We have the UK’s Concrete Society to thank for showing us how since the UK’s Concrete Society produced a paper condemning BBA certification of water-resisting admixtures for concrete, saying none could be specified with confidence, we went to Asia and found that most of the world’s waterproof concrete is made with a very powerful plasticiser that reduces the amount of water in concrete so much that it becomes dense enough for nothing to move, so nothing passes through.We brought this chemical to the UK for the first time a year ago and we have trialled it in 1400 cubic metres of concrete since then and recently had some independent testing that confirms that concrete with our additive is completely impermeable to water, even under pressure.
We have a web site dedicated to saving money using a product better than any other to build basements absolutely waterproof from the concrete alone.
The Society produced a paper last year saying that it was better to use more cement, a careful choice of cement and less water to achieve water-resisting concrete than BBA certified admixtures. They said that the water cement ratio was the best forecast of impermeability. They said that no BBA certified water resisting admixtures proved they worked and none could be specified with confidence because the BBA testing was of such little use. And, surely a scandal, they found evidence that the market leader does nothing of value used in basement construction.
They also pointed out that it was just as important that the structural design was suitable, that workmanship was good and that concreting work was supervised.
Note: water-resisting admixture suppliers guarantee only against visible leaks through sound concrete, yet ordinary sound concrete would not visibly leak. Any leak will always be for other reasons, so, effectively they may guarantee nothing.
We supply the world’s best concrete water-reducing-plasticiser, made by the producer of most of the world’s plasticisers and in use in more than 20 countries under different names. We call it Triple Proof in the UK.
Very simply, Triple Proof meets the Society’s recommendation of reduced water by being the only additive that makes a pure OPC watertight mix completely waterproof by reducing the water/liquids more than anyone else, to 0.45 the mass of pure OPC cement.
The Society stated that the more reduced the water the more discontinuous the pore structure. We believe our concrete is water, gas and chemical proof.
We are getting a range of concretes with our water reducing additive tested for permeability to prove all over the country, time after time, batching plants and volumetric trucks are consistently producing fully waterproof concrete with 350kgs of pure OPC and only 0.45 water.
All our water permeability certification is to a UKAS Standard by a UKAS accredited laboratory. Test results so far have all been “No penetration”.
This compares very well to every BBA certificate for a water-resisting ad- mixture, all of which prove that water penetrates to a lesser or greater extent – the market leader being the worst of all.
Guarantee. The Concrete Society state that good waterproof concrete should be expected to remain sound for 100 years or more, compared to only 30 years for a membrane. We can prove that entirely waterproof concrete was delivered to site. We can supervise to try to improve workmanship and we can train contractors’ supervisors who have more authority over their own workers.
Your specification for waterproof concrete might include:
1. ‘waterproof concrete not just watertight’.
2. Supervision of concrete works by a Clerk of Works or a service provider (like ourselves).
3. Joints to BS 8007: scabbled, cleaned, good concreting throughout.
4. UKAS Certificate proving impermeability from the plant supplying the concrete.
We would like specifiers to appreciate that no one guarantees against leaks or repairs. Therefore any insurance is probably illegally sold. Your client may not appreciate paying for products and services the UK Concrete Society says are not proven to work, such as BBA certified water- resisting admixtures.
Market Leader’s Guarantee It is not well known but a market leader’s guarantee will not be issued unless the client is represented by his own supervisor throughout the concreting work. Not the contractor or the sub contractor or the manufacturer but the client. This well known company only monitors. It does not supervise. The sub contractor’s foreman signs every time that he understands he was only monitored. We will supervise their pours representing the client. £40 each hour on site, £300 a day minimum. (Other aspects of the market leader’s guarantee still apply.
Competitors only guarantee sound concrete that is not leaking or cracked. Our service is limited to reporting what we see though we will try to improve workmanship as far as we reasonably can, given that the workforce work for others not ourselves.
You will need to clarify before you specify. Does our competitor’s use of the word client mean your client or theirs? The developer or the concrete supplier?
Visit Website: www.waterproofconcrete.co.uk
