Tag Archives: decorative concrete repair

concrete mender, Concrete Repair

Vertical Wall Repair at Club Warehouse Store

Use Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ and sand to repair damaged concrete block walls in an hour or less. Sent in by Dave Wilson at Myspec Integrated Concrete Repair Group in Georgia.  770-335-9123 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ is great for repairing cracks and spalls in floors. This ultra-low 8cps viscosity material gravity flows deep into concrete and makes repairs from the bottom up.  To repair a holes in a block wall, mix the Concrete Mender™ with fine silica sand to make a trowel-able mortar.

 
 Step 1: Prepare the area and remove any loose block, paint or dirt.

Step 2: Mask off the area like shown. In a clean bucket, mix one part AB blended Concrete Mender with 3 parts sand to make a stiff mortar and trowel into the repair area. You may want to tape a plastic sheet over the repair area to hold the Concrete Mender mixture in place while it cures for 10 minutes. See bulk mixing instructions here.

Step 3: After approximately 10 minutes depending on the ambient temperature, pull the masking and blend in the repair with a rubbing brick.

Step 4: Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ can be painted as soon as it cures.  Paint the repair area to match the surrounding wall.

With Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ you can do a job in less than an hour that used to take two days. No more waiting for hours or days while traditional cement based materials to set and cure.

Concrete Repair, MatchCrete

Repairing Cracks in Driveways and Patios Updated

One of the most common calls we get is asking how to repair a crack in a driveway or patio.  We designed Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear with this in mind.  Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear is a UV stable clear polyurethane hybrid that makes effective repairs to most exterior concrete surfaces.  By simply leaving the repair clear, the color of the surrounding concrete shows throughout the repair.

The first step to a good looking crack repair is to rout-out or cut the repair open with a diamond blade grinder.  You only have to go about 1/4″ x 1/4″. This will create a recess for the material to rest as it soaks down further into the crack.  Skipping this step will allow the material to flow uncontrollably on the surface and will create a messy looking repair.

 

Apply cartridge mixed MatchCrete™ Clear directly to the crack. Small amounts of silica or quartz sand can be added to keep the material from flowing out the bottom of the slab.  If necessary, matching colored sand can be used to match colored concrete areas. Fill the crack to slightly below grade to prevent material from flowing on to the surface of the concrete.

After a year of service, the repair above still looks good.  Please note, MatchCrete™ Clear is not a soft expansion joint material and should not be used in joints that are designed to move.  Always give careful consideration as to why the concrete cracked in the first place and what the concrete is expected to do in the future before making repairs of this nature.

UPDATE:
September, 2013
We have a new video for driveway hairline crack repair:

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™. →

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

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 mender

Earthquake Crack Repair at Hope Alive Clinic in Haiti

“Kelton,

In March, you donated the Roadware kit to bind the cracks at the Hope Alive! Clinic in Haiti. THANK YOU FOR YOUR GIVING AND KIND HEART.

We went to the Atlantic City airport with the msds. They refused to allow us to bring the tubes on the plane. (they really didn’t know how to read the msds sheets either)

Anyway, we shipped the package via Philadelphia-container-Haiti. It arrived in time for our July 8th trip.

We brought along a Pastor who is also a “concrete guy”. He stated that he had never worked with a product that was so easy and did such a great job. As you can see in the attached photos, the fissure is completely sealed. As I mentioned in our phone conversation, the epi-center of the quake was only 6-7 miles from our clinic. We even have 2 sets of tubes left over!! (the neighbors will benefit)

I do not know how to say thanks but to just say “thanks” . Your kindness has made a difference with Hope Alive Clinics and the Haitian people. visit www.hopealiveclinic.org for more pictures of the teams and clinic activities.

If you are ever in the Philadelphia area, please look us up.

Again, many thanks and God bless you and your great company.

Frank Jacobs
Director, Hope Alive! Clinic Ministries”

concrete mender, Concrete Repair, MatchCrete

Concrete repair under decorative coatings.

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The advances in decorative concrete coating and finishes for patios, sidewalks, driveways and pool decks are amazing. All of these systems have one common element. They are all affected by the condition of the concrete underneath. We recommend and use Roadware Concrete Mender™ Off-white to repair cracks, spalls and surface defects prior to decorative concrete treatments and coatings.  Off-white Mender is just like the Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ except it cures to a neutral off-white color that has less chance of affecting the color of the decorative coatings applied over the repairs.  Take a look at the project below.

P5101449

Here is a church with a spalled and rough looking entrance.

 

Prior repair materials were removed revealing worn, but sound concret

Concrete Mender Off-white

Roadware Concrete Mender™ Off-white and sand mixed in bulk is applied and troweled smooth. The material appears brown due to the brown colored manufactured sand added to the mix.

 

 Cracks are cleaned and repaired with cartridge applied Roadware Concrete Mender™ Off-white and sand.
 

After about 15 – 30 minutes, the repairs are ground smooth and flat. The concrete is now ready to accept most types of decorative concrete treatments.

 

NC4

Roadware  Concrete Mender™ Off-white is compatible with most high-build overlay or coating systems. It is also recommended by several top coating system manufacturers.

 

Concrete Repair, MatchCrete

Making Cracks Disappear

One question we get asked all the time is if we can make a crack disappear.  For the most part the answer has always been no. We can make a good repair and finish it as close as we can to the original color and surface texture. That was before Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear came along.  The photos below were sent in by a concrete polishing contractor. By using MatchCrete™ clear and sand that matches the surrounding concrete, the polished repair blends in very nicely with the concrete slab. When the floor is in service, you will have to look very carefully to find the repairs.  Try some Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear on your next polishing job. With a little technique and experimentation, you can get results like this.

dalton.008

Polished concrete repair with Concrete Mender™ Off-white.
Polished concrete repair with Concrete Mender™ Off-white.

 Did the crack disappear? If you don’t notice it anymore, what’s the difference?
Concrete Repair

Concrete Polishing: Crack, Joint and Spall Repair Are Critical To Lasting, Quality Jobs

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By: Joe Noble

The days of super-sized everything arrived about a decade ago, making large concrete-floored buildings common in a sea of commercial applications, including box-retailing, airports, malls, convention halls, and more. It also created demand for concrete polishing unlike anytime in the past. Today, professionally polished or decorated concrete floors are coveted for their clean, low maintenance finish, their dust-free, smooth feel, and for their aesthetically pleasing look. Managers report how polished floors boost morale among employees, improve light reflectivity (reducing light usage) and garner positive customer comments.

Polishing concrete floor to be repaired with Concrete Mender™.
The market for concrete polishing and design continues to flourish and evolve. What hasn’t changed is the need to repair cracks, chips, joints and spalls in the floor prior to polishing. Without the proper repair material, the repair will fail, sometimes quickly costing time and money.

Curtis Venable is president of C&C Construction Co., a concrete repair and polishing services provider. Venable said that cracks, spalls and other deformities in the concrete must be properly repaired before polishing. Use of an inadequate repair product, or improper use of a repair product can cause more problems than they solve.
“I don’t want to get a call from a client at midnight wondering why a chip repair popped out in the middle of his floor,” said Venable. “Improper or poor repair prior to polishing is bad service and undermines my credibility with my clients.”
While Venable utilizes various repair products depending on the job, he often relies on 10-Minute Concrete Mender™ by Roadware, Inc (www.concretemender.com). Concrete Mender combines with sand to form a tough instant polymer concrete.

Control joint filled with Concrete Mender™ and polished.
Reliability
Venable uses Concrete Mender for several reasons. First, he said, Concrete Mender penetrates deep into concrete to establish a permanent bond with the host concrete, producing repairs that absorb the shock and transfers the load of heavy traffic without cracking or disbonding. Its chemical resistance means it can be applied in a wide range of temperatures.

“I know that it won’t melt, smear or come out of a repair when my polishing machines are run over it,” he said. “And I can apply it in cold temps found in freezers.”
Concrete Mender accomplishes its unbreakable bond through a process called Microdowling™. Microdowling drives the repair deep into the micro-fissures of the crack, joint or spall, where it forms an unbreakable bond with the existing concrete.

“The Microdowling capabilities eliminate the anxiety caused by the liability that I and all contractors must carry for each job,” he said. “I know of jobs that are going on six and seven years without Concrete Mender failing in any way.”

Polished concrete joint and crack repair in a commercial floor with Concrete Mender™.

Application Efficiency
Besides performing for years, it cures in only 10 minutes. At a recent job in which Venable repaired and then polished an 110,000-square-foot concrete floor for a national grocery retailer, he used Concrete Mender for efficiency reasons.
Venable inspected every chip, crack and spall before the job began, looking for joints where the filler has come out, anchor bolt holes, corner chips and spalls. He assessed each repair, and then made recommendations that clients repair each one.

“I put six people on polishing machines to work at the site for almost three weeks,” he recounted. “It becomes expensive if I have to wait for the repair material to set. Concrete Mender takes only 10 minutes.”
Polished warehouse floor repaired with Concrete Mender™.

Blending
Finally, Venable said his customers require that the shade of the repair material match the existing concrete for aesthetic reasons. Large retailers, such as Home Depot and Sam’s Club, understand that today women are making many of the purchasing decisions for the home, including home repair. Because women prefer shopping in light and well-kept stores, shiny, clean floors are important to a retailer’s image. A patchwork of different repair shades and colors has become unacceptable among peer retailers.

After hardening, Concrete Mender blends flawlessly with surrounding concrete, resulting in a near perfect color match. After polishing or coloring, a repair made with Concrete Mender is indistinguishable from the original floor.
“Having various shades and colors of repairs on the floor is unacceptable in the concrete polishing industry,” said Venable. “Today, to meet the expectation of women shoppers, repairs must blend to give the appearance of a single, neat and clean finish.”

Concrete Mender can serve many demands in the concrete polishing industry. It hardens within 10 minutes, after which it can be treated like the surrounding concrete. It can be cut and polished, and won’t smear or come out in the process. It’s efficient for use on large jobs, including where heavy machinery is operated, airport hangers, freezers, retailers and more.
“Concrete polishing is an expanding market and becoming more competitive,” said Venable. “I have confidence in Concrete Mender to help me meet customer expectations of looks, performance and efficiency.”
For more information 10-Minute Concrete Mender, contact Roadware, Inc. at www.concremender.com.  For more information about C&C Construction, visit www.candcconst.com.

Contact Information:
Richard E. King 800-522-7623 or 651-457-6122
Kelton E Glewwe 800-522-7623 or 651-457-6122
Roadware Incorporated
381 Bridgepoint Way
South Saint Paul, MN 55075

Microdoweling™, Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™, and respective logos are trademarks of Roadware, Inc. Copyright 2008.

Products used in this application:

80020 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender Two-Gallon Kit
80020 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender Two-Gallon Kit

80020 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender Two-Gallon Kit

80050 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender Ten-Gallon Kit
80050 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender Ten-Gallon Kit

80050 Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender Ten-Gallon Kit