Understanding Concrete & Salt Damage

throughout the driveway. Concrete comes in about dead middle for initial expense, averaging anywhere from $8 to $12 per square foot. But it also has the lowest level of maintenance of the three hard surfaces. But be warned, salt can severely degrade concrete very quickly in as little as one or two seasons. Whether that salt is applied on sidewalks or other flat surfaces or if you're building a retaining wall made out of concrete masonry units or retaining wall blocks that are exposed to salt, those that salt can degrade the face of the blocks and lead to the ultimate total collapse of the retaining wall. A great alternative if you need to build a retaining wall in an area that could be exposed to salt is to use boulders. They don't seem to suffer any damage from salt applications. Here's another fun fact about concrete. Some of the old-timers in the industry actually call it crackrete because during the curing process, the water that was used for the initial pour evaporates or wicks out and that concrete then has to is forced to shrink. That shrinking is what causes all concrete to crack. To stop this from happening throughout the entire surface, contractors saw joint lines into the concrete. And those are nothing more than crack stops. That's why when you look at a concrete surface, you see all these lines cut through the surface. That's to keep the cracks from spreading. Make sure you stay tuned to the end of the video to find some neat tricks on ways to extend the life of your concrete or asphalt and to minimize the cracking. Next up is pavers. They