Through time concrete walls, beams or floors will have cracks and this is not to be taken lightly. Concrete services experts would always remind property owners that cracks are tell-tale signs of structural problem. The early remedy or solution would prevent more expenses and once done would assure the safety of those living in the property.
There are do-it-yourself kits that allow treatment of cracks through epoxy injection. However, epoxy or polyurethane injection to be used would depend on the crack width, wall thickness, presence of water, cold environment and other conditions. How much time the injection needs to set is also determined by such conditions.
Here are the basic steps that concrete services professionals do with low-pressure crack injection.
1. Installation of injection ports concrete contractors sydney
Short, hard plastic tubes with a flat base called surface ports would be needed as entry points for the epoxy to get into the crack. Drilling is not a good method since this can cause more damage and cleanup would be needed after. The base of the surface port is going to be situated directly over the crack and bonded to the surface with the epoxy paste. A rule-of-thumb is to place an inch between ports for each inch of wall thickness.
2. Seal the surface
An epoxy adhesive is used to seal over the surface ports and exposed cracks. This paste can cure from 20 to 45 minutes and will be able to surface seal with good bonding under the injection pressures. The entire exposed crack should be covered with paste. The surface port holes should not be sealed.
3. Injecting epoxy into the crack
Concrete services providers would begin injecting the epoxy at the lowest point of the wall until the epoxy will be oozing out of the upper surface ports. This is a sure sign that the crack has been filled up to the highest level. The first port would then be plugged then the next plug would be worked on. The process is repeated until the entire crack has been filled by epoxy.
Next thing is to push the material with a dispensing tool using slow pressure. This reduces the possibility of leaks or blow-outs. The repair material should be given time to fully penetrate the crack.