Home construction can be an exciting chance to create your dream house from scratch. It can also be a source of stress and headaches. All of the chaos intrinsic in the construction process is worth it to create the house that matches the vision you have for your home, but getting there can be stressful.
The construction process is not only a source of stress for homeowners, though; it can also stress out your lawn.
A yard can experience a great deal of damage during building or adding onto a home. However, there are some steps you can take to reduce this damage. One of the most essential is using an access mat during the construction process.
Protect your lawn
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Access mats are portable platforms to protect a surface during construction or other projects involving heavy machinery and vehicles. They are made of various materials, including wood, plastic, composite, fiberglass, and rubber.
When your contractor uses access mats, they are essentially safeguarding large vehicles and equipment from damaging the grass and other vegetation on the surface of a lawn. This simple precaution prevents rutting, which occurs when tires sink into the ground and spin, digging holes that may remain there for years.
Protect your contractor’s equipment
Another benefit of access mats is that they provide better access to the ground on which a construction crew is working and reduce damage to the contractor’s equipment.
Typical lawns harbor many roots and other sharp edges that can damage tires and equipment. An access mat separates tires from these objects so they don’t puncture as easily or often.
An access mat provides sufficient support for heavy construction equipment to keep it running in its best condition.
Protect the environment
In addition to protecting your lawn and your contractor’s construction equipment, access mats provide some environmental protection.
Without an access mat, heavy equipment and vehicles can compact the soil in your lawn. This compacted soil is harder for roots to grow in, which means there will be fewer of them. Plants cannot thrive without a strong root system. Access mats help mitigate this effect.
Heavy equipment can also cause soil disturbance and increased erosion, both of which impact the environment negatively.
A cost-effective solution
In lieu of access mats, some construction companies use plywood planks in an attempt to achieve the same effect. Plywood planks are cheaper than access mats, so some companies use them to try to mitigate costs.
However, although the initial cost of an access mat is higher than plywood planks, those planks quickly give out and break or rot. They then must be replaced. The cost of replacing plywood planks over time costs more than the initial price of an access mat. So, in the end, access mats are actually more cost-effective than plywood planks.
In addition to being more cost-effective in the long run, access mats also provide better support for heavy equipment and vehicles.
Conclusion
Access mats provide protection for your lawn, your contractor’s equipment, and the environment as a whole. They are also a cost-effective solution, making them an obvious choice when constructing a new house or remodeling an existing home.
