Credit: Original article published here.

Concrete has several advantages over traditional wood/organic structures. A major one is that concrete structures are inedible to termites and rodents. Organic building materials (such as timber) have the potential to be the perfect habitat for termites – where there is moisture and wood, you will almost always find termites nearby. Although they are as small as ants, when they work together they cause more than $5 billion in damage in the U.S. each year, according to the National Pest Management Association. Termites don’t just cause cosmetic damage, either. They eat into the very structure of your home – the support beams, floor joists, posts, ceiling joists and wall studs.

In addition, because most termites do  all their dirty work out of view, it can be difficult to spot the warning signs.

So how do you avoid termites? A concrete structure! Concrete is hard enough that termites cannot chew through it, and there is no nutritional value for them to gain from concrete, unlike wood structures. Termites cannot damage a foundation made of concrete, concrete block and most certainly a prestressed concrete building! Termites hold the same regard for concrete as humans hold for metal bottle caps. A bottle cap stands between you and your refreshing beverage. You can’t eat it because it’s too hard, and you have no need for it anyway.

A prestressed concrete building is built for the long haul – there is no need to worry about decay or rotting, especially from termites and other rodents!

This is just one more benefit on that lengthy list of the advantages of a prestressed concrete structures over traditional building materials!

Matt Everding
Director of Operations