Well, here in North Texas we received our first spring hail storm that was wide spread. We also had a major tornado outbreak the day after Christmas last year 2015. Let’s talk a little about this in relation to the Masonry and Concrete trades…
You would think that hail cannot damage concrete, but it can and does, especially with older concrete that may be 25 years or older. If the hail is large enough, and coming down in mass amounts, hail can certainly chip concrete, causing small pot holes. This in and of itself does not cause any structural problems to the concrete, not at first. It’s doubtful it’ll cause concrete to crack, but it can cause the surface to slowly flake off next to the chip. This can grow and grow, it may take some time for this to occur, but it can happen. As the surface flakes off more and more, then water will get under the finished portion of your patio or driveway. This causes more and more flaking, eventually causing the concrete to break down. It’s no longer good concrete, becomes mushy and breaks away.
This can be prevented by simply repairing the small little chips that the hail causes. There are proper and fairly simple ways to repairs this problem. It’s difficult to say how expensive it will be depending on the extent of the damage. It’s best to call McFall Masonry & Construction for an estimate.
If hail scars your nice decorative concrete but has no chips in the concrete, have no fear, in most cases, decorative concrete that is damaged by hail can be saved and look like new again. If it also has chips, this too can be restored and look like new again. It’s just a little more complicated is all, yes, this means a little more expensive to fix.
Brick is much more difficult to repair if damaged by hail. If there are only a few bricks that received damage, it’s probably best to leave it alone. With moderate damage, we can actually perform a repair in which we resurface the brick, placing a coating over the chip. If the damage is widespread on a particular wall of your home, then it’s probably best that the brick is removed and new brick is installed. This sounds expensive, and probably will be, but it would actually cost more at that point then the repairs I’ve discussed. Once again, if you experience brick damage, please give us a call for an estimate.
Any stone that may get damaged by hail is the easiest and quickest to fix. Nothing is cheap unfortunately, but stone and rock has layers to it and the damaged can usually be sanded or ground away. Replacement of some stone or rock also is the cheaper to replace. Please give McFall Masonry & Construction a call for an estimate.
