Commercial forming can be used in a wide variety of construction projects, including forms to create customized building experiences. There are several different types of commercial forming that is beneficial for specific project needs. These are among the more common commercial forming options you can use for construction projects today.
How Is Commercial Forming Used?
Commercial forming can be used in numerous ways for construction and even landscaping. Throughout history, wood forming has been used for creating structures that are massive in size as well as those that are smaller in scale. Today forms are used to create many exciting and useful things more affordably. There are forms for many building tasks, including:
- Crawl space forms.
- Concrete housing.
- Agricultural forms.
- Pre-cast concrete forms.
- Fence forms.
- Saferoom forms.
Forms are even used for decorative concrete columns in home construction as well as some landscaping projects, decorative concrete projects in particular.
Wood Commercial Forming
Commercial forming has used wood throughout history to help shape concrete. Modern wood forms are used to help shape things like concrete counter tops rather than iconic buildings of the past, like the Roman Colosseum or the Pantheon (the arches of these buildings were formed by pouring concrete into wooden forms).
In construction today, wood forms are used to create concrete slabs that are used when building smaller structures. While the art of using wooden forms is ancient, today's process has a few updates including the use of laser levels, forming boards, and more. The woods used as forms are coated with low-grade oils to prevent sticking so contractors can reuse the forms.
Plastic Commercial Forming
Most commonly used in landscaping and smaller projects, plastic forms do have their place in modern buildings. However, heavy construction outfits rarely utilize the plastic forming process for their larger commercial forming needs, reserving them for more decorative or delicate forming projects instead.
Metal Commercial Forming
Commercial metal forming isn't a one-size-fits-all proposition. Some metals are better choices for different projects. Among the most common types of metals used in commercial forming are:
- Aluminum
- Steel
- Stainless Steel
For instance, cost-effective aluminum commercial forming is widely used to create budget-friendly mass-production housing around the world that allows for low-cost and rapid construction. Aluminum commercial forms are also used to create basement layouts, pools and spas, apartment complexes, condos, and commercial buildings.
Commercial forming can save a lot of time and money in the modern construction process. Even though the practice has been around since Ancient Rome, modern construction outfits use commercial forming to tackle big projects while keeping costs to their clients low and ensuring soundness in the construction process.
