Keeping Mixers Moving in the Yellowhammer State.
Alabama Concrete Chipping, Silo Cleaning and Central Mixer Cleaning by the Pros
Alabama concrete chipping and related maintenance is about more than checking boxes off company to-do lists. It plays an important role in keeping the tools and vehicles your company relies on in healthy working order, keeping projects on track — and looking out for your bottom line.
When you invite trained professionals to your job sites to assess your drums, silos and mixers and free them of material that weighs them down, you’re taking active steps to extend your fleet’s lifespan. But what exactly goes into such maintenance, and how do you know which companies to trust? Here, General Chipping’s Alabama concrete chipping experts cover the details necessary to keep crews like yours ready to roll.
Contact Us to Schedule Alabama Concrete Chipping
What Benefits Does Ongoing Maintenance Offer Alabama Concrete Crews?
Maintenance efforts in the form of concrete chipping, silo cleaning and central mixer cleaning keep your tools of the trade able to help your crew carry out its work safely and efficiently. The specific benefits vary based on the particular task.
How Concrete Chipping Helps Alabama Concrete Crews
At General Chipping, we liken your ready mix concrete truck’s drum to a water bottle resting sideways. If you were to take that water bottle and upend it, working to get every last drop out, there would always be some water left behind, along the walls. The same is true for your mixing drums.
Even the most diligent concrete pours result in some dried material remaining inside the drum. These miniscule remnants are no cause for concern at the start, but as time progresses, buildup grows and can create costly trouble.
- The concrete’s added weight can impact a drum’s balance, slowing or halting its spin and leading to costly repairs, replacements and downtime.
- Lowered carrying capacity makes it difficult to transport adequate blended material to the job site, wasting time and fuel as crews travel back and forth.
- Buildup can result in dried concrete falling into blended material, impacting a project’s look and resulting in a lower-strength finished product.
How Cement Silo Cleaning Helps Alabama Concrete Crews
Concrete mixing drums aren’t the only tools that require regular TLC. Cement storage silos also need attention from trained professionals to provide crews unimpeded access to the dry material that fuels their work. Failure to provide adequate attention can prove costly.
- Cement silos regularly fall victim to clumped material brought on by outdoor humidity. These clumps can slow the flow of your dry material or, in extreme circumstances, halt it altogether.
- Corrosion, damage brought on by wildlife and everyday wear and tear can lead to cracks along silo walls that result in material loss or the addition of impurities that render the cement unfit for use.
What Goes into Chipping Concrete and Keeping Silos Clean?
Although many concrete companies understand the importance of looking after their mixing drums and cement silos, few understand what the processes entail. For instance, did you know most concrete chipping appointments encompass three different services?
Your concrete chipping company’s job is to assess your overall system and address any issues or blockages that could hinder jobs. Oftentimes, they’ll take care of concrete truck chipping, concrete central mixer cleaning and cement silo cleaning during a single visit. Let’s take a look at the details surrounding each maintenance practice.
Concrete Chipping
Using handheld jackhammers, crews physically enter your ready-mix truck drums to remove hardened material that has dried along the walls. This improves your carrying capacity and helps ward off mechanical issues which can lead to costly slowdowns, repairs and replacements.
Central Mixer Cleaning
Similar to concrete chipping services, central mixer cleaning involves crew members reaching inside your team’s mixer to remove hardened material from drum walls. This results in a healthier mixer capable of holding more material than before.
Silo Cleaning
Members of your chosen company’s silo cleaning crew are lowered down into your cement storage silos. Once inside, they remove clumps and clogs that slow the release of your cement — and can hold up your projects. Those clogs are ushered out the bottom of the silo.
NOTE: Cement storage silo cleaning is extremely important in areas prone to high humidity, such as Alabama with its hot summers.
Securing the Right Concrete Chipping Company for Your Work
Understanding what goes into concrete chipping work and why it matters is important, but it doesn’t do much good without the right team. Here, we’ll take a look at important considerations that should come into play during the search for a quality concrete chipping company.
- Seek a Concrete Chipping Company Willing to Work Your Way: Although concrete chipping appointments tend to be fairly similar across the board, no two are identical. Every operation has unique factors that come into play, influencing the best way for your concrete chipping company to tackle the work.
We recommend thinking through any issues that make your site unique and then communicating them with potential companies. Do noise regulations limit when concrete chipping can take place? Does prior damage require crews to take added care with certain mixers or silos? Are you only able to make your fleet available for maintenance on certain days of the week? Whatever the case, it’s important to let your concrete chipping company know. The more information you provide, the more likely your chosen company will be able to accommodate your work — and have the tools and crew needed to tackle work the right way. - Hire a Concrete Chipping Company that Emphasizes Training: Concrete chipping and silo cleaning work are inherently dangerous. When gone about the wrong way, practices can place lives at risk and deal costly damage to your expensive equipment. The best way to ward off such trouble is to do business with a firm that’s licensed for the job.
When talking with prospective companies, ask to see proof of insurance, and for insights into employee certification and safety training requirements. (You’d be surprised to learn just how many unlicensed individuals are out there chipping concrete.) At General Chipping, many of our team members have five or more years of experience — and all are required to undergo regular OSHA safety training to ensure they’re working in the smartest and most efficient manner possible. - Find a Concrete Chipping Company with a Solid Reputation: Do you have friends and colleagues who regularly book concrete chipping? Use them to your advantage! We encourage potential customers to talk with people they know about who they’ve worked with in the past. What did they like? What didn’t they like? Would they book them again? Is there something they’d do differently?
Once you’ve armed yourself with basic information from people you know and trust, you can expand your research even further. Seek out Better Business Bureau (BBB) ratings or ask concrete chippers to furnish customer testimonials and references. A company’s past client interactions can speak volumes about the way they typically work and can help you quickly narrow your search.
How Often Should You Book Concrete Chipping, Alabama?
Specific timelines will vary based on factors such as the age of your equipment, the type of concrete you pour and how much work you carry out in a given month. In general, however, industry experts recommend booking concrete chipping on a quarterly basis to keep equipment healthy.
Although cement silo cleaning isn’t required quite as frequently, we recommend booking it at the same time as your truck chipping and central mixer cleaning, for added peace of mind. Consider scheduling out a full year’s worth of appointments at once, so you can factor work into your schedule early on — and avoid expensive rush fees that often come into play when booking at the last minute.