Fast-tracking construction in education projects

With another set of school holidays passing on in Australia and New Zealand, there may be some construction contractors who didn't have all works complete in the lull. Two weeks to have the renovation / construction / fit-out done, and the project managers are tightly pulling together contractors and processes to get the job over before the students return to school.

It's rarely so smooth

Deliveries are delayed, the schedule knocked about, and consequently the project might just not be finished on time.

It's already hard for builders (we'd mention concrete and flooring contractors in particular) with construction schedules getting tighter in general.

But saving time by cutting out critical methods can backfire

Time-savers for concrete are rare - especially ones that don't result in the installer having to come back later on to remediate, a very inconvenient situation.

Maybe the project has a moisture barrier specified under resilient flooring.

But the budget has already blown out due to site delays... or a design variation somewhere else in the project, or there was an incident on site...

This is a tricky situation - you understand the reason for the moisture barrier being specified - concrete takes 1 month per 25mm to dry, from the last time it was wet - but you now can't afford the time or money for installation.

Forget it, we'll risk it.

...Here's where the ice gets thinner. The weights could fall either way.

A time saver? or remediation waiting to happen?

Waiting for the concrete to dry by itself is a massive hold up - say you have a fresh slab, 150mm thick. It will take 6 months for that slab to dry!

Six months.

Any water left over from the curing and hydration process will rise (or bleed) to the surface, and evaporate... while the surface is exposed.

But when there is a covering, then the moisture will try to push a way up, degenerating the adhesives used under direct-stick floorings. The result is flooring that has bubbled. This happens faster in areas of high foot-traffic.

It can also find a way out via capillary action - this can then travel to and through plasterboard walls, brick, and other porous materials, and play havoc with the coatings.

But to wait 6 months for the concrete to dry before having floor coverings laid could cause the project to go well over schedule!

Enter hydrogels.

Spray-applied quickly to the surface, colloidal silica hydrogels are drawn deep within the concrete and react with all available moisture to turn it into a gel. (Here's a gel test demo of how that works.)

Hydrogels enter quickly - because they can be formulated with a unique catalyst that reacts with the alkalinity in concrete to be drawn in to a depth of 150mm.

Going this deep achieves a few things:

1. Surrounds the critical zone, the reinforcing steel - this protects the steel permanently, prevents corrosion, and increases durability.
2. Arrests moisture all the way down and reduces moisture movement and contamination via capillary action.
3. Cannot be ground off.

Nor does it need grinding off - AQURON colloidal silica hydrogels, for instance, only contain ingredients already found in concrete itself. Concrete treated with AQURON is compatible with any coating or adhesive that is compatible with untreated concrete. It does not leave a film that reduces adhesion.

Likewise, it cannot be damaged in any way, such as by impact or UV exposure.

The treatment penetrates rapidly and allows the concrete surface itself to be trafficable after just 1 hour.

And after 28 days, the concrete is guaranteed to be safe for flooring to be laid over the top.

Think about that in terms of a large retail complex, an aged care home, or... a school.

If we were to get onto the concrete with this permanent moisture barrier straight after the pour (as in, as soon as it is ready to walk on) it can save you 5, 6, 7 or more months in comparison with no treatment. And is more dependable than a topical coating.

And we do work this way - MARKHAM has been contracted time and again to supply-and-apply our FLOOR-TECT system (incorporating the AQURON treatment) within 24 hours of concrete placement due to the fact that it achieves 90% moisture retention for an effective cure, as well as meeting AS1884:2021 for a moisture barrier under resilient flooring.

Have a look!