So, what is Landscape Curbing ?
Landscape curbing was first introduced to the United States back in the 80's. However, it originated in Australia back in the 1970's. Landscape Curbing is a continuous line of concrete edging placed around flower beds or walkways, anywhere you want to have a separation or design on your property. An excellent way to separate one body of material from another or to keep grass out of flower beds. One of the first machines used to extrude the curbing worked with an auger system. Since then, it has evolved becoming a more efficient process.
The cement is mixed onside with a small mortar mixer mounted on the back of a Landscape Curbing Trailer specially designed to haul the materials needed for the installation.
Today's Landscape Curbing is in high demand throughout the United States and even the world! A lot of business minded people start up their own landscape curbing company but then find (usually within the first few years) that it is harder to do than first expected. Not just the basics of operating your own business but the skills needed to be able to do a good quality curbing installation. With that in mind, you will typically see multiple companies pop up in the area each year and then also find each year companies will disappear just as quickly. With All Around Inside/Out LLC, we have been installing Decorative Curbing since 2005 so, we have already outgrown the struggles that a startup company will typically go through, and you can bet on it that we will still be there for the long haul, for many more years to come. Should you ever have any questions or be in need of anything curbing related we will be there for you!
Let us start with the basics. The mix. On our standard landscape curbing we use a true 4:1 mix ratio. Poly fiber mesh gets mixed into every mix. These fibers add tinsel strength threw out the mix helping to keep the concrete together. We us a DOT sand that is more course than mason sand, again for better strength. Then our portland cement, think of this as the glue. On projects that require color we also go a step further and add special additives which will enhance the colors, minimize effloresce (a white chalk like substance that sometimes appears on concrete) and also strengthens the curbing. And then of course the color of choice gets weighed out to meet the specifications in order to achieve the desired color picked from our color chart and or sample. Keep in mind colors will always vairy and there are many reasons for this. For example, if the sand base has a slightly darker shade this can affect the outcome. Also, the moisture content of the cement can affect the shade of the color. These are just a few of the factors, so I always recommend to our clients to pick a color that will compliment your home but not to try and match any existing colors on the house. Its far better to match your wall or trim paint to the curbing after the curbing has been down and had time to cure if that is what you are trying to achieve.
On our more decorative curbing such as our Boulder Stone and Belgium Block Curbing we use a higher concentration of portland in each mix and use in addition to the standard additives other specialty additives to help us achieve our desired results. A very aggressive texture design. We still will use a base color in most applications and then we also use a secondary color applied to the curbing during our stamping / texturing process. This will give us the multiple color shading creating a most natural looking decorative concrete curbing on your property. And with all these extra special additives this curbing is the strongest on the market today!
I personally operate the curbing machine at each job, I also do the tooling and texturing of all our Landscape Curbing on each and every job. If and when I ever do have any of my Employes assist me in any of the troweling or texturing on our curbing installations I remain there working alongside so that the QUALITY is always a top priority.
But we can't forget about the guy in the mixer! He is just as important in the curbing process. The key to a great landscape curb is starting off with a great mix! Having all the proper amounts of materials in each and most important the right amount of water in each as well. Our employees on the mixer undergo their fair amount of training too and with that and lots of experience we are able to start off with the right cement to do a great project.
We at All Around Inside/Out LLC also work in a team atmosphere. We work together so that each of our projects gets the full attention of each of our team members keeping quality our top priority.