Hospitals, concrete... and damaged flooring!
A hospital building is very much a working structure.
Just think about the staff under constant working stress, the patients who don’t really want to be there, and the many paramedics, support teams, and visitors who all form part of the hive of traffic and activity!
And think about the building itself – particularly the concrete. Concrete in a hospital structure faces particular demands and needs particular care.
And there are two hazards in particular.
#1. Starting with Slab moisture
A quick glance through the other ON.CRETE editions will show you we've covered this a couple of times before - so we can address this briefly.
Concrete takes 1 month per 25mm of thickness to dry.
This is a critical thing - if floor coverings go on too early without sufficient protection underneath, moisture from concrete bleed water continues to rise and deteriorates flooring adhesives. Soon you could have a new building on your hands with bubbled vinyl, tiles coming up, or smelly carpet. Remediation was likely far from the asset owner's mind!
It's not only the bleed water that causes problems - it's 1 month from the last time the concrete was wet. If you have a spill or a pipe leak, even if it's been months since concrete was poured, this moisture is in the slab and poses a risk.
We'll get to the solution after the next bit!
#2. Hygiene and Contamination
Here’s the prime point for any healthcare facility. Many things get spilt on the floor of a hospital, and most of them are bad for the concrete floor slabs.
Both cleaning chemicals and bio-fluids provide moisture-borne contamination which seeps into the porosity of the concrete.
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What happens then:
- Bacteria feeds on the contaminants, setting up chronic odours which cannot be cleaned away - they are inside the concrete.
- Contaminants react with the concrete or with the reinforcing steel, setting up a cycle of premature deterioration.
This should - and can - be prevented during construction.
You may have seen it before!
The FLOOR-TECT system: a moisture-barrier, combined with cure, sealer, hardener.
This is a spray applied, non-toxic treatment that penetrates deeply (up to 150mm) and reacts with all moisture in the slab to turn it into a gel, locking it up and immobilising it permanently. The hydrogel eventually becomes part of the concrete itself. And this is how it works...
The MARKHAM team provides consulting and specification advice, collaborating with the architect, engineer, and asset owner, through to working with the site team to supply and install the system.
It protects the concrete deep down, but also on the surface - it prevents bacterial contamination from getting in via the porosities in the slab.
Moisture effectively cannot move into or out of the concrete. Any deterioration associated with moisture is arrested. And it meets AS1884:2021 for a moisture barrier under resilient flooring.
Have a look at using it on your own healthcare project!