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Stamped concrete in various patterns, highlighted with acid stain. Decorative concrete is the use of concrete as not simply a utilitarian medium for construction but as an aesthetic enhancement to a structure, while still serving its function as an integral part of the building itself such as floors, walls, driveways, and patios.
A pallet of "8-inch" concrete blocks An interior wall of painted concrete blocks Concrete masonry blocks A building constructed with concrete masonry blocks. A concrete block, also known as a cinder block in North American English, breeze block in British English, concrete masonry unit (CMU), or by various other terms, is a standard-size rectangular block used in building construction.
Masonry walls have an endothermic effect of its hydrates, as in chemically bound water, unbound moisture from the concrete block, and the poured concrete if the hollow cores inside the blocks are filled. Masonry can withstand temperatures up to 1,000 °F (538 °C) and it can withstand direct exposure to fire for up to 4 hours.
Concrete manufacturers started experimenting with modern decorative concrete techniques as early as the 1890s. [4] In the 1950s, Brad Bowman—considered the "father" of modern concrete stamping—began developing and patenting new techniques for producing concrete that resembled non-concrete materials, such as flagstone and wood. [ 4 ]
Due to its low cost, concrete was a popular replacement for stone as a structural building element. [2] As a building material, concrete was historically consigned to unseen structural positions such as behind a veneer or in the basement, but evolutions in texturing technology produced concrete blocks that could perform aesthetically as well as structurally. [4]
Modern-day lintels may be made using prestressed concrete and are also referred to as beams in beam-and-block slabs or as ribs in rib-and-block slabs. These prestressed concrete lintels and blocks can serve as components that are packed together and propped to form a suspended-floor concrete slab. An arch functions as a curved lintel. [1] [2]