Keeping Mixers Moving in the Land of Lincoln.
Professional Illinois Concrete Chipping, Silo Cleaning and Central Mixer Cleaning Services.
Illinois concrete chipping, central mixer cleaning and silo cleaning play key roles in keeping concrete and construction crews’ tools of the trade healthy, all while keeping budgets in check. Why is that? It’s all about warding off potential trouble.
When you clear your redi-mix truck drums and central mixers of caked-on concrete, and free your cement silos of annoying clogs, you aren’t just making room for fresh material. You’re ensuring your silos and mixers can provide adequate pours when needed and warding off mechanical issues which lead to costly repairs and replacements. In other words, you’re keeping your crew ready to roll. Read on to learn more about how Illinois concrete chipping works, the benefits it offers and insights to help keep your maintenance appointments on track.
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How Illinois Concrete Chipping Keeps Your Concrete Mixers and Silos Healthy
As we’ve mentioned, the main purpose for chipping concrete out of your ready mix trucks and central mixers, and removing clumped material from your silos, is to ensure they’re able to continue serving you well. Let’s break things down.
In terms of your redi mix truck drum, it often helps to think of it like a water bottle laying on its side. If you turned that water bottle over and tried to pour every last drop out, there would always be at least a bit that remained behind along the walls. The same is true for your concrete drums.
Every time you pour concrete, there’s a bit of material that stays behind, along your mixer drum’s walls. Because those amounts are fairly negligible, it’s no cause for concern at first. As time progresses, however, that buildup accumulates, and it can cause trouble in a number of ways.
Diminished carrying capacity might mean you can no longer carry enough blended material for your work. Dried pieces finding their way into your mixed concrete can lead to structural and visual imperfections with your finished product. Added weight can throw off your drum’s balance and result in costly slowdowns or breakdowns that don’t just cost you big, but grind our crew’s work to a halt.
Of course, it isn’t all about your drums and mixers. Your cement silos matter, too. And they regularly find themselves at risk of clumps or all-out blockages brought about by heightened humidity. When you can’t access your dry material, it’s difficult to produce the concrete you need.
Ongoing maintenance provided by a trained and licensed team keeps your work moving.
How Professional Crews Go About Chipping Out Concrete
So, you know why ongoing maintenance matters for your silos and mixers. But what does that maintenance look like? You might be surprised to learn concrete chipping appointments typically consist of three separate services.
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: Silo cleaning is especially important in areas that regularly experience high humidity, such as the Great Lakes States. This is because excess moisture often causes cement to clump.
What to Look for in a Quality Concrete Chipping Company
It isn’t enough to find concrete chippers who are willing to take on your company’s work. As is the case with any company you’re hiring on, you’ll want to find a team of concrete chippers who understand the safest, most efficient way to go about the work, and who you can trust to provide adequate care for your expensive drums, silos and mixers. Here are a few considerations that should come into play.
- Seek Out a Concrete Chipping Company that Will Work with You: No other concrete or construction company is exactly like yours, and no other company’s concrete chipping appointments will be the same. When it comes time to book preventative maintenance, you’ll want to find a company that’s willing to work around your unique needs and circumstances. Do noise ordinances around your plant dictate when concrete chipping appointments can happen? Does certain equipment require a bit of added TLC? Are you on a tight deadline due to upcoming projects? Whatever the case, let your potential concrete chipping crew know. By communicating those needs right off the bat, you help ensure your crew arrives prepared for the work to come, and you help keep everyone on the same page.
- Find Concrete Chippers with a Solid Reputation: They say word of mouth is the best form of advertising, and it can also be the best way to find the right concrete chipping crew. We recommend talking with friends and colleagues who have hired concrete chippers before and asking what their individual experiences were like. Who did they hire? Did the company do quality work? Would they do business with them again? What might they change? Once you’ve gone that route, consider taking to the internet. Seek out online reviews and check out your chosen company’s ratings and comments on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website. You might also ask your potential concrete chipping company to provide testimonials or references from past clients.
- Hire Concrete Chipping Experts Who are Adequately Trained: There are a surprising number of companies out there who advertise concrete chipping work, but who aren’t licensed to carry it out. And trusting your expensive equipment to such a business can result in costly repercussions. Not only could it lead to damage to your silos, mixers and drums (damage which you might be left paying for if they aren’t insured), but it could result in injuries that place lives at risk. Concrete truck chipping and cement silo cleaning are inherently dangerous tasks, and they should only be left to trained professionals. When interviewing potential concrete chipping companies, we recommend asking for proof of insurance, and looking into what they require in terms of certifications and continuing education. At General Chipping, for instance, our team takes part in regular OSHA safety trainings and safety-focused toolbox talks. In addition, ongoing educational efforts ensure our crew is up to date on required licenses and ready to take on your work in the best possible manner.
When Should You Book Concrete Chipping, Illinois?
Individual chipping requirements will vary somewhat, based on factors such as the amount of work your crew takes on, the ages of your ready mix drums, mixers and cement silos — and even the types of concrete you use. However, industry experts generally recommend booking silo cleaning, redi mix truck chipping and central mixer cleaning every three months. Keeping a regular maintenance schedule goes a long way toward keeping buildup at bay, keeping your equipment healthy and keeping your crew’s work moving forward unencumbered.
PRO TIP: Consider scheduling a full year’s worth of concrete chipping appointments out at once. Doing so allows you to factor maintenance into your crew’s day-to-day schedule so it doesn’t get forgotten or become a burden. It also ensures you won’t have difficulty booking service (or face costly rush fees) during busy seasons.