www.marejournal.com Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal — Industrial / Distribution Centers — May 31 - June 13, 2013 — B I ndustrial R eal E state & D istribution C enters
By Richard Manners, Garden State Sealing Are your concrete trailer parking areas and docks deteriorating?
A
s a snow plow contractor, I have noticed that we are using more and more
• The cost of replacing the concrete has gone up dramati- cally. • There have been many ad- vances in coating technology resulting in better products. • The cost of sealing exterior concrete has gone down. The NJDOT and some NJ counties have started using sealer/corrosion inhibitors to protect their concrete bridge decks. In the past three years, Garden State Sealing has ap- plied corrosion inhibitor/sealer to more than 75 bridges in Monmouth, Mercer, Ocean and Middlesex Counties. Like any
good maintenance practice, the best time to apply corrosion inhibitor/sealers is before you notice any deterioration. Seal- ing the concrete in conjunction with concrete repairs can be beneficial as well. If you own or manage properties with con- crete parking areas, sealing the concrete is something youmight want to look into. Richard Manners is presi- dent of Garden State Seal- ing, based in Tinton Falls NJ. Garden State Sealing provides asphalt and con- crete maintenance services in the tri state area n
ice melt every year. At Gar- den State Sealing we switched over to treated salts 10 years ago. We have incorporated the spraying of liquids to reduce our chloride use. While we use “less corrosive” treated salts and liquids, they all eventually af- fect untreated concrete surfaces. It seems the public is less and less tolerant of snow every year. Years ago our contracts would read, snow plow operations to commence upon the accumula- tion of 2” of snow. These days many large corporations have a “zero tolerance policy” to snow and the only acceptable parking lot condition is black. The only way to achieve this is by apply- ing greater quantities of ice melt products. Much of our concrete and asphalt work and some of our snow plow contracts are in the 8A/7A warehouse market. One of the unique features of these properties is that most of them have large concrete trailer park- ing areas. These concrete pads are deteriorating rapidly. If you manage one of these properties, you have probably noticed the concrete falling apart at the joints. Once the ice melt products melt the ice and snow, they become suspended in the resul- tant water and are concentrated at the concrete joints as the water drains thru. No matter what type of ice melt is used, in concentrated quantities, they are all destructive to untreated concrete. Most of these concrete pads are 8”-12” thick, with reinforcing steel. This type of concrete construction is very ex- pensive to remove and replace. We have one client, who’s con- crete has deteriorated so much, that they are now considering replacing it at a cost in excess of $500,000. On another project we worked on there are 15 acres of deteriorating concrete. The cost to replace that parking area is in the millions. Is there a solution? There are a fewmeasures you can take to protect your con- crete. Try to limit the amount of ice melt used on the concrete areas. While this seems logi- cal, in reality it is not always easy to do. Who is going to monitor the salt truck at 3am.? Additionally, salt used on the asphalt parking area may very well find its way to the concrete joints.
Another option is to seal the concrete. While in the past, this was rarely done on exterior concrete, in the past few years, the practice has gained popu- larity. I believe the reasons for this are;
Specializing in the Application of Asphalt Sealer/Rejuvenator
Advanced Coatings & Repairs for Asphalt & Concrete A Complete Pavement Management Company
Services Include: • Crack & Joint Sealing • Asphalt & Concrete Sealing • Line Striping • Pavement Management Plans & Inspections • Magic Salt Distributor Monmouth County (732) 229-7758 Mercer County (609) 298-1264 Middlesex County (732) 214-0657
www.gardenstatesealing.com
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