Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 11:25 am
Since Easter, I've heard about or seen at least a dozen decorative concrete driveways that have gone bad. From the sealant going milky white, to chipping and spalling, loss of colour, crumbling and even a case of pretty bad cracking, there has been the usual horror stories that I get every year, and normally I wouldn't think it anything out of the ordinary. After all, I've heard or looked at as many iffy blacktop jobs, and maybe twice as many rum block paving jobs. Nothing unusual in that.
However, a common thread has developed since the spring: on eight jobs, the various contractors have all claimed that the problem has been caused by Rock Salt, carried on to the driveway by cars during the past bad winter.
I have looked at a driveway in S. Yorkshire that is at least 500m from the nearest surfaced roadway, which the client claims was left unsalted over the winter much to the annoyance of local drivers, yet the spalling on his driveway is due to rock salt, according to the contractor - even the spalling in areas where the car could not possibly go! There's a lady in Scotland with a sealant gone milky that is due to rock salt, allegedly. Cracks running the full width of a driveway in Oldham are a result of rock salt, or so says the contractor. And I could go on...
The 'rock salt' excuse is being used widely by some PIC contractors as an excuse for every possible fault, and I think that in many cases, it's a con.
Word seems to have gone around the industry that, because of the winter we had, many concrete drives have been contaminated by Rock Salt which has subsequently damaged the surfacing, and as everyone knows that salt is extremely deleterious to concrete, the contractors cannot be held responsible, or so they claim.
Two problems with that excuse:
1 - if you recall, last winter there were horror stories regarding the shortage of salt and how many roads had NOT been treated
2 - amazingly, driveways constructed from concrete block paving, concrete flags, and plain concrete don’t seem to be affected - just decorative concrete.
Smell a rat? I think I do!
However, a common thread has developed since the spring: on eight jobs, the various contractors have all claimed that the problem has been caused by Rock Salt, carried on to the driveway by cars during the past bad winter.
I have looked at a driveway in S. Yorkshire that is at least 500m from the nearest surfaced roadway, which the client claims was left unsalted over the winter much to the annoyance of local drivers, yet the spalling on his driveway is due to rock salt, according to the contractor - even the spalling in areas where the car could not possibly go! There's a lady in Scotland with a sealant gone milky that is due to rock salt, allegedly. Cracks running the full width of a driveway in Oldham are a result of rock salt, or so says the contractor. And I could go on...
The 'rock salt' excuse is being used widely by some PIC contractors as an excuse for every possible fault, and I think that in many cases, it's a con.
Word seems to have gone around the industry that, because of the winter we had, many concrete drives have been contaminated by Rock Salt which has subsequently damaged the surfacing, and as everyone knows that salt is extremely deleterious to concrete, the contractors cannot be held responsible, or so they claim.
Two problems with that excuse:
1 - if you recall, last winter there were horror stories regarding the shortage of salt and how many roads had NOT been treated
2 - amazingly, driveways constructed from concrete block paving, concrete flags, and plain concrete don’t seem to be affected - just decorative concrete.
Smell a rat? I think I do!
