All posts by Kelton Glewwe

concrete mender

Freezer threshold repair with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™.

Freezer, chiller and cooler thresholds have been an ongoing challenge to floor repair contractors and the USDA since the 1950’s. Recognizing the need to keep refrigerated and frozen food storage areas clean and sealed so they will not harbor lichen, fungus and pests, the USDA has issued zero tolerance guidelines for floor cracks and spalls in all food processing and refrigerated food lockers. Unsealed and opened joints also come under the watchful eye of those charged with keeping America’s food supply safe. Because thresholds are freezing cold on one side and at room temperature on the other, the thermal stress on the concrete is unrelenting and unforgiving. Couple this with forklift and wheeled cart traffic and you have a formula for disaster.

 

Fortunately, 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ has become the accepted repair material for these very harsh conditions. The agency itself is forbidden from recommending one product over another, but the personal choice among active USDA inspectors is Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™. It’s thin, it gets in, it won’t pop out.

Some minimal prep work is required when working in the cold. Have the cracks and spalls as clean and dry as possible. This may not be easy, but it’s a step professionals know better than to ignore. Next, apply Mender to the base and sidewalls to seal off any free moisture movement into the repair area. Immediately follow by filling the spalled area or crack, almost to the top, with manufactured sand or approved quartz. Flood the sand to refusal, making sure the Mender saturates each grain. For larger areas, a bulk mixed mortar of Mender and sand may be easier to handle and install. Keep all materials at room temperature or warmer to speed up cure time. Even then, one should plan on an hour or more if temperatures are extreme. However, since all conditions vary, onsite testing is the best way to insure the time at which freezer floors and thresholds will be traffic-ready. Contractor field reports are very solid in reporting that 10 Minute Concrete Mender is the only thing that works in these tough repair situations. Click here for step by step bulk application instructions.

 

1. Remove existing concrete to wood base.

2. Saw key-way at a 45° downward angle on the cold side of the

threshold toward the freezer.

3. Using a diamond shaped pattern, drive sheet rock screws into

the base leaving 3/8″ of the screw sticking up, to act as a

dowel pin for the finishing lift of 10 Minute Concrete

Mender and sand aggregate.

4. Place 10 Minute Concrete Mender to grade. When fully cured

(about an hour at 32F, 0C) sawcut the warm side joint and fill

with Roadware Flexible Cement II™.

5. Reopen to traffic when Flexible Cement II is fully cured.

Continue reading Freezer threshold repair with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™. →

concrete mender

New Roadware Estimator App

UPDATE: The new online Roadware product estimator runs on most browsers and mobile devices including iOs and Android. Click here for the Roadware Online Product Estimator.

Announcing the Roadware Product Estimator App for iOS devices.

 

Users of iOS devices such as the iPhone or the iPad now have a convenient way to estimate the amount of Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ needed to repair a concrete crack, joint or spall.  Since Concrete Mender may be extended with sand at a ratio of two parts sand to one part liquid, estimating product usage is more challenging. The Roadware App eliminates the guesswork and gives users an estimated usage in 600ml cartridges and gallons of material. Sand ratios can be adjusted from none, 2:1 and 3:1 for special applications. An internet connection is not necessary when using the App so you can make an estimate from anywhere.

The Roadware App can be downloaded for free at the iTunes store by searching for Roadware or by clicking here.

 


Enter the crack dimensions in English feet and inches or metric meters and millimeters.

Set sand ratio. Default is two parts sand two one part mixed Concrete Mender.

Click the Calculate button at the top.

 

The resulting screen shows:

Total cubic centimeters need to fill the repair area.

Total gallons of mixed repair material needed.

Number of 600ml cartridges of Concrete Mender needed.

Number of gallons of Concrete Mender needed.

 

MatchCrete

Using Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear to repair cracks on the historic Stone Arch Bridge.

This week the City of Minneapolis used Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear to repair cracks in the exposed aggregate walkway surface on the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota.   The Stone Arch Bridge is unique to the Mississippi River and features 23 arches, is 2100 feet long and 28 feet wide.

The bridge was built by railroad baron James J. Hill in 1883 and served as a working railroad bridge until 1965.  Today the bridge is mostly used by walkers and bicyclists.  The bridge also hosts many festivals and public events in the summer months.

In preparation for the summer festival season, City of Minneapolis crews used Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear to repair cracks in the exposed aggregate walkway surface. MatchCrete™ Clear is combined with matching rock to repair cracks and restore a consistent walking surface.

The process begins with routing out the cracks with a dry diamond blade
to remove loose dirt and debris. Clean and dry matching stone is placed
into the crack up to surface level.

Matching stone is added up to the surface level

Next, two-part blended MatchCrete™ Clear is poured into the repair up to the surface. This fills in all the voids between the stones and seals the crack.  MatchCrete™ Clear is a semi-ridged material that will support all kinds of traffic from pedestrians to industrial fork lifts.

MatchCrete™ Clear is added to the pre-placed stone

See video MatchCrete™ Clear application video below:

 

Repairs will have a, wet” look for a few months and will naturally dull over time. A clear coat sealing over the entire surface will off-set this effect.

MatchCrete™ Clear repair in exposed aggregate concrete.

In a few months, Repairs with MatchCrete™ Clear will dull and blend into the surrounding concrete.

Over time, repairs will become less shiny.

Update: June 24, 2012.

MatchCrete™ Clear repairs 18 days later.

 

I revisited the repairs on the bridge 18 days later. The surface has been sealed.  The repairs are performing as expected.

Roadware MatchCrete Clear is available is 50ml and 600ml cartridges and two gallon bulk kits.

 

Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear 71300 600ml Cartridge

 

 

concrete mender, Concrete Repair

Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ Best Practices

 

ROADWARE 10 MINUTE CONCRETE MENDER™

Buildings marked for demolition in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Recently, our Roadware distributor in New Zealand requested a list of best practices for using Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™.  Contractors in Christchurch are using Concrete Mender to repair many meters of cracks following recent earthquakes.   
Best
Practices
Storage
and Transportation
1.
Keep cartridges in original foil bag and store in
an upright position.
2.
Store on a cool dry place between 10-28 degrees
C (50 – 80 F). If cartridges are allowed to freeze below – 10 C (14 F) some material separation
can occur.  Return material to 25 C (75 F)
and shake or mix to re-blend before use.
3.
Handle with care. Punctures to the bag can cause
moisture contamination. Rough handling can cause cartridge cracking and
leakage.
4.
Ship in upright orientation in original shipping
containers.
Usage
1.
Read and follow illustrated instructions.
2.
Use gloves and safety glasses.  Concrete Mender is very thin and can
splash back if applied erratically.
3.
Make sure the flow-restrictor and mixer seat
properly.
4.
Use a new flow-restrictor and mixer every time.
5.
Small cracks less than 2mm should be cut open to
5mm for best results.  The 5mm cut
will form a, “well” for the product to accumulate as it soaks down into the
crack and will reduce material spreading on the surface away from the repair
area.
6.
Once material is flowing from the mixer, keep the
tip pointed down.  Use the thumb
release on the gun to stop the flow.
7.
Discharge the material from the cartridge
firmly.  Working too slowly can
cause poor mixing.
8.
Always apply a coating of Concrete Mender into the crack or spall before adding sand. This will give you better penetration and bonding.
9.
When applying with sand, make sure the sand and
repair area are completely saturated with Concrete Mender.
10.  Use a shop vacuum or compressed air to remove as much dust and contaminates from the
repair area.
11.  If you suspect there is water on the bottom of the crack that you cannot remove, repair the bottom half first and allow it to cure (turn grey) before repairing the top half.
12.  When working at below 0 degrees C, use a propane torch or similar method to remove any surface frost from the concrete before applying the material. Keep Concrete Mender and sand at room temperature before use.

13.  Needle tip mixers are great for better control and pinpoint application. They also can easily clog up when left filled with mixed product. Do not try and force a mixer or tip to clear by adding more force to the gun. You can blow out the rear seals and cause a mess.  Get a new mixer or tip and start over.

Concrete Mender™ is injected into cracked walls in Christchurch, New Zealand.
concrete mender, Concrete Repair

Ten things about Concrete Mender

Ten things you probably didn’t know about Concrete Mender.
  1. A little Concrete Mender goes a long way.  A gallon of polyurea or epoxy makes a gallon of repair material. A gallon of Concrete Mender mixed with 2 gallons of manufactured sand makes 2.2 gallons of repair material. That makes polyurea and epoxy more expensive to use even at half the price.
  2. All Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender is manufactured and packaged in South St Paul, Minnesota, USA.  We do not private label the product to other companies. The, “patent” did not run out allowing other companies to make Concrete Mender.  That was a just an amusing rumor we heard at the World of Concrete put out by an unscrupulous exhibitor.
  3. Microdoweling is more than a funny word.  Microdoweling is the process of using very low surface tension materials that penetrate the surface of damaged concrete and bonding to the aggregate within the concrete mix.  It is an exclusive Roadware technology. You can see the scanning electron microscope photos in our website by clicking here.
  4. Concrete Mender is a structural repair. Concrete Mender is the flagship product for a new class of materials called structural polyurethanes. It is tough enough to be a structural repair, but never brittle like epoxy.
  5. The color of a finished Concrete Mender repair is more influenced by the sand color than anything else.  White silica sand will make a light grey repair. Brown sand will make a darker and warmer tone.  We do offer Concrete Mender in Grey, Off-white, Safety Yellow, Target Red,  Ikea Black and WalMart red/brown.
  6. Concrete Mender is sold all over the world and most overseas exported product is shipped via air.  When your concrete needs to be fixed in ten minutes, you don’t want to wait eight weeks for ocean freight.
  7. When repairing polished concrete floors, you can use polishing dust from the floor, sand and aggregate to give your repairs the same,  “texture,” and look of the surrounding concrete.
  8. Contractors in New Zealand developed simple techniques to repair hairline cracks in walls damaged by earthquakes near Christchurch.
  9. In Japan Concrete Mender is known as, “Crack Bond.”
  10. Every cartridge of Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender is packaged by hand and inspected by Amanda.

 

Microdoweling™ and Concrete Mender™ are trademarks of Roadware Incorporated © 2012.

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concrete mender, MatchCrete

World of Concrete 2012 in Las Vegas

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Hello Concrete Professional,Are you attending the World of Concrete 2012 in Las Vegas?

Please accept my personal invitation to visit Roadware booth S11447
at the World of Concrete 2012. We have new Roadware concrete repair
products to show and more opportunities to grow your business than ever.

New in 2012:

Roadware MatchCrete Clear
has an improved formula that is easier to use and will not bubble or
swell under high moisture conditions. Perfect for repairing polished
concrete and exposed aggregate. We will be demonstrating this new
formula through out the day. Use MatchCrete Clear indoors or out with
confidence.

 

Roadware Off-white Concrete Mender
(formally known as MatchCrete Concrete Mender), is our color matching
base material for repairing and matching stained and polished concrete
floors.

Roadware Safety Yellow Concrete Mender is a great solution for installing permanent yellow safety floor markings.

Roadware 50ml Mini Cartridges. These easy to use cartridges are great for precise application and repairing hairline cracks.

Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender–
The gold standard in high-performance concrete repair for almost 20
years now. “It’s thin, it gets in, and it won’t pop out!” is not just a
slogan, we stake our reputation on it.  Roadware 10 Minute Concrete
Mender is the mission critical concrete repair product you have been
looking for. With a surface tension one third of water, this product
gets deep into concrete surfaces and structurally bonds slabs back
together.   2010 MIP Winner.

I hope we can work with you and do more business in 2012.

See you at the show!

Kelton Glewwe
Vice President
Roadware Inc.
Office: 651-457-6122
Cell: 612-801-9200

P.S.

We tend to get swamped with the crowds at the show. Feel
free to send me a text message at 612-801-9200 before or during the show
to schedule a quick meeting.

 

 

 

 

concrete mender

Roadware Safety Dots

Roadware distributor Bill Bacha of Precision Devices in Connecticut has developed an innovative way to create yellow safety markings in warehouse and cold storage floors. By simply using a 4′ core drill and Roadware Concrete Mender in Safety Yellow, Bill can mark safety areas that are permanent and can be applied at temperatures well below freezing.

 Use a core drill to make 3″ circle impressions about 1/4″ inch deep.

 

 
 Fill the circles with Roadware Concrete Mender in Safety Yellow color.

 

The safety circles will cure yellow in about 15 minutes at 70 degrees F or in an hour at 0 degrees F.

Roadware Concrete Mender in Safety Yellow permanently bonds with the concrete using Roadware’s Microdoweling™ technology.

• Integral color will not peel or chip-off.
• Apply in temperatures as low as -20°F.
• Cures forklift traffic ready in 15 minutes at 70°F.
• Easy to clean and maintain.
• High chemical resistance.
• Based on Roadware’s proven Microdoweling™ technology.

Ordering:

Call Roadware at 800-522-7623

Item 70300-y (300x300ml cartridge) Concrete Mender in Safety Yellow

Item 70020-y (2 gallon kit) Concrete Mender in Safety Yellow

concrete mender, Concrete Repair

Hairline Crack Repair with 10 Minute Concrete Mender™.

 

 
Concrete Mender with needle tip applicator repairing a hairline crack.
Concrete Mender is applied with a needle tip to a hairline crack in a decorative concrete floor.
Concrete Mender repair blended into the surrounding concrete.
Repairs are blended in with the surrounding concrete using sandpaper as the product cures.
The sandpaper picks up particles and color from the surrounding concrete and blends hem into the Concrete Mender while it’s in a plastic state. The result is a repair that blends with and closely matches the surrounding concrete. The floor is resealed after and the repairs blend in nicely.
Concrete Repair

Safety Yellow Line Marking with Concrete Mender™ Yellow

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Roadware Concrete Mender™ is available in safety yellow.

Permanent safety yellow line marking with Concrete Mender™

Use for creating permanent yellow safety lines in concrete floors.
• Integral color will not peel or chip-off.
• Apply in temperatures as low as -20°F.
• Cures forklift traffic ready in 15 minutes at 70°F.
• Easy to clean and maintain.
• High chemical resistance.
• Based on Roadware’s proven Microdoweling™ technology.

Yellow Concrete Mender™ cures to a bright safety yellow color in minutes.

Yellow safety marking can be permanently installed in concrete floors with this material. The photo above shows Concrete Mender™ Safety Marking after a year of commercial service.


Bill Smith, US Food Service, Wixom, Michigan.

After years of frustration trying to keep safety line marking in place in a cold storage warehouse, Bill Smith of US Food Service in Michigan started looking for a better way. Installing safety line marking in a 38°F cold storage warehouse is especially challenging. With the 24/7 operations and the heavy fork lift traffic, there was never enough time to let traditional marking paint to cure without the forklift tires marking up the paint. At cool temperatures, the cure times were even slower. Marking tape fared no better. The cold concrete was hard to adhere to and the heavy traffic would quickly damage the marking tapes.

Bill was using Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ to repair cracks, joints, and spalls in the warehouse floor. He liked the fast cure times at low temperatures and he noted the repairs hold up very well to forklift traffic. Bill thought, “What if we could fix our safety line issue with Concrete Mender?” After experimenting with different types of Yellow sand and a request into Roadware for MatchCrete™ Concrete Mender factory colored in Safety Yellow, the line marking MatchCrete™ system was born.

After much experimentation, here is the system that works the best.
1. Scarify a shallow recess in to the concrete the length of the line marking. This can be done any number of ways. Stacking several diamond blades together and placing a temporary saw guide works best. Cut the recess about 1/4 inch deep and 1 inch wide.
2. Vacuum all dust and debris from the saw cut area. Mask off the recess with duct tape.
3. Carefully flood the recess area with Safety Yellow MatchCrete™ Concrete Mender. A small amount of safety yellow quartz sand may be used to choke-off any material that flows too far into any cracks or joints. The top of the material should be slightly recessed and smooth.

Permanent yellow line marking in concrete floors beyond paint.

Permanent safety yellow line marking with Concrete Mender™

The lines will be ready for full traffic in about 15 minutes at room temperature. Give them a few hours to cure if working in a cold room or freezer. No special maintenance is required.
Ordering:

Call Roadware at 800-522-7623

Item 70020-y (2 gallon kit) Concrete Mender™ in Safety Yellow