Patching Floor with Epoxy

July 18, 2017

Here is an outline of the procedure for patching with Epoxy.com Product #1 and Product #10.  Cold cure is identical but you should make even smaller batches and work even faster.

  1. Mix a small amount of the #10 (mix ratio 2A: 1B).
    1. Measure accurately and mix for 3 minutes with a proper size mixer.
    2. Typically very small batches less than a quart can be mixed with a stir stick.
    3. Larger batches should use a mixing paddle in a low speed drill or similar. Typically  mixing paddles are 5 inches or more in diameter.
  2. Apply a primer coat of #10 at a rate of 250-300 SF per gallon (typically done with a roller) to the substrate the mortar is to be attached to.
    1. Typically you will allow this to harden to the touch to make troweling into it easy.
    2. You can trowel into the wet primer in the case of small patches.
  3. Mortar Patch
    1. Mix another small batch of #10, using the methods in step 1 above.
    2. Add Product #82 Mortar Blend Aggregate to the mixed resin in 3a. You can add as much as 50 to 75 lbs. of mortar blend aggregate to a gallon of mixed #10 resin. If the material appears to wet you can add more, if it is too dry add less.
    3. Quickly trowel the patch into place.  Winter Cure Epoxy can set very fast in the bucket.
  4. Sealer Coat
    1. After the patch in step 3 has hardened, you can grind off any high spots and fill more material again if needed.
    2. Then seal the top of the patch.
  1. Product #10 is thinner than the #1, making it an excellent sealer for sealing up the patch.
  2. Alternately you can go directly to a very thin coat of #1
  1. Top Coat
    1. Mix small batches of #1 using the methods used in #1 above.
    2. Mix optional Antiskid fine into the coating above at a rate of 8-16 volume ounces of Anti-skid per gallon of mixed resin.  12 ounces per gallon is typical.  This is done by mixing the resin first, adding the anti-skid and mixing for another min.
    3. Quickly apply the material with a roller at a rate of 160-200 SF per gallon per coat.  Two coats is recommended.
  2. Please read all the information below before starting your project.
  1. Do with Epoxies
  2. Don’ts with Epoxies
  3. Surface Preparation
  4. www.epoxy.com/10.aspx
  5. http://epoxy.com/1cold.htm
  6. SDS Product #10 Part A – Hardener Lo-Mod Epoxy Adhesive and Mortar Epoxy Resin
  7. SDS Product #10 Part Cold Cure B – Lo-Mod Epoxy Adhesive and Mortar Epoxy Hardener
  8. SDS Product #1A – All Purpose Coating Hardener Component MSDS.
  9. SDS Product #1B -cc – Cold Cure Epoxy Hardener for Product #1

 

BE SURE TO CALL ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS!

 


Epoxy Injection of Structures Part 3

February 24, 2017

This is the third in a series on Infrastructure Repairs Using Epoxy. Part One is  Introduction to Epoxy Injection.  Part 2 is Crack Analysis Before Epoxy Injection

If your have not read that yet you may want to go back and read it before you proceed with reading this.

Port Setting

It is extremely important that if drilling to use the right tool. to set drill type ports use a vacuum swivel drill. That is a drill with vacuum attached swivel drill chuck and hollow a drill bit.

Concrete dust can be detrimental to the injection processes in several ways. Any dust remaining in the drill hole near a crack can combine with the very low viscosity injection resin. This thickens your resin turning it into a weak paste. This paste can slow or even block the resin flow. Drilling very tight crack with a solid drill forces dust into the crack. This seals the crack from resin flow. Do not allow shortcuts in the drilling procedures!  However, for most applications the surface port is the easiest and most effective method.Epoxy Injection Surface Port

Port Spacing

Determining the spacing of ports is done by a highly experience applicator. This spacing is a factor of the tightness of the crack and the depth of the concrete substrate. Spacing is normally between four (4) and eight (8) inches.

Port Setting and Sealing

Align ports directly over cracks. That allows injection resin to flow into the crack. Seal surface cracks. Sealing the exterior of cracks is done with Epoxy Gel type Bonder.

Testing The System

Test cracks that are ill defined, or if dust or debris is in the crack. This testing may be done by injecting water into the crack area.

Water left in the cracks will not effect the injection process or the curing of the Epoxy.com Injection Resin. Heavier injection resin forces the water out the cracks. Water injection helps clean the cracked areas. More important, is that it helps avoid the unexpected. This process of flushing the cracks is commonly skipped by more experience contractors, who can tell if there will be a flow of resin, by just looking at them. However, when in doubt water testing is a must.

If the cracks contain algae, chlorinated water containing copper sulfate is injected. After pumping this mixture is left over night. The next morning the crack is flushed by pumping fresh water, into it. This flushes it out before resin injection begins.

Efflorescence builds up on the bottom of a crack in a horizontal slab. Water in the crack extracting soluble calcium hydroxide is the cause. The water evaporates at the surface leaving the lime, which later reacts with the carbon dioxide in the air to form limestone. The inside of the crack, is frequently free of limestone and making it suitable for injection.

Part 4 of this series: Injection Resin Materials Product Selection.

For more information visit our website at http://www.epoxy.com, email us at info@epoxy.com or call our technical service department at +1 (352) 533-2167.

 


Epoxy Injection of Structures Part 2

February 14, 2017

Infrastructure Repairs Using Epoxy

Epoxy Concrete Injection Epoxy Wood Injection, epoxy crack repair

Epoxy Structural Concrete and Wood Repair / Waterproofing

The following article is written with enough information about resin injection systems to help protect the Owner from the misuse or improper installation of an injection systems.   For more information contact me: Norm Lambert.

This is the second in a series on Infrastructure Repairs Using Epoxy. Part One was Introduction to Epoxy Injection.  If your have not read that yet you may want to go back and read it before you proceed with reading this.

Part 2: Crack Analysis Before Epoxy Injection

As with all repair and rehabilitation of concrete, the initial job analysis is by far the most important step. Epoxy Injection Resin will weld concrete cracks but, of course, will not repair the cause of the cracking.

Analyze each potential injection application to determine the exact cause or causes of the cracking. Correcting the cracking problem can be fairly simple, or may be difficult involving design changes.

Consult a structural engineer when design changes are necessary. Do this before starting the injection. Repairing cracks by Injection is effective after these design changes. Prevent future cracks by fixing the original cause of the cracking, when ever possible.

Parking garages are an example of cracking problem that require a structural engineering analysis.Epoxy.com Epoxy Inection Often inadequate design for expansion/contraction is the cause for parking garage structural cracking. Avoid weld injecting a crack if there are not enough expansion joints. Sometimes flexible overlays such as Epoxy.com System # 495 can be used to overcome this defect. This does not however encapsulate the rebar in a way that will totally stop the premature deterioration of the steel. Often times additional joints are needed, thus the analysis of cracking problems is critical.

Bridge decks and slab on grades can often be repaired with Epoxy.com Product #684LV crack healer and sealer and save some of the cost of doing epoxy injection.

Next in the Injection Series:

Part 3: Setting Epoxy Injection Ports

For more information visit our website at http://www.epoxy.com, email us at info@epoxy.com or call our technical service department at +1 (352) 533-2167.


Fixing Floor Damage with Epoxy

September 6, 2016

Industrial and commercial floors take heavy abuse. The older the flooring the worse shape it is in. Conventional wisdom says that such a breakdown of the floor is inevitable. There are steps you can take to protect your floor before it gets damaged. Once the damage has happened there are steps you can take to permanently repair most damaged floors.

Floor joints, are the source of many industrial flooring problems. The purpose of these joints (in original construction) is to give the concrete a controlled place for the concrete crack as it shrinks. They sometimes are called expansion joints. In theory they will expand when the concrete gets hot.Indoors, where temperature is somewhat stable, most of their function of these joints has ended after 28 days or so of concrete. Concrete does most of it shrinking in the first 28 days.

wheel across empty joint

A wheel across an empty Joint

The downside of these joints in the concrete is that it gives a place for the concrete to start chipping away. See the highlighted (in blue) corners in the illustration to the right. When wheels pass across the top it hammers the edge in the opposite side of traffic flow. This breaks off tiny pieces of concrete (again drawn in blue as a triangle at the edges of the concrete joint). The bigger the area chipped out earlier, the bigger and faster additional chipping happens. Time goes on and “pot holes”start to form in the concrete joint in direct proportion to the number of times wheels have hit a given spot.This can become a major trip and forklift hazard.

The best way to prevent this concrete damage is to fill the joints with Epoxy.com  – Product #11-100% Solids Flexible Epoxy Joint Filler for Saw Cut Joints. The #11 is semi-flexible so it still allows some joint movement but (unlike caulking) is firm enough to support the hard wheel as it passes over the joint, virtually

wheel across a filled joint

Wheel Supported by #11 as it passes over the joint.

eliminating the pounding and chipping effect on the sides of the joint. See in this diagram how the #11 supports the wheel as it passes over the joint.

For application on flat surfaces Epoxy Joint Filler for Saw-Cut Control Joints Product #11 can be poured or pumped from an Epoxy.com Binary Pumping Systems. In areas where cosmetics are important mask both sides of the substrate before applying the material.

If the areas are bigger you can use Epoxy.com Product #12  blended with silica sand to make a mortar to fill epoxy_joint_repairthe pothole, then re-cut your joint with a concrete saw as shown in the diagram here. The Product #12 can also be mixed with silica sand and used to repair areas in the center of a slab that might have started as a random crack or because of a chemical spill or due to impact damage.

If you need the epoxy mortar to set at a lower temperature and/or faster Epoxy.com Product #10 Epoxy Mortar Resin in fast or cold cure may be the best option.

Here is an outline of getting your flooring ready and some of the types of flooring we can offer you.

I can easily calculate how much material you will need for your floor.  The patching will take a little more effort and some estimation of the geometry of the repairs from you:

  1. Joints
    1. Fill joints with Epoxy.com Product #11 – epoxy.com/11.aspx.If there is spalling at the joint see “pot hole” repair below.
  2. Pot holes
    1. Fill shallow areas with a blend of Epoxy.com Product #12 – epoxy.com/12.aspx -And Epoxy.com Product #71 – www.epoxy.com/71.aspx fumed silica
    2. Fill Deep areas with a blend of Epoxy.com Product #12 and product #82 Mortar Blend Aggregates
  3. Priming
    1. Oil Saturated areas (if any) – Epoxy.com Product #201 – epoxy.com/201.aspx
    2. Areas with moisture vapor transfer issues (if any – see epoxy.com/surfaceprep.aspx ) with Epoxy.com Product #830 – www.epoxy.com/830.aspx
    3. All areas not subject to the items above primed with
      1. Epoxy.com Product #12 – www.epoxy.com/12.aspx or
    4. Epoxy.com Product #899 – www.epoxy.com/899.aspx.
  4. Floor Coating – High Build
    1. High build all purpose epoxy floor coating:  Epoxy.com Product #1 – epoxy.com/1.aspx or
    2. High build mid range chemical resistant epoxy floor coating: Epoxy.com Product #2 – epoxy.com/2.aspx or
    3. High build highly chemically resistant epoxy floor coating: Epoxy.com Product #633 – epoxy.com/633.aspx
  5. Seamless Flooring
    1. Chip Flooring – epoxy.com/chips.aspx or
    2. Solid Colored Standard chemical resistance Flooring
    3. Product #24 Pigmented mortar – www.epoxy.com/24.aspx and silica sand
      1. Top coated with Product #1 – www.epoxy.com/2.aspx  or
    4. For high chemical resistance Epoxy.com Product #2 – epoxy.com/2.aspx
    5. Epoxy Quartz Flooring – www.epoxy.com/15.aspx.
  6. Chemical Resistant Epoxy Flooring
    1. Product #630 and silica sand – www.epoxy.com/630.aspx
    2. Product #633 and silica sand – www.epoxy.com/633.aspx 

Still not sure? Email epoxy.com Technical Support info@epoxy.com  call us at 352-533-2167. We will help you select the right product for your job. We can also help you estimate how much of it you need, and quote you on those quantities.

You can also visit us at www.epoxy.com 24 hours a day 7 days a week.