Factoid Friday

Time for a little fact and a lot of Friday.

I've mentioned before that I'm married to a concrete man. Married almost 13 years and just like the other little things you pick up from being married like snacking at 3am with the fridge door open, I have learned more than my fair share about concrete.

Mr. Coffee has been working in the concrete industry since he was 11 years old. He started by carrying forms working in his father's business and has now worked well over 25 years and across 5 states putting in driveways, patios and walkways. He does the patterned and stamped concrete and as I have mentioned, am awaiting my beautiful floors. You know what they say about cobbler's children having no shoes.....


Concrete 101

Concrete is composed of several basic items:

Lard
Sugar
Flour....oh, you were paying attention!

Concrete is:

• Water
• Cement (The glue)
  
• Aggregate (Rock/Gravel)
• Sand

So that would mean it's not a Cement Truck. It's a Concrete Truck.

When you are pouring a job and the mud is a "hot load", it doesn't mean you will be getting a killer facial, it just means that the concrete "mud", is heated and was dispatched at least an hour ago..or more.

Isn't that amazing? Cement goes through a process when it gets mixed and expands & grows. It's rather like ice and how it forms crystals. In the process of expanding concrete actually gets warmer. Heat is typically a tell tale sign that the driver has been either very busy, getting new spinners on his truck, or needing desperately to purchase a Thomas Guide Map Book.

The other thing about concrete that is amazing is that you can break it down with plain old rock salt. There is a good reason to buy Ice Melt, as rock salt will destroy your sidewalks and patios over a short period of time.

Concrete will eventually crack. If someone tells you something different that's just crazy talk. CRAZY TALK, I say!! It's not earth shattering news that the ground is moving beneath our feet.

(HAHA!! I'm so funny today, get it? Earth shattering? You get it?...I don't get it.)

That's why they score or joint concrete like driveways and patios. It just controls the cracks to the scoring making it more appealing....that and so you don't land on your face when you catch your toe on a crack. I know it wouldn't happen if I didn't have that second freak toe that stuck out longer than the rest. And NO! I am not posting pictures. Neener. Neener.