Resurfacing Concrete Driveways, Steps and Stairs

The real estate markets are slow but that doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of opportunities. Resurfacing concrete driveways, walls and steps will always be in demand.

In fact the mass amount of foreclosed properties hasn’t hit the market yet. The banks aren’t going to sit there holding on to vacant properties. They’re going to sell them. When they do the’ll sell at prices that are cheap with money left over for renovations. The first thing that gets neglected is maintenance. Foreclosed properties and more are going to need a lot of work.

Resurfacing Concrete Sriveways, Steps and Walls

Like with the last cycle which began in the early 1990’s when properties were cheap, the most successful buyers and investors were those who knew how to improve the value of properties.

Take a look at this video which shows a Stardek crew in action. With the Stardek coatings you will be able to transform properties curb appeal. You can learn to make money with the Stardek system and products resurfacing concrete driveways, steps, stairs or any concrete.

Stardek is an industry leader and has been for 35 years. To learn about their upcoming training workshops and to become a certified Stardek applicator visit www.stardek.com and ask for Ed Bennis President.

Thanks to Greg Smith of PermaCrete for sponsoring this page.

Right around July 4th Crude Oil reached $140.00 per barrel. On the financial news I just saw one senator say it’s the speculators (spare me) and the other said it’s a supply and demand issue, that we need to drill more to exceed demand to drive down the price.

T Boone Pickens, the legendary oil man makes the most sense and says stop using so much oil. His solution is alternative energy like wind, and solar which can reduce our dependance on foreign oil which has risen from 20% to 70% of U.S. consumption during the last 40 years.

Alternative energy and conservation is the solution. The solution is not to increase the supply of oil like Senator so and so said, try the other way around and decrease demand.

Photograph courtesy of Reward Wall Systems

ICF buildings are one real solution. I spent a considerable amount of time during the past week discussing ICF Buildings (Insulating Concrete Forms) with Greg Smith of Permacrete and how they significantly reduce the cost and need for energy in residential homes and commercial properties.

Greg and the entire team at Permacrete are experts on this topic since their decorative concrete is the finish coat on many exterior and interior ICF walls.

Photograph Courtesy of Permacrete – contact Greg Smith for more info about this project at 1-800-607-3762 ext 250 or e-mail at gsmith@permacrete.com

ICF is constructed with what looks a little like white foam cinderblocks. Then concrete is pumped inside the blocks creating a sturdy structure with exterior and interior foam insulation. The “performance” R Value results are in the range of 32 compared with wood frame 2 x 4’s of 10.5 and 2 x 6’s of 16. (”performance” meaning finished project).

Additionally heat loss is significantly less with energy savings of 50% – 80%. Reward Wall Systems , an ICF manufacturer, mentioned one of their case studies is of a 7,000 square foot home in Minneapolis with annual energy costs of $750.00. Thats probably 10% the cost of oil heat for the same home.

Another considerable feature of ICF structures is the opportunity for reduced insurance costs. Flooding and fires pose much less risk.

Design and function are increased with Permacrete vertical decorative concrete coatings, an ICC-ES code compliant product. ( ICC-ES is a non profit, public benefit corporation that evaluates building products). Permacrete has made significant investment in Research & Development producing highly durable Green products for resurfacing vertical and horizontal surfaces.

Graco RTX 1500 Hopper Gun Spray system for Permacrete

Their concrete mixes come in white or about 170 premixed colors. The mix is sprayed on ICF block (and many other substrates) . One of the most popular sprayers for applying Permacrete mix is a Graco RTX 1500 texture sprayer. After the first coat is sprayed on a fiber mesh is troweled in place. A second coat is then applied followed by the texture finish coat and sealed with an acrylic stain sealer.

Controlled spray system with Permacrete

ICF with Permacrete decorative concrete finish coats have been applied on homes , retail centers, office buildings, schools and lots more. Finishing where I started, this system will substantially help reduce energy demand and contribute to the health of our environment.

If you want to know more about Permacrete coatings contact Greg Smith of Permacrete at 800-607-3762 ext 250 or e-mail Greg at gsmith@permacrete.com .

I also want to thank Brandie Allen-Rezac of Reward Wall Systems for educating me about ICF buildings. You contact Brandie at 1-800-468-6344.

Let me know what you think about this topic and if you would like to know more about other energy saving products for your residential or commercial property.