Concrete is one of the most popular materials in the construction business. But like all building materials, it faces the ravages of time if left unprotected. Concrete repair is about reviving a concrete surface and returning it to its best, instead of destroying and replacing it.
Many of our clients live in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, but all across the city homeowners have aging concrete walls that have suffered from the elements over decades. The result is walls that are chipped, cracked and even crumbling.
And since removing the wall and rebuilding it is neither affordable nor practical, repairing the patches of chipped and spalled concrete makes more sense.
Concrete repair restores the structural integrity of a concrete wall, and when carried out by your experienced, skilled Mix Mud team, will also protect the concrete against the same causes of the damage in the first place.
We use only the highest quality polymers in our compounds for our concrete repair service, so when we refill the chips and cracks in your concrete wall, it results in a smooth attractive surface that will last. And because it is fast drying polymers, the repairs can be completed quickly, effectively and cost efficiently.
What Damages Concrete?
There are several contributing factors to concrete deterioration, all of which lead to cracking, peeling and spalling.
- Carbonation is caused when carbon dioxide from air reacts with calcium hydroxide in concrete. It has a benefit in that it increases the strength of concrete, but the problem arises with reinforced concrete. Carbonation increases the rate of corrosion of the steel imbedded in the concrete. Over the years, the steel weakens, the concrete cracks and crumbles, and sometimes is stained by rust.
- Sulfates can come into contact with concrete in many ways, The most common is minute amounts of acid contained in rain, creating acid rain, but sulfates can also be in cement, like gypsum (calcium sulfate).
- Leaching takes place when water flows through cracks in the concrete, reacts with minerals causes elements like calcium to leach out. This not only weakens the concrete but creates ugly smears.