Here are some frequently asked questions we get about concrete in general. As always, if you have a question not answered here, please contact us and let us know.

• Sealer For My Stained Concrete Floors When it comes to stained concrete floors, the decorative concrete installation isn't complete without the application of a sealer. Taking the time to put down a layer (One or more) of protection not only prolongs the life of your beautiful handiwork, bu...
• Should My Concrete Driveway Be Repaired Or Replaced? This is one of the most common questions we get when we're talking to a potential customer. Of course, the answer isn't as hard as most people make it out to be. Unless the driveway is simply falling apart at the seams, it can most likely be repaired. ...
• Concrete Floors That Look Like Wood Is the title right? "Concrete Floors That Look Like Wood." Yes, it is. The floors in the pictures here are nothing more than 100% pure concrete. Harmon Concrete has just finished a project in Lowell, Arkansas that has left one customer literally speechle...
• Epoxy On Restaurant Floor Complete It took some long hours with the Harmon Concrete crew, but the end result is a floor we can all be proud of! As you can tell from the picture on the right, we had a pretty difficult task ahead of us. The floor was originally built when the old Fayettev...
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• What are the benefits of epoxy flooring? Concrete is a very porous substrate that's susceptible to damage from water, chemicals, and abrasion. Epoxy is applied to concrete for protection, resurfacing, aestehic enhancement, hardening, or supplemental functionality. Our Reflection Enhanced Epoxy ...
• Price Match Guarantee After 25 years in the concrete industry, Harmon Concrete has developed a reputation for quality work at reasonable pricing. From concrete driveways and concrete sidewalks to patterned and stamped concrete, our prices are well within industry standards. Ev...
• What's so unique about stained concrete? It boils down to one word: character. Concrete stain does more than simply add color. Rather than produce a solid, opaque effect like paint or colored coatings, stains permeate the concrete to infuse it with rich, deep, translucent tones. Depending on the...
• Concrete in Freezing Temperatures Cold Weather Concreting At low temperatures, concrete sets slowly and strength gain is delayed. Not only may this result in the contractor being on the job longer than he had planned, but freezing damage to the concrete is possible both before and after ...
• How do I calculate square footage for concrete? ...
• What is the difference between stamped concrete and a decorative concrete overlay? A decorative concrete overlay is just that... a highly durable thinset layer of hybrid polymer concrete that overlays an existing patio, floor, foyer, driveway, sidewalk or any other type of existing concrete. Stamped concrete is a completely new pour ...
• Can high-performance concrete be made with white cement? It is possible to formulate high-performance white and colored concrete to achieve various improved properties such as high strength or very low permeability. By incorporating materials like calcined clay (such as metakaolin), slag, or white silica fume i...
• Can it be too hot or too cold to place new concrete? Temperature extremes make it difficult to properly cure concrete. On hot days, too much water is lost by evaporation from newly placed concrete. If the temperature drops too close to freezing, hydration slows to nearly a standstill. Under these conditions...
• Do we need to apply a bonding agent before applying the shotcrete? No bonding agent is required. A key to a successful repair is proper surface preparation. The surface receiving the shotcrete must have the deteriorated material completely removed, be thoroughly cleaned, and in a saturated surface-dry condition (SSD) ...
• How can you tell if you're getting the amount of concrete you're paying for? The real indicator is the yield, or the actual volume produced based on the actual batch quantities of cement, water and aggregates. The unit weight test can be used to determine the yield of a sample of the ready mixed concrete as delivered. It's a si...
• How do you control the strength of concrete? The easiest way to add strength is to add cement. The factor that most predominantly influences concrete strength is the ratio of water to cement in the cement paste that binds the aggregates together. The higher this ratio is, the weaker the concrete wil...
• How do you protect a concrete surface from aggressive materials like acids? Many materials have no effect on concrete. However, there are some aggressive materials, such as most acids, that can have a deteriorating effect on concrete. The first line of defense against chemical attack is to use quality concrete with maximum chemic...
• How do you remove stains from concrete? Stains can be removed from concrete with dry or mechanical methods, or by wet methods using chemical or water. Common dry methods include sandblasting, flame cleaning and shotblasting, grinding, scabbing, planing and scouring. Steel-wire brushes should b...
• How is portland cement made? Materials that contain appropriate amounts of calcium compounds, silica, alumina and iron oxide are crushed and screened and placed in a rotating cement kiln. Ingredients used in this process are typically materials such as limestone, marl, shale, iron or...
• How is white cement specified? A key advantage of using white cement for decorative and architectural concrete is that it provides a neutral tinting base and consistent color results. Every color option is possible with it, from pure whites to bright and pastel colors. White cement is ...
• I've never heard of white cement. Is it new? White cement was first made in the United States in York, Pennsylvania, in 1907. One reason it may be less familiar to people than gray cement is that it only represents about 1% of total cement usage in the U.S. Annual consumption of gray cement is aroun...
• What are chemical admixtures? Chemical admixtures are the ingredients in concrete other than portland cement, water, and aggregate that are added to the mix immediately before or during mixing. Producers use admixtures primarily to reduce the cost of concrete construction; to modify t...
• What are recommended mix proportions for good concrete? Good concrete can be obtained by using a wide variety of mix proportions if proper mix design procedures are used. A good general rule to use is the rule of 6's: Before pouring concrete, Harmon Concrete will typically design a concrete mix based on the...
• What are the most common tests for fresh concrete? Slump , air content, unit weight and compressive strength tests are the most common tests. Slump is a measure of consistency, or relative ability of the concrete to flow. If the concrete can't flow because the consistency or slump is too low, there are...
• Why Does Concrete Crack? One of the most common questions we get about concrete, is "Why does concrete crack?" This is by far the most popular question in the history of concrete! Concrete, like all other materials, will slightly change in volume when it dries out. In typical co...
• What do I Need to Know About Curing Concrete? Curing concrete is one of the most important, and also the most often neglected, phases of good concrete construction. Poorly cured concrete is more likely to crack and will not be as durable. Curing should last for a least 3 days, and as long as 7 day...
• Keeping Concrete Safe In Freezing Weather Placing concrete in cold weather is not impossible. Typically in the cold, the biggest concern is with excessive moisture, which can cause bleeding water to come to the surface. Once this occurs, the finish of the concrete will have compromised strength a...
• What is the difference between cement and concrete? What's the difference between cement and concrete? Aren't they the same thing? The short answer is no! Although the terms cement and concrete often are used interchangeably, cement is actually an ingredient of concrete. Concrete is basically a mixture of...
• Steps To Pouring Concrete Installing concrete, whether for a concrete driveway, slab, sidewalk, footing or patio can be a very challenging job. Each and every concrete placement is different. Size, shape, color, finish and depth of a residential project all have to be considere...
• Removing Oil Stains From Concrete Have you ever had someone over to your home for a nice friendly visit, only to discover that as you're waving good-bye to them, their car seems to have left 2 quarts of oil in your otherwise perfect driveway? There are multiple methods for removing oil o...