Tag Archives: spalls

Swimming Pool Repair with Concrete Mender

Pool spalls are cleaned and prepared for repair with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender.
Pool spalls are cleaned and prepared for repair with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender.

What do you do when your pool has cracks and spalls and it has to be open is three days? Back in 2001, the City of South Saint Paul, Minnesota had a problem with their new splash pool. Just before opening the pool for its second season, cracks and spalls were discovered in the concrete pool bottom and along corner where the floor meets the wall. The damaged was probably caused by the first Minnesota winter for this neighborhood splash pool facility. The repairs needed to be done fast. The pool was scheduled to be open in just three days. Any delay would be a disappointment for local families and political problem for the City who spent a lot of money to build this water recreation facility.

The call went out to see if anyone could come up with a solution. Roadware Incorporated, also located in the City of South Saint Paul, received a call from the Parks and Recreation Maintenance Department to see if we had any ideas. It turns out, Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ is a great product for repairing concrete pools. The cross-linked polyurethanes in Concrete Mender and very resistant to water, chlorine and other pool chemicals.

Roadware personnel were at the pool within a few hours and repairs were made using a mixture of Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender and manufactured sand.

Mixing 10 Minute Concrete Mender with sand in a bucket prior to repairing a spall in the concrete pool floor.
Mixing 10 Minute Concrete Mender with sand in a bucket prior to repairing a spall in the concrete pool floor.

 

Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender is flooded into the spalled ares and seeded with manufactured sand.

Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender and sand are applied to spalls in the pool floor.
Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender and sand are applied to spalls in the pool floor.

 

The Concrete Mender and sand bland can be troweled in place and will cure in about 10 minutes.

Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender mixed with sand is troweled into place.
Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender mixed with sand is troweled into place.

 

Vertical surfaces can be repaired by mixing Concrete Mender with fine manufactured sand and troweled in place.

Pool repairs at the pool edge are made with Concrete Mender mixed with sand and troweled in place.
Pool repairs at the pool edge are made with Concrete Mender mixed with sand and troweled in place.

 

Repairs can be painted using standard methods in 10 minutes after application at 70 degrees F (23C).

Finished Concrete Mender spall repairs in pool were ready for paint in minutes.
Finished repairs were ready for paint in minutes.

 

All the repairs took just a few hours to complete and the pool was ready for a fresh coat of paint in minutes. The pool was painted and filled with water the next day. The Concrete Mender repairs have largely been forgotten, but continue to perform to this day.

The South Saint Paul Splash Pool in 2017. Concrete Mender repairs in the pool still look good 16 years later.
The South Saint Paul Splash Pool in 2017. Concrete Mender repairs in the pool still look good 16 years later.

 

 

Products:

Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™

Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ 600ml cartridge item 80300.

 

 

See actual bridge deck repairs in PA on Google Maps.

See actual bridge deck repairs on Google Maps.

Google has spent the last few years mapping and photographing roads all over the world. If you know where to look, you can see actual concrete repairs with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™

The Google Map photo below shows actual bridge deck repairs with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™ on Interstate 279 in Pittsburgh, PA.  See all the lighter colored spots? Each one is a hole or spall filled with Roadware 10 Minute Concrete Mender™. The repairs here are over three years old. Thank you Roadware distributor, Express Polymers, Inc., in the Pittsburgh area for sending this project in.


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World of Concrete 2011 is January 17-21 in Las Vegas

Roadware will be exhibiting in the World of Concrete 2011.  This will be our 11th year at the show. Our booth will be in the South Hall S11847 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

For free exhibits only registration, use source code A20 when filling out the online registration form. This code is courtesy  of the American Society of Concrete Contractors.

Click here to register for the World of Concrete.

DIY Network filming a segment in the Roadware booth at the World of Concrete 2009.

Polishing un-polishable Concrete

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.

Concrete repair under decorative coatings.

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.

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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.

 

Roadware compared to look-alikes.

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.
Best regards,
 
 
Kelton Glewwe
Vice President of Operations

 

Introducing Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear

 

Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear (MCC) is a two component aliphatic polyurethane for repairing cracks, spalls, and joints in concrete subject to UV exposure from sunlight. This material is clear in appearance when applied and cured. Colored sand and pigments may be added to create color stable repairs that match most any decorative or shade of concrete surface. MCC will not significantly change color with exposure to sunlight over time.

Use Roadware MatchCrete™ Clear (MCC)  to quickly repair cracks and spalls in concrete that is exposed to sunlight and where a color compatible appearance is desired.

Who would want a “clear” concrete repair product? What could you use it for?

For over 15 years, Roadware manufactured 10  Minute Concrete Mender™ in one standard concrete grey color. It was simple and straight forward. Concrete is grey! The repairs should be grey.  Then everything changed. In the past five years, decorative concrete has exploded into the marketplace.  Now you can have your concrete in nearly limitless color choices and textures. We developed MatchCrete™ Clear to give you endless color possibilities as well. So, what can you do with MatchCrete™ Clear?

Cracks and Saw-cut Control Joints:

  • Clear- Use MCC without sand to create an eye pleasing joint that will not distract from the overall look.
  • Colored and Clear – Stain the sidewalls of a crack or joint  and fill with MCC to create a colored joint effect.
  • Colored Sand- Use MCC with colored sand or colored quartz to make nearly any color repair.
  • Colored Aggregate- Use MCC and colored aggregate to make a granite or stone effect.
  • Concrete Dust- Use MCC and concrete dust to make a portland concrete look.
  • Dry Pigment- Use MCC, sand, and some dry concrete pigment to create most any matching color.
  • Dry Shake- Add a bit of dry shake color to your MCC repair for matching color effects.

Decorative Use:

  • Joints and Cracks- Fill joints and cracks around concrete, stone, tile, or terrazzo without becoming an eyesore.
  • Exposed Aggregate- Repair cracks, spalls, and knock-outs.
  • Pool Decks- Repair coatings and de-laminations.

Polishing:

  • Joints- Use MCC for polished joints that match the concrete and look good.
  • Design- Use MCC to embed items into the concrete and polish the surface flush.
  • Lighting- Use MCC to embed LED lighting into concrete walkways and decks for dramatic effects.

Exterior Use:

  • Use MCC in areas exposed to sunlight where color stable repairs are necessary such as driveways, sidewalks and entryways.

Architectural  Use:

  • Use MCC to repair cracks, joints and spalls in high profile building entrances, courtyards, and common areas. Repairs with MCC will not distract from the overall appearance and design.
Roadware MatchCtete™ Clear #71300 600ml cartridge.
Roadware MatchCtete™ Clear #71300 600ml cartridge.