Return to our homepage Return to our homepage  
 
Waterproof Concrete Waterproof Concrete Joint lift pit Waterproof Concrete Render Drainage Membrane Liquid Membrane
Waterproofer PCE Plasticiser training site supervision About Us Basement Construction
Waterproof Concrete Waterproof Concrete Waterproof Concrete Waterproof Concrete

Waterproof Concrete.

Waterproof concrete that is fully waterproof, vapour proof, stronger, looks better and protects reinforcing steel from chemical attack.

Waterproof concrete that is ideal for
  • basement construction,

  • underground parking,

  • waterproof lift pits,

  • multi storey car parks,

  • motorway bridges,

  • render and

  • pond linings.

OUR AIM IS TO MAKE WATERPROOF CONCRETE AFFORDABLE ENOUGH TO BE USED MORE OFTEN IN CONSTRUCTION.

WATERPROOF CONCRETE IS STRONGER, MUCH HIGHER QUALITY AND REMAINS BLEMISH FREE MANY TIMES LONGER THAN ALMOST ALL THE CONCRETE USED IN BRITAIN.

THEREFORE WE HAVE NONE OF THE USUAL MARKETING 'HYPE'. INSTEAD WE EXPLAIN HOW ALL WATERPROOF CONCRETE WORKS AND WHY IT IS BETTER.


Waterproof Concrete Is
  1. Waterproof

  2. Vapour Proof

  3. Prevents Chemical Attack

  4. Free of Settlement Cracking

  5. Free of Cracking Through Drying for 100 Years Or More

Four additives are needed generally adding £50.00 to the cost of a cubic metre of concrete.
  1. More sand (free)

  2. More cement (£3.00)

  3. Super plasticiser (£6.00)

  4. Hydrophobic Polymer Waterproofer (£35.00)

  5. The resulting concrete is more dense - so you need a little more of it (£6.00)

Very poor concrete is full of pores. Water, and chemicals dissolved in it, flow through easily.

Average structural concrete would have thinner pores. Water may not flow through (it could be considered water-tight) but the thin pores suffer capillary action that pulls much more powerfully than a head of water pushes. The water-filled pores will deliver harmful chemicals to reinforcing steel and dry on the inside of any structure producing a lot of water vapour so habitable basements will be damp.

The extra sand and cement in Waterproof Concrete reduce the pore widths, ironically increasing capillary pressure still further.

The Super Plasticiser compacts the concrete much more because it replaces water. The pores are as narrow as possible. Cement grains touch but the capillary pressure through the gaps is now massive, but as the cement forms a gel and that crystalises so some capillary pores become blocked.

The remaining problem is capillary action. The Waterproofer lines the capillary pores with a Hydrophobic Polymer. This fully reverses capillary action. It KEEPS WATER, and any harmful chemicals dissolved in it, OUT.

The Hydrophobic Polymer needed the Super Plasticiser to reduce the water content so that the cement grains touched and the extra sand and cement were needed to get the cement grains close enough for the Super Plasticiser to make a difference.

You need all four additives. Your concrete will be
  1. Waterproof,

  2. Vapour proof,

  3. Highly resistant to chemical attack (reinforcing steel with proper concrete cover will be fully protected).

    4. Your concrete will have

  4. Increased quality,

  5. Increased integrity (no hidden voids),

  6. Improved surface finish,

  7. Increased ultimate strength (cubes crush at around C52)

  8. Much longer life. Possibly 500 years instead of 25 because drying shrinkage will be virtually eliminated, chemical attack fully eliminated and settlement cracking should not occur.
 

Print this paper
revealing exactly how
waterproof concretes work.

how to waterproof concrete




Please Upgrade Your Flash Player

Get Adobe Flash player



This video can be viewed in High Definition .MP4 on You Tube here.

We suggest that for a toolbox talk you show it in Full Screen mode.



Good workmanship and practice remain essential to gain the benefits described on this web site.

You will notice, as you read about how easy it is to waterproof with concrete:
  • Pure cement, CEM1R, Is required for our joint and for our render. This is no longer stocked by any merchants. We can supply it to you at cost, £4.40 a 25Kg bag plus VAT. You will be prompted to add it to your order when you contact us.

  • Leighton Buzzard Sand is most strenuously recommended for render. We keep small quantities that we can supply you and we can help you source larger quantities.


Please use the pictures above as a menu to access all our information.



Disclaimer:
1. Content
The author reserves the right not to be responsible for the topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of the information provided. Liability claims regarding damage caused by the use of any information provided, including any kind of information which is incomplete or incorrect,will therefore be rejected. All offers are not-binding and without obligation. Parts of the pages or the complete publication including all offers and information might be extended, changed or partly or completely deleted by the author without separate announcement.

2. Referrals and links
The author is not responsible for any contents linked or referred to from his pages - unless he has full knowledge of illegal contents and would be able to prevent the visitors of his site from viewing those pages. If any damage occurs by the use of information presented there, only the author of the respective pages might be liable, not the one who has linked to these pages. Furthermore the author is not liable for any postings or messages published by users of discussion boards, guestbooks or mailinglists provided on his page.

3. Copyright
The author intended not to use any copyrighted material for the publication or, if not possible, to indicate the copyright of the respective object. The copyright for any material created by the author is reserved. Any duplication or use of objects such as images, diagrams, sounds or texts in other electronic or printed publications is not permitted without the author's agreement.

4. Privacy policy
If the opportunity for the input of personal or business data (email addresses, name, addresses) is given, the input of these data takes place voluntarily. The use and payment of all offered services are permitted - if and so far technically possible and reasonable - without specification of any personal data or under specification of anonymized data or an alias. The use of published postal addresses, telephone or fax numbers and email addresses for marketing purposes is prohibited, offenders sending unwanted spam messages will be punished.

5. Legal validity of this disclaimer
This disclaimer is to be regarded as part of the internet publication which you were referred from. If sections or individual terms of this statement are not legal or correct, the content or validity of the other parts remain uninfluenced by this fact.

Source: www.disclaimer.com

Entire site © 2010 Waterproof Concrete Ltd. All rights reserved.