should request a conditional waiver from any suppliers delivering materials as well as any suppliers that have sent you a preliminary notice. Always pay the contractor with 2 party checks. For example the name of the check should be written out as follows: XYZ Construction and ABC Supplier
This method will assure you that the supplier gets paid and the contractor is properly paid through a deduction of payment. The balance of the invoice or contract may be paid directly to the contractor.
If the contractor does not pay them you can assuredly expect a lien on your property.
*** I will discuss liens and waivers another time.
5. Ask for working references. Ask them to give you a list of jobs they are working on, then just show up and see what his jobsite and work looks like. If you don't like it. Don't hire them.
6. Although not a science of sorts....Go with your gut feeling based off the reactions you get when you request the above 5 items. Don't be pressured to do anything and think through the positives and negatives of all the contractors bidding.
7. The lowest price isn't necessarily the best price. You will always pay for what you are getting and time and time again it is the same scenario. Your bids should be fairly close. If one of them is much lower chances are something is missing or be ready for a whole lot of headaches.
Thank you for reading through how to Hire a Concrete Contractor.
-Giulliano J. Prieto
* Concrete Expert *
1. Make sure he is Licensed, Bonded, and Insured. By doing so the contractor will be bound to his contract and a warranty is implied through his insurance company. If there are issues, a bond is in place to warrant anything that may go wrong for typically from $7,500 -$12,500. If his work causes injury or physical damage to a neighbor or the rest of your property, you may tender his insurance company for a claim. If he is unresponsive, you may call the CSLB Contractors state license board.
2. Do not give anyone a down payment not even 10%. Rather offer them the payment or deposit on the first day. If they are in business they should be able to start your job without it. This way you ensure that they show up to do the job.
3. Ensure all payments are made per progress either through clearly defined benchmarks and or line items and never pay them for 100% of their completed work leave a little bit for them to come back to. Many times contractors have evened up with the owner and rather than finish the job and possibly take a future loss they simply collect their payments to date and cancel or discredit the contract.
4. As part of your contract you should request a conditional waiver from any suppliers delivering materials as well as any suppliers that have sent you a preliminary notice. Always pay the contractor with 2 party checks. For example the name of the check should be written out as follows: XYZ Construction and ABC Supplier
This method will assure you that the supplier gets paid and the contractor is properly paid through a deduction of payment. The balance of the invoice or contract may be paid directly to the contractor.
If the contractor does not pay them you can assuredly expect a lien on your property.
*** I will discuss liens and waivers another time.
5. Ask for working references. Ask them to give you a list of jobs they are working on, then just show up and see what his jobsite and work looks like. If you don't like it. Don't hire them.
6. Although not a science of sorts....Go with your gut feeling based off the reactions you get when you request the above 5 items. Don't be pressured to do anything and think through the positives and negatives of all the contractors bidding.
7. The lowest price isn't necessarily the best price. You will always pay for what you are getting and time and time again it is the same scenario. Your bids should be fairly close. If one of them is much lower chances are something is missing or be ready for a whole lot of headaches.
Thank you for reading through how to Hire a Concrete Contractor.
-Giulliano J. Prieto
* Concrete Expert *
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
ALLConcrete.com was born!!
Decades of experience and new blood was exactly the type of chemistry that boiled into what we have grown into today.
We instantly started expanding the business. Expansion began through our residential driveway businesses, concrete masonry buildings, concrete parking structures, large retaining walls, foundations, caissons, grade beams, public works sidewalk, curbs, gutters, catch basins, and everything in between. Architectural concrete, and everything in between.
Colored concrete, exposed aggregate, stamped concrete, washed finishes, imprinted leaves, glass aggregate, and so much more!!
Sky's the limit when it comes to concrete!
This site will be dedicated to a brief history of the projects we do, the way we do them, the how to's, can do's, and the don't do's.
Have a great time! Exploring the possibilities.
-Giulliano Prieto
Background of Writer
I am a first generation Peruvian/Italian. Born and raised in Los Angeles. My Brother and I would ride our bikes all day long in the summer time and when my Dad came home we always seemed to find ourselves on the other end of travel town and back up again. Growing up in Los Feliz made me appreciate and realize that no two houses could possibly be the same. I didn't know all the names of all the styles but I sure got to know them as I raced passed them on my bike. Our second home was two houses down from where we lived and I thought we moved into some middle eastern house. I eventually learned it was moorish and learned to appreciate the style. My Mom at the time went through the mirror era placing mirrors throughout the house including the fridge and one of my favorites "the Moorish Ace of mirrors"! Since many Moorish designs carry a design typical to the spade, growing up it was the way I could identify with it.
We ended up moving to a house in La Canada, Ca and there began more and more ideas into my head as to what was possible with any lot or terrain. My Dad would always ask us what we thought we should do with the house and allowed us to input many ideas. We had some great times discovering a small waterfall behind trucks of brush, hiking through the hills behind our house, paint balling and gaining an appreciation for deer, mountain lion, coyotes, racoons, iron pumping lizards, and all. I don't think I can truly place a value on those moments. It was the same house where my Dad inset the Sun, Moon, and stars into our concrete using flagstone, and colored concrete. It wasn't long and then I was off to College where I gained a larger appreciation for the outdoors, nature, geology, and all that Mother nature could offer.
The first two years of College went by fairly quickly between Snowboarding, Hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, wake boarding, four wheeling and racing my little convertible rabbit a road limit speeds up to work at Sundance.
Driving through that Canyon twice a day seeded me with a love for solid mass. The near vertical mountains of the Wasatch Front are both breath taking from afar yet the detail up close with waterfalls, rivers, streams, pines, and aspens is something everyone should see for themselves.
Life could not be better!
As life moved forward I was called to serve a volunteer mission for my Church in Sicily.
As much of an amazing time as serving a mission was, I will save and share those experiences for another time.
I will say, that the romance of limestone, cobbles, granite and concrete were whirling in my mind. The Greek and Roman construction throughout this melting pot of an island was and is a living breathing work of art.
Everywhere I went I was captured by my recurring questions, "How did they do that", "How long must that have taken", and "I wonder how old that is".
I have memories from those two years that will never be forgotten but forever be an inspiration.
Sooner than I could see it coming, I returned to the States and commenced working with my Father before going back to school. From the time I was about 8 years old I have worked with him on and off through many Summers and on many projects. I never had the desire to work for anyone else as nothing else seemed to evolve and move as quickly as did this trade.
I completed my College career at the University of Utah with a bachelors in Finance and Marketing.
Upon graduating I handed my Father a business plan and a marketing plan on his concrete business.
His simple answer upon reading through it....."Do it".
From that moment forward a partnership in All things Concrete was born!
We ended up moving to a house in La Canada, Ca and there began more and more ideas into my head as to what was possible with any lot or terrain. My Dad would always ask us what we thought we should do with the house and allowed us to input many ideas. We had some great times discovering a small waterfall behind trucks of brush, hiking through the hills behind our house, paint balling and gaining an appreciation for deer, mountain lion, coyotes, racoons, iron pumping lizards, and all. I don't think I can truly place a value on those moments. It was the same house where my Dad inset the Sun, Moon, and stars into our concrete using flagstone, and colored concrete. It wasn't long and then I was off to College where I gained a larger appreciation for the outdoors, nature, geology, and all that Mother nature could offer.
The first two years of College went by fairly quickly between Snowboarding, Hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, wake boarding, four wheeling and racing my little convertible rabbit a road limit speeds up to work at Sundance.
Driving through that Canyon twice a day seeded me with a love for solid mass. The near vertical mountains of the Wasatch Front are both breath taking from afar yet the detail up close with waterfalls, rivers, streams, pines, and aspens is something everyone should see for themselves.
Life could not be better!
As life moved forward I was called to serve a volunteer mission for my Church in Sicily.
As much of an amazing time as serving a mission was, I will save and share those experiences for another time.
I will say, that the romance of limestone, cobbles, granite and concrete were whirling in my mind. The Greek and Roman construction throughout this melting pot of an island was and is a living breathing work of art.
Everywhere I went I was captured by my recurring questions, "How did they do that", "How long must that have taken", and "I wonder how old that is".
I have memories from those two years that will never be forgotten but forever be an inspiration.
Sooner than I could see it coming, I returned to the States and commenced working with my Father before going back to school. From the time I was about 8 years old I have worked with him on and off through many Summers and on many projects. I never had the desire to work for anyone else as nothing else seemed to evolve and move as quickly as did this trade.
I completed my College career at the University of Utah with a bachelors in Finance and Marketing.
Upon graduating I handed my Father a business plan and a marketing plan on his concrete business.
His simple answer upon reading through it....."Do it".
From that moment forward a partnership in All things Concrete was born!
Friday, September 3, 2010
All in a Hard Day's Work
We did a BUNCH of things today!
Removed palm trees in place of our new planters, formed for an electric duct vault, stripped a parking lot, placed ADA signs, retrofitted existing handicap ramps with truncated domes, completed a driveway approach and sidewalk by patching back an asphalt strip, and we completed another driveway with flagstone walkway as well as a set of flagstone steps.
Public Works, Commercial Construction, Residential Construction
Removed palm trees in place of our new planters, formed for an electric duct vault, stripped a parking lot, placed ADA signs, retrofitted existing handicap ramps with truncated domes, completed a driveway approach and sidewalk by patching back an asphalt strip, and we completed another driveway with flagstone walkway as well as a set of flagstone steps.
Public Works, Commercial Construction, Residential Construction
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