Why Consider Precast Concrete for New Construction?
Posted on: 20 June 2016
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Precast concrete refers to concrete walls, floors, and other building sections that are made in a factory or production facility and then shipped to a construction site for assembly. They can be cut and molded to fit certain shapes or tilted up as panels and put into place as walls. If you're a contractor and you are looking for a good choice of building materials and processes you can offer to your customers, note a few reasons why precast concrete can work well for you and for them.
Skilled trade
One challenge faced by many contractors is that they may not be able to rely on the skills and knowhow of their subcontractors, and your customers may have concerns about this as well as unskilled tradespersons can mean a poor quality construction. If you haven't worked with a particular carpenter, bricklayer, or other such tradesperson before, you may have concerns about their work and even if they'll show up for the job! Using precast concrete means having these sections built in a production facility well before work on your site begins, using only skilled tradespersons who are employed by the production facility. You don't need to vet their skills or reliability or worry that certain workers won't even arrive to create flooring, walls, and the like.
Enhanced safety
Using precast concrete reduces the number of persons you need on a jobsite, as sections are not built piece by piece; there is little need for cutting, fastening, and the like. With fewer persons on a jobsite, this can mean less risk of accidents due to overcrowding. There are also fewer tools used to put precast concrete sections into place, so less risk of injury because of someone dropping or misusing a power tool or otherwise neglecting safety with their tools.
Additionally, precast concrete is completely created in a controlled factory setting; as an example of how this can enhance safety, if protective coatings need to be applied, they can be done by machines in a factory versus personnel on a construction site. This can mean less risk of exposure to toxins and irritants.
Tightening timelines
Since precast concrete is made in a production facility and shipped to your site, you can tighten your timelines; it takes less time to put them into place than it does to stick-build a building frame and then add drywall and other materials. Customers may appreciate a faster timeline for their work and with a tightened timeline, you may be able to take on more projects throughout the year, increasing your profits.