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Repairing Hairline Cracks In Concrete You can repair hairline cracks in concrete with a grout made of Portland cement and water. Add just enough water to the cement to form a thick paste. Moisten the old concrete along the hairline crack with water for several hours before adding the grout. Moistening the concrete prevents it from drawing the water from the grout, which will dry out the mixture. Although the old concrete should be moist, no water should be standing on the surface when the grout is applied. After the hairline crack has been moistened and thoroughly cleaned, apply the grout with a putty knife or pointing trowel. Force the grout into the crack as much as possible. Then smooth it off so it is level with the original concrete. Allow the patched area to dry about two hours. Then, cover the area with a piece of plastic sheeting or a board. Keep the area covered for about five days. Lift the covering once each day and sprinkle the area with water. Continue reading →

Thorough compaction and thus the removal of air is paramount for concrete to cure to full strength and therefore durability. Currently the most effective way of achieving this is the induction of vibration into the concrete. Vibration can be induced either by a traditional poker device or via our new vibratory free screeding tools that eliminate the need for a poker. Continue reading →

Introduction Misconceptions arise in the belief that laser technology often anwsers all our prayers in the specific requirement of a flat floor. The truth is that although these laser guided tools have developed an ability to achieve flatter floors, an immense amount of work still remains to be done following the screeding process. Such processes presently need to be performed with the use of high tolerance flooring tools. Let us look at the range of commonly used hand tools. Continue reading →

Before proceeding with any concrete pour on a construction site, there are a number of checks required to ensure quality work is being carried out. No one should authorize a concrete pour without undertaking the following checks. If you don’t do these pre-pour checks and your contractor knows this, they can start taking shortcuts to make life easier for themselves at the expense of quality and (potentially) safety. 1.    Check your documentation. Whether you are in charge of the construction or not, it is a good idea to be sure about what is going on. The documentation will let you know what hours you are allowed to work according to local laws. It will also include information about which machines are being used and what exactly is being done. Just make sure everything is in order. Continue reading →

We would like to thank all the visitors to the stand at the UK Concrete Show at the NEC Birmingham, last week 27th - 28th February.Speedcrete exhibited several brand new products to the UK industry including the Qube plastic concrete test moulds. A revolutionary new product allowing for easy transport and de moulding of concrete test cubes. The Powerblanket was also...

November 5th is Bonfire Night - and concreting tools could help to make sure that the evening's festivities go with a bang.Already in 2010 fire crews have had to deal with bonfires burning out of control.One crew from St Neots in Cambridgeshire was called out as early as October 30th to a bonfire lit on open ground on Hardwick Road...

New figures for deliveries of cement in the second quarter of 2010 show concreting tools were put to work on a greater amount of the building material.In its latest official update, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) sees a sequential rise of almost a quarter (24 per cent) in deliveries of cementitious materials of all types.Almost three million...

Speedcrete are proud to announce they have been appointed as the UK Blastrac distributors.The complete range of concrete grinders and floor planers / scarifiers can now be offered to new and existing customers. The range is very diverse and encompasses traditional single head concrete grinding machines that are suitable for removal and remedial works and also the new planetary triple...

The increase in VAT from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent from January 2011 is likely to impact on professionals working with concreting tools in a negative way, based on comments from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).According to the FMB, the direct impact of the VAT rise on domestic renovations and maintenance work will be a two per...

To get into the festive spirit our sales team have devised 12 magical offers to get the concrete flowing this Christmas.    Sale offers and promotions will be made available through our website. Hire offers can be claimed by speaking to one of our hire controllers when you place your order.The offers will be run from the 1st of December...