Concrete Articles Tips & Advice

  1. Power Floating Guide

    navright_prod_power_trowells A power float is a concrete finishing machine designed to smooth and to some degree level the surface of the concrete to an exceptionally high tolerance. For the best results a power float, can finish your concrete to an exceptionally flat, hard and durable surface. Continue reading →
  2. Wet Screed / Flood Poor Guide

    'A practical technique for laying large or small concrete slabs, without the requirement for formwork, screed rails or shuttering' 3 easy steps to performing ‘Wet screeding' with a Multi-Vibe or Screed King vibrate lase screed Step 1: Pour and vibrate the concrete Step 2: Using a rake and laser level concrete. Mark level with ' X ' at 2ft intervals. Step 3: Vibrate through marks using Multi-vibe or Screed King and finish as required Continue reading →
  3. Guide to High Tolerance Flooring Tools

    laserscreedIntroduction 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 →
  4. Getting the most from your Power Trowel

    .art td { padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 3px; } .art td div { text-align: justify } .art img { border:0 } p { text-align: justify } gmfpt1 Finishing concrete has always been about timing: being in the right place at the right time with the right tool. Good power troweling techniques are essential since floor flatness depends directly on a finisher's ability to run trowel machines. The right tool and time The purposes of power floating are: to embed the large aggregate just be­neath the surface of mortar to remove slight imperfections, humps, or voids to compact the concrete and consol­idate mortar at the surface in prepara­tion for other finishing operations. As I mentioned, timing is every­thing in finishing. The rule of thumb when to power float a floor is that your footprint should be 1/4 inch deep or less, with little or no bleed water present. Most floors that result in low F-numbers are the direct result of fin­ishers getting on a floor too early with power trowels and creating lumps and bumps. Remember, this is the most plastic state that the floor will be in during a power floating sequence. Timing is everything — poor timing causes finishing problems. Also remember that any finishing operation done while there is excess moisture or bleed water on the surface can cause dusting or scaling. Continue reading →
  5. Concrete Pour Checklist

    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 -images-p6010053checks 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 →
  6. Concrete Repair Tips

    Repairing Hairline Cracks In Concrete concrete_repair 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 →
  7. Using Pan Disc's on your Power Trowel

    gmfpt1 Pan floats, or float disks, attached to the blades of walk-behind or nonoverlapping ride-on power trowels are increasing in use. Contractors who have been using float pans for more than four years are strong supporters of their Increased productivity giving you.. • Flatter floors • Easier transition from wet to dry areas when floating • Superior ability to break open the concrete surface To obtain the benefits from these advantages, inexperienced finishers must learn what experienced finishers know; how to properly use the equipment. Continue reading →
  8. Roller Screeding Guide

    'A simple technique for laying large or small concrete slabs, at exceptional high tolerance' ' Easy as 1, 2 ,3 ' form OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA navright_prod Step 1: Prepare formwork Step 2: Pour and vibrate the concrete. Step 3: Pull tube in opposite direction of travel to level concrete Continue reading →
  9. Vibration Induction Guide

    navright_prod_Poker_Vibrators 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 →
  10. Curling of Concrete Slabs

    What is Curling? slabcurlCurling is the distortion of a slab into a curvedshape by upward or downward bending of the edges. This distortion canlift the edges of the slab from the base leaving an unsupported edge orcorner which can crack when heavy loads are applied. Sometimes, curling is evident at any early age. In other cases, slabs may curl over an extended period. Continue reading →

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