Basic SYSTEM in Bahrain is using Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ to make rapid curing pebble-crete flooring in Bahrain. The easy mixing Concrete Mender combines with the pebbles and acts as a binder in seconds. The mixture is easy to apply and trowel flat without getting sticky until the final minutes of curing. See the video here.
UPDATE May 4th, 2015
“I will take the opportunity of this e-mail & send you a recent photo of the pebbles application with Concrete mender at PinkBerry frozen yogurt / pictures was taken today, the floor is performing well and the client is very happy / the application will be repeated in Future PinkBerry shops in the region…”
Regards
George Honein
Basic SYSTEM in Bahrain is using Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ to make rapid curing pebble-crete flooring in Bahrain. The easy mixing Concrete Mender combines with the pebbles and acts as a binder in seconds. The mixture is easy to apply and trowel flat without getting sticky until the final minutes of curing. See the video here.
Pebble floor application at a Pinkberry Store in Bahrain.
600ml of Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ is combined with about 6kg of 3-5mm pebbles. The components are mixed be hand, spread out on the floor about 3cm deep and troweled flat. 600ml
The pebbles are completely coated and help in place by the Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™. The floor performs well and creates the look specified by the designer. The floor does not need further sealing. Daily maintenance consists of vacuuming and mopping.
When I first saw this application, I had some questions:
Hello George at Basic SYSTEMS in Bahrain.
Your application has not been tried before with Concrete Mender.
How does the surface look?
It’s giving a wet look / looking really nice.. they have used resin in the past in other outlets, but the problem it was not strong enough and was smelling due to cleaning process.
Are the rocks coated completely?
We have mix it with in a bucket with the Concrete Mender / pebbles size was 3 to 5mm, we have used 600 ml of CM and an average of 6 kg of pebbles, it was completely coated
Do any of the rocks come loose?
Yes some, but it was superficial, we brush it out with hard brush the next day and fill the few areas where the pebbles was removed with same mix materials…
Will the floor be easy to clean?
Well vacuuming and mopping was our instruction to follow…
Do you use a clear sealer after the application?
The pebbles are completely coated/ by sealing it, will loose the natural look as required in the concept design.
You can use MatchCrete™ Clear Concrete Repair Polyurethane to repair intregal color or stamped concrete.
Remove dirt, loose concrete, repair materials or failed caulk.
Use a diamond blade to slightly cut open the crack and clean out loose concrete and debris.
Use tape to mask off the crack.
Gather materials needed to make the repair. From left to right we have some brown concrete pigment, silica sand (43-30 grit), black unsanded tile grout for color, and a mixing cup.
Dispence the MatchCrete™ Clear into a cup.
Add a littlt silica sand to give the MatchCrete™ Clear some base color.
To create your color, add a small amount of powdered concrete pigment and blend with a mixing stick.
Concrete pigments are strong. It just takes a small amount to color the product.
Here we are adding some black un-sanded tile grout to the mix to make a closely matching color to the stamped concrete. You can use many types of sand and dry pigments to create the desired color and texture.
Blend well by hand for about 30 seconds. You will have about 10 – 15 minutes of working time before the product starts to gel. Work in small batches.
Pour the blended MatchCrete™ Clear into the crack. The material will start to gel and can be troweled into place before setting.
Allow to set for about 30 minutes and pull the tape.
The repair can will be ready for traffic in about an hour. Roadware MtchCrete™ Clear repairs are tough and will not crack apart like cement based materials. The repair is UV color stable and will not become brittle like epoxy. Please click here for a MatchCrete™ Clear data sheet.
Last week I posed two new videos on the Roadware YouTube Channel showing Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear in action repairing cracks in an exposed aggregate concrete sidewalk and patio. I also posed a video on how to repair a hairline crack in a driveway or sidewalk.How to repair a crack in an exposed aggregate concrete patio using Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear in a 600ml cartridge.
How to repair an exposed aggregate concrete sidewalk using Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear in the 50 ml cartridge.
How to repair a hairline crack in a driveway, sidewalk, patio, or pool deck with Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear.
Stop repairing polished concrete with polyurea joint fillers. They look like plastic, do not bond well, and do not hold-up over time. Concrete polishing lets the natural beauty of stones, sand, and rock shine through. Your repair product should as well.
We took the provenMicrodoweling™ properties of Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ and combined it with natural sands, aggregates and pigments to make repairs that not only look great, but perform better than epoxies and polyureas.
The repair pictured above shows Roadware Concrete Mender™ Off-white blended with plain concrete sand and a small amount of portland cement. This water-thin polyurethane is almost translucent. When we add nearly any type of dry sand or aggregate, we get a fast-curing polishable repair that blends beautifully with the surrounding concrete. Since this material is almost translucent, it resists shadowing effects due to over-banding when applied.
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:
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.
Polishing and honing concrete to smooth shiny surface is a great way to give an old warehouse floor new life. Sometimes, warehouse floors are too damaged and worn to make polishing practical. Floors that are full of cracks and spalls will require a large amount of grinding and polishing to achieve an acceptable surface. Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ may be used to restore the concrete surface and reduce the time and expense of heavy grinding. The Microdweling™ action of Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ can penetrate the surface of the cracks and spalls, fill in all the low spots, and make the floor ready for polishing.
Click on photos for a larger image.
Pitted, spalled and cracked surfaces may be unpractical to polish.
The first step is a light surface grinding to open up the cracks and remove any loose materials.
An initial grinding with metal resin pads reveals cracks and spalls.
Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ and fine silica sand mixed in bulk is troweled into the surface over the entire area and allowed to set.
Workers trowel Concrete Mender into place.
In about 10 – 30 minutes, the surface is polished using standard techniques. Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ will not gum-up polishing pads or smear into the surrounding concrete.
Surface polish using standard techniques.
After grinding, all pitting, cracks and spalls are filled and a smooth surface is quickly restored.
Concrete Mender repairs hold up perfectly during the polishing process.
After polishing, hardening and sealing, a beautiful polished floor is revealed.
Concrete Mender restored floor after polishing, hardening, and sealing.
Click here to learn more about polishing with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™
Special thank you to International Roadware Distributor Join K&C in Seoul, Korea for submitting this project.
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.
Here is a church with a spalled and rough looking entrance.
Prior repair materials were removed revealing worn, but sound concret
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.
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.
Recently a customer sent me several cut sheets from other manufactures of look-alike concrete repair products and asked me to compare them with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™. Here is how it played out.
Dear Dave,
We here at Roadware are familiar with the knock-off and look-alike products you submitted for our review. These products fall into the category of a low viscosity polyurea. Basically, what they have done is modify a standard polyurea joint filler and added a solvent to make it appear as a high-penetration Concrete Mender™-like product. They are all missing the key property and process that makes Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ unique and superior in overall performance. This process is called Microdoweling™.
Roadware’s Microdoweling™ process uses a proprietary formula of polyurethanes and additives to achieve a measured surface tension of 0.026 N/m. (1/3 of water) Surface tension is a measurement of a liquids ability to break free of its own molecular friction and flow into something else. Microdoweling™ is why Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ can penetrate easily into a concrete surface under adverse conditions, as is the case in distressed, broken and cracked concrete.
Other advantages for Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ are:
The lowest viscosity for easier mixing and blending.
Easy, one-step polishing and grinding. This material will not melt, smear, or gum up diamond polishing pads. An excellent parging compound.
Experienced and advanced packaging. Roadware cartridge packaging is reliable and works well in the field.
End-user color blending. New MatchCrete™ Concrete Mender can easily be manipulated into many colors by modifying the sand or adding pigments.
A modulus of elasticity that is slightly less then the concrete so repairs will move with the concrete and not against it.
Needle tip application. A complete system of needle-tip cartridge mixers for pin-point application and hairline crack repair.
It’s all in the data. Roadware backs up the Microdoweling™ process with independent testing data and publishes it on our website, www.roadware.us.
Thank you for continued support and please call us any time if you have any questions.
