Which type of concrete is right for your home? 

The answer to this question can be complicated because there are many different types of concrete available–each with their own benefits. 

For example, some people prefer the aesthetic appeal of decorative concrete, while others may want ready mix concrete if they’re on a strict timeline. 

In today’s blog post, we will explore all the options available so you can make an informed decision about which type of concrete is best for your project.

Decorative concrete 

This is a great choice for homeowners who want to add some extra flair to their property. Decorative concrete can be stamped or stained to create a unique look that will enhance the appearance of your home. 

It can also come in pre-designed, etched slabs and is most often used on walls. Not to mention, it’s also very durable, so you can be sure it will last for many years.

Transit mix concrete 

If you have a large job that requires high volumes of concrete, then transit mix is the way to go. This type of material is often used when contractors need to pour a large cement slab or foundation in one fell swoop. It’s important to note, however, that most concrete companies will have a minimum order amount for transit mix concrete.

Bulk dry materials 

For homeowners looking for a simple and cost-effective option, bulk dry materials can be a great choice. They’re typically used by contractors or homeowners with experience mixing concrete and are perfect for large projects.

Ready mix concrete 

Ready mix concrete is ideal for homeowners who don’t have a lot of time to spare. This type of concrete comes premixed, executing your project on a quicker timeline than custom orders like decorative concrete. 

For homeowners who are trying to create the perfect blend of strength and beauty for their home improvement projects, ready mix may be the right choice. In most cases, this type of concrete doesn’t need additives or special equipment because it comes ready to go.

Dry ready mix concrete

Dry ready mix is available for purchase in large bags. Simply add water as directed and you’ll have your own concrete in minutes that can be used for various projects. This type of concrete is often used in small projects and is well-known for its simplicity when it comes to mixing and pouring. 

Concrete has come a long way over the years, and there are now many different types available to choose from. By taking the time to carefully consider your options, you can find the perfect material for your home improvement projects. 

Port Aggregates offers the highest quality ready mix concrete in central and southwest Louisiana. It’s why we’ve been a trusted contractor for over 40 years! Contact us today to request a quote and get started on your residential project. We look forward to helping you build or renovate your home using concrete.

The post Which Type of Concrete is Right for Your Home? appeared first on Port Aggregates.

Choosing the cheaper option when buying anything is always tempting, but when it comes to precast concrete, this is a dangerous mistake. 

There are many ways that shortcutting precast concrete expenses can go wrong and lead to unexpected costs. Knowing these dangers is the best way to stay within your budget and prevent your project from becoming delayed.

Here’s what can go wrong if you choose the cheaper precast concrete option.

1. Drab appearance

One thing you’ll notice about cheaper options is that they don’t look as nice. But if appearance isn’t a major concern, these materials may be fine for your needs. 

Even so, you should consider investing in nicer-looking precast concrete to give your home or business that extra boost of curb appeal. Keep in mind that if you’re putting your precast concrete outdoors, it’s going to be exposed to the environment’s natural wear and tear, but will still need to look nice for years to come.

If appearance is a priority, why risk choosing materials that can’t live up? 

2. Less strength

When it comes to strength, cheap precast concrete will never compare. Good quality materials won’t bend or buckle under pressure and are made from high-quality ingredients that toughen up over time. 

Cheaper concrete is composed of low-grade minerals that tend to break apart after just a few years. Not only does this mean more repairs, but broken concrete is also more susceptible to mold, water damage, and rust.

3. Lacking in durability

When it comes to durability, premium precast concrete is the only way to go. If you want your new structure or installation to last for decades without any signs of wear and tear, you have two choices: cheap precast concrete that will fall apart after just a few years, or high-quality, durable concrete made from ingredients that are built to withstand the test of time.

Of course, many people are tempted to choose the cheaper option just because it’s a better deal in the short term. However, they end up spending more down the line in repairs and ongoing maintenance.

Along with being more cost-effective over time, high-quality materials are also safer because they’re less likely to fall apart and collapse.

4. Limited styles available

If you want the freedom to choose between different styles and finishes, you’ll want to look at higher-end concrete. The more you spend, the more you’ll be able to customize every aspect of the installation or structure so that it fits in seamlessly with your style preferences. This means you’ll have more control over design elements like color, texture, and finish–all while using premium ingredients that will last for decades.

Some companies even offer different textures and finishes. But of course, the trade-off is that these premium materials cost more than lower quality alternatives.

5. High maintenance costs

As mentioned previously, what you don’t pay upfront for precast concrete, you’ll likely have to make up for in repair costs later. Because premium precast concrete is strong enough to withstand extreme weather conditions, less maintenance is required over time. All you’ll have to do is keep it clean and let the high-quality materials work their magic.

If you’re investing in a precast concrete structure or installation that will be exposed to extreme weather conditions, it makes sense to choose high-quality materials for the best results. At Port Aggregates, all of our concrete products are made with the finest ingredients. It’s why we’ve been trusted for over 40 years! Contact us today to request a quote for your next precast concrete project.

The post The Dangers of Choosing the Cheaper Option When it Comes to Precast Concrete appeared first on Port Aggregates.

One of the most dreaded things about winter is its damaging effects on concrete. This can be a costly and frustrating problem, but it doesn’t have to be! 

There are numerous easy ways to help avoid concrete cracks this winter. Follow these steps to prepare your driveway or other concrete slabs for the cold months ahead.

Seal your concrete surfaces 

In winter months when snowfall and low temperatures freeze the top of your concrete, frost damage can occur if they are not sealed. Sealing your concrete protects the surface and makes it easier to remove any ice as well. 

Remove debris

Regularly scraping away any leaves that fall onto your concrete as the seasons change is vital to protecting your driveway or other concrete fixtures. Leaves and other organic matter will prevent your concrete from getting the proper exposure to sunlight it needs in order to avoid freezing.

Repair any damaged concrete

If your concrete has become damaged or is already cracking, you need to take care of it as soon as possible. 

Cracked concrete exposed to freezing temperatures can cost thousands of dollars to replace and is likely to continue deteriorating over time if you do not repair it before temperatures continue to drop. 

Be sure to inspect all areas of your property that have concrete. It is possible that your gazebo, deck, or walkway might need replacement too.

Be careful with salt 

Using too much salt as a melting agent can actually damage your concrete, causing it to become brittle and more likely to crack. It should only be used in moderation. Fortunately, in Louisiana, this shouldn’t be too much of a concern for us. 

If you follow these steps, you can avoid the nightmare of having to replace cracked concrete this winter season. Don’t wait another day to start protecting your concrete. 

With the Louisiana weather being as unpredictable as it has been the past couple of years, there’s no telling what this winter will bring. Start taking steps to protect your driveway now and contact Port Aggregates for assistance. We look forward to helping you keep your concrete safe this winter!

The post Avoiding Concrete Cracks in the Winter: How to Prepare Your Concrete appeared first on Port Aggregates.

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Over the past year or so, you’ve gotten to learn about our latest product, the Maturix Smart Concrete Sensors, and the benefits they offer. Throughout it all, you’ve probably heard us mention the maturity method once or twice. It’s a concept that our wireless concrete sensors leverage to improve the process of concrete monitoring. But what is it exactly?

To answer that, we’ve brought on Marina Salvador, the instructional designer for the creator of the Maturix Sensors, Sensohive Technologies ApS. Read on to see her define the maturity method these sensors use, what the steps involved in this method are, and what you can do to learn more.

The Definition 

The maturity method is a non-destructive test method that can be used to estimate the early-age strength development of concrete. The main assumption of the maturity method is that if two samples of the same concrete mix have the same maturity, they will also have the same strengtheven if they were cured under different temperature conditions

Thanks to new technologies and smart maturity systems like Maturix, which uses wireless temperature sensors and cloud computing, the maturity method is now a fast and easy method to use for real-time strength estimation.

The maturity method has three main steps, which you can read more about below.

Method Step 1: Make a Maturity Calibration

A maturity calibration determines the relationship between the maturity and strength development of a specific concrete mix.

To find this relationship, you make some samples with the concrete mixture that you will use in your project and instrument some of them with temperature sensors. The samples are then cured under the same conditions, and the temperature history is measured using the sensors. Then, you need to perform break tests of the samples at different test ages to determine their compressive strength. Once that is done, plot the strength data from the break tests and the maturity from the temperature history in a graph. Lastly, find the best-fitting curve through your data points, also known as the maturity curve.

Note: You can add the strength results and maturity values in Maturix, and the system will automatically plot the maturity curve.

Method Step 2: Estimate the In-Place Strength

Once you have performed a maturity calibration for your concrete mixture, you can estimate the in-place concrete strength by placing temperature sensors inside your structure. These will calculate the maturity index in your concrete and relate it to a certain strength from the maturity curve.

Note: With Maturix, it is extremely easy to follow the strength development, as the software will display the results in real time, and these can be accessed remotely. Moreover, it is possible to set up alarms to get notified when the desired strength has been achieved.

Method Step 3: Validate the Maturity Calibration

Validating the calibration and maturity curve regularly is important because there might be small variations in materials, batching equipment, and conditions that might affect their accuracy.

To validate your maturity calibration, make some samples during the next batch and compare the strength estimated using the maturity method with the strength obtained from other testing methods.

ASTM C1074 strongly recommends not to perform critical operations without verification of the maturity calibration or without strength validation using other test methods.

Further Reading

To learn more about the three steps of the maturity method, we recommend you read these articles: “Maturity CalibrationEstimate In-place Strength with the Maturity Method,” and “Validating the Maturity Calibration.”

The post What Is the Maturity Method? appeared first on Kryton.

When you think of concrete, it’s likely not long before you’re thinking about its durability. It’s one of the more well-known advantages of the material. And it’s why many choose to use concrete in construction. After all, no one wants to build with a material that couldn’t withstand the outside elements. So we turn to that concrete durability, relying on it enough to make concrete one of the most consumed materials on the planet, second only to water.

But concrete isn’t invulnerable. Depending on its mix, you could have a maintenance liability on your hands. Luckily, there is a way to avoid that. All it takes is being aware of how you can convert your concrete slab from a maintenance liability to an asset.

Keep in Mind That Slabs Can Be Prone to Wear and Tear

The first step in the right direction is to remind yourself that while durable, concrete slabs can still be prone to wear and tear.

It’s why you look for concrete hardening products. They’re meant to add an extra layer of protection to the concrete’s surface, sheltering it from abrasive and erosive forces that might otherwise degrade the concrete.

You can probably think of quite a few culprits responsible for this wear and tear. But as a refresher, let’s look into the specific types of abrasion and erosion you’re likely protecting your concrete from.

Number of Abrasive Forces Can Cause This

As noted in our latest e-book (which you can download and check out for yourself here), there are three specific types of abrasion-only wear:

Sliding abrasion — Also known as two-body abrasion, it’s what happens when a hard object slides across concrete. As it moves, the hard object will begin to gradually bore into the concrete, removing a bit of its surface each time. So if you have skids or some other item with a hard material moving back and forth over your concrete frequently, you’ll start to notice a rut in its surface.

 

Foreign particle abrasion — For any concrete projects that deal with vehicles, you’re sure to come across foreign particle abrasion. That’s because as the vehicles travel over the concrete, hard particles get trapped between the vehicle tires and concrete surface, and that wears down both materials simultaneously.

 

Rolling abrasion — A common sight in industrial spaces, rolling abrasion is what happens when wheels under a heavy load roll over a concrete surface. These wheels might come from carts, forklifts, or other wheeled equipment. But whichever one it is, over time, their movement over the concrete surface wears that surface out and creates noticeable dips in the concrete.

Erosive Forces Can Also Cause Similar Damage

One of the more common types of erosive wear is actually a combination of abrasion and erosion. And it’s often seen in hydraulic projects.

Why?

Well, these projects are typically ones that are surrounded by fast-moving water, such as dams and spillways. So they are more likely to encounter the abrasive effect of debris in the water grinding against their concrete surfaces. This debris might come in the form of silt, sand, gravel, rocks, or even ice. And while it’s roughing up the surface of the concrete, the surrounding water rushing by is gradually causing the concrete to erode.

That Can Open the Door to Various Costly Risks

If either abrasion or erosion starts to seriously affect your concrete to the point that you can see the damage, it can create a safety hazard, disrupt operations, and increase maintenance costs.

For Floor Slabs, That Can Involve an Increased Danger of Slipping, Tripping, and Falling

All those dips and ruts in concrete flooring caused by abrasive wear? They can pose a threat to your team’s personal safety.

While for a time, you might be able to work around the uneven flooring, you or someone else on your team is inevitably going to slip, trip, or fall. In fact, it’d be close to a statistical anomaly if you didn’t! Slips, trips, and falls make up a third of lost-workday injuries according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And as EHS Today notes, the primary cause for more than half of these injuries is due to an issue with a walking surface. So you can imagine the risk you take with keeping that uneven floor!

The cost of not implementing preventative measures for this kind of risk for businesses in the United States of America (USA) alone is about $70 billion a year overall in compensation and medical fees for workers.

For Road Slabs, That Means Traffic Accidents

Similar to how uneven flooring can pose a risk to people walking over it, uneven roads can be a risk to those driving.

Initially, that unevenness might be a slight difference in road surface from all that foreign particle abrasion. But eventually, that slight dip might lead to potholes or a fully uneven road. It also increases tire wear, making the vehicles on the road less efficient and safe to use.

All of which increases the risk for roadway accidents. Potholes on their own cause around $3 billion in vehicular repairs annually in the USA. And in Canada, each year, the cost for drivers as a whole is increasing by that same amount because of increased vehicular repairs and maintenance and general vehicular damage due to poorly maintained roads.

Hazards like potholes pose an even greater risk for those on motorcycles and bikes.

Those on motorcycles, according to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, may crash when encountering potholes. That can be a significant concern as motorcycle incidents have a 29% higher fatality risk than ones that occur with automobiles and light trucks.

For cyclists, they can end up with permanent nerve damage. But that’s not the worst-case scenario. Much like those on motorcycles, cyclists have a higher fatality rate when it comes to crashing. For instance, since 2007, in Britain, potholes alone have killed at least 22 cyclists and seriously injured another 368.

The Potential Damage Doesn’t Stop There Either

Of course, worker injuries and vehicular damage aren’t the only costs to consider when facing abrasion and erosion damage. You also have productivity, equipment, and structural loss to worry about.

For instance, workers operating forklifts on an uneven surface are likely to drive more slowly to avoid tipping over, reducing worksite productivity. And if they don’t? You’ll likely be paying to repair or replace that forklift and any items it happened to be carrying.

Using fully automated equipment won’t do much to overcome this obstacle on its own either as an uneven surface can prevent it from operating properly.

And what about structures? With enough abrasion and erosion, owners will have to close down for repairs and replace large sections of concrete structures, from floors all the way to hydro dams. All of which is extremely costly to any business and doesn’t endear owners to the concrete they used.

But Your Concrete Slab Doesn’t Have to Be a Maintenance Liability

You just need an effective concrete hardening solution.

Your first thought might be to use conventional surface-applied concrete hardeners like dry shake hardeners or liquid hardeners. However, those come with a number of setbacks.

Dry shake hardeners, for one, come with a complex application process. It’s not a one-and-done deal. Instead, a worksite team has to prepare the worksite first. That means removing excess concrete and preparing the remaining concrete. Then, depending on your chosen hardener’s material, you may have to take an extra step and use a wood bull float and then a machine float. After that, the team can finally move on to actually applying the dry shake hardener, which will cover a couple millimeters of the concrete’s surface.

However, even that part isn’t without complications. Dry shake hardeners can only be applied during a specific time and type of weather. Pick the wrong time and you can end up with delaminated concrete or an inability to even apply the dry shake.

At the same time, this hardener makes use of a toxic material known as silica dust, which means a worksite team needs to meet the proper safety measures to keep workers safe and comply with legal restrictions.

On the other hand, while not as frustrating to apply or as hazardous as dry shake hardeners, liquid hardeners are often misrepresented. They were first sold as dust reducers to help with defective concrete slabs that had a dusty surface. But now, they’re expected to harden concrete, which they do very poorly.

(For more reasons and data on why these aren’t effective solutions and more, take a look at our e-book on the topic!)

So, what can you use instead?

pply Hard-Cem to Increase Your Concrete Slab’s Resistance to Wear and Tear

Unlike any other concrete hardener on the market, Hard-Cem is an integral hardener. That means it applies its hardening properties throughout a concrete mix to form one solid abrasion- and erosion-resistant material. Essentially, it’s an admixture that you add into the concrete mix during batching. At that time, the admixture will permeate the entirety of the mix, giving it a harder concrete paste and reducing fine and coarse aggregate exposure. It does all this to help the concrete effectively resist abrasion and erosion.

Your Concrete Slab Will Gain Many Other Benefits as Well

More specifically, when using Hard-Cem, you’ll double the wear life of your concrete.  Because it does last that long and can resist abrasion and erosion, Hard-Cem-treated concrete comes with fewer maintenance fees. So you won’t need to resurface or replace your concrete as often. And you won’t need to use as much cement. That can increase your savings on carbon emissions by as much as 40%!

In some cases, this has even helped construction teams earn LEED certifications.

All you need to do to get these advantages is to throw the admixture and its dissoluble bag into the concrete mix during batching. There are no extra application steps, toxic silica dust, or inefficiencies to worry about. So you don’t have to spend money or time on hiring extra labor or managing application errors. Hard-Cem does all the heavy lifting, giving your mix the thorough durability it needs as soon as it’s added.

Hard-Cem also offers incredible versatility. It can work for a variety of projects and help harden horizontal, vertical, and inclined concrete. And it is the only hardener capable of being used for air-entrained concrete.

In short, it increases your concrete’s durability, speeds up your construction, reduces application costs, provides universal compatibility for different concrete mixes, and makes it all more sustainable.

It Just Takes the Right Concrete Mix Ingredients

With Hard-Cem added into your concrete mix, your concrete slabs will be an asset to your project. They’ll need less maintenance over the years, help you reduce your carbon emissions, and most importantly, keep abrasion and erosion at bay to keep your concrete structures standing for as long as possible.

The post Convert Your Concrete Slab from a Maintenance Liability to an Asset appeared first on Kryton.

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While it doesn’t look like silica dust is going away anytime soon, you may want to consider using an alternative material for your worksite when possible. After all, regulations in the United States of America (USA) are starting to get tighter. And it’s possible those restrictions will become the norm for other countries too.

In fact, just last year, the USA’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a national emphasis program on the material. It’s an initiative that’s meant to restrict silica dust exposure due to the risk it can pose for workers in a number of industries. As a result, you can now expect more inspections on your management of the material. And if your management doesn’t follow the updated regulations, you could face monetary penalties from $5,000 up to $70,000.

Not long after these restrictions were implemented, the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Labor argued for stricter standards for silica dust management in mines. Those included making use of more frequent silica sampling protocols and issuing citations and fines for excess silica dust exposures.

Similar plans for stricter regulations were approved in 2019 in Australia. The hope was to limit the silica dust exposure that stonemasons in the country experience. While regulations were tightened to a degree, they weren’t tightened as much as planned as there was concern over giving businesses enough time to meet the new compliance requirements.

But why is there such resistance? What makes silica dust so appealing and concerning at the same time? Is there no way around this infamous construction material?

To get a better understanding of the situation, we’ll take a deep dive on the subject. Join us as we delve into why silica dust is popular, what makes it dangerous, and how you can minimize its usage.

Hard to Avoid, Silica Dust Comes from a Number of Helpful Construction Materials

Whether we like it or not, silica dust comes from a very common mineral. Known just as silica, this mineral is found throughout the earth’s crust. It can come in two different forms: crystalline and noncrystalline silica. That first form is the one we often call silica dust. And it comes in a form of its own known as quartz. It too is also easily found throughout the world as it’s a basic component in sand, gravel, clay, granite, and various rocks.

As you can probably already tell, that means silica dust can be pretty hard to avoid. It’s in a lot of basic construction materials:

ConcreteCementMortarTilesBricksRock- and stone-based asphaltBlasting abrasives

All of which are often the building blocks to a wide variety of construction projects. They help construction workers create buildings, warehouses, and many other structures.

In some cases, silica dust can even be found in products that are meant to help protect structures. That includes surface-applied concrete hardening products like dry shake hardeners.

It’s what makes it so difficult to avoid silica dust. It’s part of our essential building materials, helping to make it possible to construct projects in the first place.

But Its Help Can Come at a Serious Cost

So long as people don’t create dust with those materials, they’re fine. The crystalline silica just remains within the material, harmless to people nearby. In return, people can safely reside within durable concrete buildings, stand on nice cool tiles in their bathroom, and so on.

However, that’s not often the case during the construction of those structures.

It May Be Stable When Left Alone, but Once Agitated, It Becomes a Problem

Construction activities of all kinds can often kick up dust. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

ChippingSawingDrillingDemolitionAbrasive blastingTunnelingExcavating

Once those activities do start up and move some dust around, there’s a problem. That’s when it’s possible for crystalline silica to become dangerous and interact in ways it shouldn’t with our health.

That Makes It a Health Risk for Anyone Nearby

Essentially, as soon as silica dust is in the air, there’s a risk for people nearby to inhale it. Why a risk? Well, silica dust is a known carcinogen, meaning it can cause cancer in people. More specifically, silica dust is known to spur on the development of lung cancer. And that isn’t the only disease it can lead to. It can also cause people to develop kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

After inhaling silica dust, people may even develop silicosis, which is particularly dangerous as there is no test for it. You can’t even easily define the signs of silicosis. Its symptoms match many other diseases after all. And you can’t recover from it either.

However, silicosis only tends to occur after you’ve been exposed to silica dust for 10–20 years. That may seem like a more manageable risk level to you. But keep in mind that if your exposure is intense enough, you could develop silicosis after 5–10 years or even after just a few months of exposure. And that’s only for this one particular disease!

In fact, it doesn’t take much silica dust at all to be a threat, whether you’re exposed to it over the years or within a day. That’s why OSHA limits a person’s permissible exposure level to silica dust to 50 μg/m3 over an eight-hour day.

Many Try to Mitigate the Damage of Silica Dust

Despite its risk, silica dust is still necessary for certain areas in construction. That’s why construction sectors and work safety organizations around the world take silica dust safety seriously. As a result, they typically apply the following safety measures and more to manage the application of the material in a responsible way that’s designed to keep construction workers and the overall worksite as safe as possible.

Part of That Includes the Use of Engineering Controls

These measures are designed to eliminate hazards like silica dust before workers come into contact with them. It’s what makes them more favorable than other measures like administrative controls and personal protective equipment (PPE). However, that’s also what can make them a bit more costly at the start. In the end, though, these controls are always good to have in the long run. While initially costly, over time, they’ll reduce operating costs for construction teams and keep them safe and healthy at the same time.

So, how does this work for silica dust?

There are a number of engineering controls that can be used against silica dust. These include the following:

Dust suppression — To prevent as much dust as possible from stirring at all, workers might choose to use water sprays. These might be sprays that can be attached to a tool like a pneumatic, hydraulic, or gas-powered saw. Or they might be sprays that form a curtain of water to protect a specific area from airborne dust particles. In either case, the idea behind it is that once dust particles come into contact with water droplets, they become heavier and are less likely to float in the air and pose a threat to workers.

Ventilation — When workers are agitating silica dust, they can use local exhaust ventilation to suck the dust away before it reaches their breathing area. For instance, if they are using hand-held cut-off saws to cut concrete, they can connect an exhaust hood (also known as a shroud) to the tool first. The hood is connected to an industrial vacuum cleaner with a flexible hose, which allows it to produce enough suction to capture the silica dust.

Industrial vacuum cleaning — Much like with portable ventilation, workers can suck dust away from areas through high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtering vacuums. There are a variety of HEPA vacuums to choose from, including stationary, intermittent-filtering, and continuous-filtering models. So the efficiency of dust suppression with this method will depend. Though, workers should use one that has oversized filters. That allows the vacuum’s filtration system to collect a lot of dust and debris for a longer period than a vacuum with smaller filters.

dministrative Controls Also Come into Play

While not as favorable compared to engineering controls, administrative controls can be combined with them for extra protection. Under these particular controls, a construction team will determine the right work procedures that allow workers to do their job well and safely.

According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, that can include implementing the following practices:

Worksite education — Without proper knowledge of silica dust, workers could have an increased risk to getting hurt while working near the material. To prevent that, it’s important all workers know what silica dust is, why it’s a threat, and how they can reduce that threat to a manageable level.

An exposure control plan — On top of worksite education, a construction team should have an exposure control plan. That ensures they will have a handy reference at their disposal that outlines the proper directions and expectations for preventing silica dust exposure.

Proper washing facilities on-site — To keep silica dust from spreading too far from the worksite, workers need to make sure they aren’t heading home in a cloud of the material. That might sound a little tricky, but all this requires is proper washing facilities at the worksite. These should provide clean water, soap, and individual towels. That way, each worker has the opportunity to effectively remove any dust around them.

nd for Extra Good Measure, Workers Have PPE

Similar to administrative controls, PPE is more effective when combined with engineering and administrative controls.

But this all depends on the equipment used! Some may find it easier to whip out a disposable dust mask and wear it. As the National Precast Concrete Association notes, it’s likely to be less hot to wear and easier to talk through than respirators approved by official safety authorities like the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). And with the word dust in that name, it sounds like it might protect workers from silica dust, right?

Well, unfortunately, that’s just not the case. Disposable dust masks are not NIOSH-approved. And they aren’t meant to really protect people from toxic substances. They’re actually better used as a way to stay comfortable while mowing grass or sweeping or dusting an area.

That’s why you want to go with an officially recognized and approved respirator. It’s designed to protect the wearer from all sorts of airborne contaminants, such as hazardous dusts, fumes, vapors, and gases.

On top of that, workers should also wear overalls and gloves to protect the rest of their body from coming into contact with silica dust. It also makes it easier for them to leave the dust at the worksite as they can simply strip off that uniform, leave it for cleaning on-site, and go home in their non-dusty attire.

But There Are Also Substitutes for Silica Dust to Minimize or Eliminate Its Use

You don’t always need to deal with silica dust or with as much of it as you might think. In fact, there are some great silica dust-free alternatives that you can use to keep your worksite just that much safer.

For a Silica Dust-Free, Non-Toxic Concrete Hardener, Look to Hard-Cem

It may be more conventional to harden your concrete with products like dry shake hardeners. But those often come with silica dust.

Luckily, you can eliminate this concern entirely when you use Hard-Cem. It’s free of silica dust. And as the only integral hardening admixture on the market, Hard-Cem has the unique ability to enter a concrete mix directly. Because of that, you don’t need to hire extra labor to apply it or have to worry about it not covering your concrete completely. You just add its dissoluble bag into the concrete mix during batching and let it permeate throughout the concrete. That gives the concrete full-depth hardening and increases its resistance to abrasion and erosion.

In return, you get concrete with double the usual wear life and a much more durable surface. That allows you to minimize the number of repairs or replacements you otherwise might need, which also reduces how much carbon your project emits.

There Are Also Many Other Substitutes for Different Applications

Of course, silica dust doesn’t just help with concrete hardening at times. It also helps with many other construction activities. So what can you substitute silica dust with for those?

While that may not be possible for every activity, you can substitute silica dust in the following activities:

Abrasive blasting — OSHA lists a number of silica dust substitutes for abrasive blasting materials. These include aluminum oxide, baking soda, coal slag, copper slag, and corn cob granules.

 

Precision grinding — The Workers Health & Safety Centre in Ontario, Canada, notes that grinding (also known as abrasive cutting) in construction can be done without silica dust. Instead of using sandstone grinding wheels, workers can use aluminum oxide wheels.

Silica Dust Doesn’t Have to Be a Problem at Your Worksite

It may feel like it’s everywhere (and in some cases, it certainly can be!). But you don’t have to put up with silica dust all the time. There are ways to not only mitigate its potential for damage but to also remove it entirely. Whether you choose to harden your concrete through Hard-Cem or use other alternatives, you can minimize the silica dust at your worksite, keeping workers safer and your worksite just as, if not more, productive.

The post Silica Dust: The Dangers and How You Can Mitigate Them appeared first on Kryton.

Every 100 minutes, the Louisiana coast loses an entire football field’s worth of wetlands to erosion.

If you’ve ever been near the coast, chances are that you’ve seen rip rap in place to prevent this from happening.

Rip rap is a type of large rock that’s often made of crushed granite. Manmade or natural, these rocks are often about a foot in diameter and offer several benefits.

The many advantages of rip rap

Rock rip rap is used to protect streambanks, channels, slopes, shorelines, inlets, outlets, and many other erosion-prone areas. It stabilizes and fills slopes that are unstable due to seepage and helps slow the velocity of concentrated runoff. 

Not to mention, it’s also extremely easy to use and install, requiring virtually no maintenance. When placed over a filler material such as fabric, sand, or gravel, it can prevent soil from seeping through the stone and protect the underlying natural material.

Uniform vs. graded

Rip rap comes in two forms: uniform and graded. Uniform rip rap is delivered in pieces that are similar in size, whereas graded comes in a variety of different sizes. Graded rip rap is cheaper to install and better at withstanding stone movement, which is why it’s often preferred over uniform. 

Port Aggregates offers three types of rip rap: 10lb rip rap (6-10”), 30lb rip rap, and 55lb rip rap. Whether your goal is to prevent erosion or simply create a garden, we’ve got just what you need. Our high-quality crushed limestone is available in numerous sizes to suit your special needs. Contact us today to request a quote

The post How Rip Rap Helps With Erosion Prevention appeared first on Port Aggregates.

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.concretestyle.net/?p=1227

No matter where you are in the construction industry, you want the structures you work with to last. After all, no one likes to hear that their work failed to live up to expectations. And the expectations for long-lived structures have only grown, increasing as the concern for sustainability and climate change rise. There’s also now more demand for environmentally friendly structures that can resist harsher climates. In short, now more than ever, you’re looking for ways to keep your structures standing for as long as possible and to help them survive the wear and tear of weather and everyday activity.

In your search for the right solution to this, you may have come across our integral hardening admixture, Hard-Cem. Known widely to be a great solution for warehouse durability (and more), it’s been applied to over 7 million m2 (80 million ft2) of concrete across Canada.

But what makes it so popular? And why should you consider it for your future projects? These frequently asked questions and more have been given a great deal of thought in a number of our other articles. But to make sure you get all your answers in one place, we’ve decided to respond to these questions in an easy-to-read guide here.

So, What Is Hard-Cem Exactly?

As we briefly touched on earlier, Hard-Cem is an integral hardening admixture meant to make concrete more durable against abrasion and erosion. In fact, it’s the only one of its kind on the market currently!

Other concrete hardening solutions typically come in the form of dry shakes, liquid hardeners, or other conventional forms. However, they can also come with application concerns.

For one, dry shake products usually have a complicated application process, so there is a higher risk of applying them incorrectly. And because these products often come with toxic silica dust, workers are more likely to get exposed to that material and develop health problems.

Liquid hardeners, on the other hand, while safer and less complicated to use, are just not that effective. They’re designed to reduce dust from weak, improperly finished or fast-drying concrete slabs. They aren’t and shouldn’t be expected to increase concrete hardness to prevent abrasion or erosion.

And both dry shakes and liquid hardeners require time-consuming manual labor, which often requires expensive equipment.

Hard-Cem, however, is free of all these concerns! Because it’s an admixture, it just needs to be added to your concrete mix. And that’s it! It only has one step, so there’s no risk of applying it incorrectly. Hard-Cem also does not expose workers to silica dust, so it helps make jobsites safer. As a result, with Hard-Cem, you get an easier and safer way to create concrete that is harder and better able to resist abrasive and erosive forces.

How Does It Help with Concrete Hardening?

To help with concrete hardening, Hard-Cem is first added into the concrete mix. From there, it disperses throughout the mix, allowing hard particles to get embedded into the cement paste, increasing the hardness of the entire concrete slab. In turn, the cement paste wears more slowly, which reduces material loss that would normally expose the underlying aggregates and make the slab uneven and less functional.

All of which helps double the wear life of the concrete and increase its resistance to abrasion and erosion. And that remains a permanent, life-long feature for the concrete as Hard-Cem becomes a fundamental part of the concrete mix.

Will It Increase Concrete Performance?

Outside of extending your concrete’s wear life and raising your concrete’s resistance to abrasion and erosion, Hard-Cem can also increase your concrete’s chipping resistance. In short, it increases your concrete’s performance in terms of durability against physical wear and tear.

In fact, Hard-Cem is capable of doing this for both regular concrete slabs and concrete joints! However, it’s important to note that if you’re expecting severe wear on your concrete joints to the point that joint-armoring technologies are required, Hard-Cem is not meant to be a replacement for that technology specifically.

How Does Hard-Cem Increase Concrete Durability without Increasing Cement Content?

The fact that Hard-Cem doesn’t increase cement content might seem surprising at first considering it’s common to increase the cement content of your concrete to boost its durability. But keep in mind that Hard-Cem is an additive that strengthens and reinforces cement paste.

A good example for how that works is to think of additives that can be used in tire manufacturing. You’re still using the same amount of rubber, but the tires themselves can be manufactured to be more durable and abrasion-resistant.

Hard-Cem works in a similar way. It’s acting directly in the cement paste to reduce the rate of wear loss. So even though the bulk concrete still has the same or similar compressive strength and properties with Hard-Cem, the addition of Hard-Cem will still help reduce the wear of concrete when it is subject to abrasive and erosive forces. And it does that without the need to add more Portland cement to your concrete mix, allowing you to strengthen it and maintain lower carbon emissions.

How Is It Added to the Concrete?

Hard-Cem is added right into a concrete truck at the batch plant through your local concrete provider. There are no extra steps, and it ensures Hard-Cem is properly added to your mix before you start pouring your concrete. Hard-Cem is available in easy-to-use mixer-ready bags or bulk silo deliveries for larger jobs.

What Projects Can It Be Used For?

It can be used in any project of yours that needs a strong resistance to abrasion and erosion. That typically applies to warehouses. But there are so many more worthwhile applications!

Other projects that often get the most benefit out of Hard-Cem include the following:

Industrial service and repair baysHighway pavements and intersectionsBridge decksRunwaysParking structures, ramps, and apronsSkate parksTunnelsShaftsProcess buildings for mining, oil, and gas industriesUtility and maintenance buildingsLivestock housingStorage shedsTractor garagesDamsSluiceways, spillways, and drainage conduitsStilling basinsCulverts and precast pipesCanalsBlocks and pavers

Is Hard-Cem Compatible with Supplementary Cementitious Materials?

Yes, Hard-Cem has been successfully applied in a number of projects that use supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), such as fly ash, ground-granulated blast-furnace slag, and silica fume.

Is It Compatible with Air-Entrained Concrete?

Also, yes! Hard-Cem is fully compatible with air-entrained concrete. Hard-Cem is not harmful to the air-void system. And air-entrained concrete treated with Hard-Cem remains highly durable to freeze-thaw cycles and salt scaling.

Is There Anything It Isn’t Compatible With?

In general, Hard-Cem is a highly versatile admixture! In addition to being compatible with SCMs and air-entrained concrete, it can be used for a wide variety of concrete placements whether they’re horizontal, vertical, or inclined.

Even its application can be versatile. Hard-Cem works with ready-mix, shotcrete, and precast concrete applications.

And no matter what mix you use, which concrete placement you go with, or how you apply it, Hard-Cem will not negatively impact your concrete’s water demand, workability, set time, strength development, or shrinkage. Instead, you’ll get the same concrete but with better durability.

Does Hard-Cem Change the Concrete’s Finishing Properties?

No, Hard-Cem does not change the finishing characteristics. In fact, finishers report a high level of satisfaction when working with the admixture. Moreover, Hard-Cem can be used with any specified finish.

Do You Have Any Other Resources That Can Teach Me More about Hard-Cem?

If you still have some questions about Hard-Cem or just want to satisfy a more personal curiosity in our novel concrete hardener, we have plenty of digital resources just for you:

Articles“The Top 4 Types of Smart Concrete Technologies to Boost Concrete Construction”“A Study in Durable Design: Creating the Award-Winning Metro Skate Park”“Hard-Cem: It’s Not Just for Warehouse Floors”“Why Hard-Cem Shotcrete Should Be Your Solution for Durable Concrete”“Liquid Hardeners vs Hard-Cem: Which Is Better for Concrete Durability?”“Lower Your Concrete Carbon Footprint with These 4 Innovative Methods”“Silica Dust: The Dangers and How You Can Mitigate Them”“Convert Your Concrete Slab from a Maintenance Liability to an Asset”

 

Case StudiesVancouver Convention CentreBear Creek HydroBrandt Tractor Ltd. warehouseAn Abbotsford residential workshopAshbridges Bay Skate Park

 

Educational ContentWebinar on integral concrete hardening for wear-resistant concreteHanley Wood University’s course on our integral hardening admixture for wear-resistant concreteConstruction Canada’s demo-cast recording on Hard-Cem

If I’ve Already Decided to Add Hard-Cem to My Project, Where Would I Get It?

We offer Hard-Cem through concrete providers around the world. So if you’d like to add Hard-Cem to your project, get in touch with your local provider. You can also check out our website for a list of contacts who could help you with your Hard-Cem needs.

The post Concrete Hardening with Hard-Cem®: Frequently Asked Questions appeared first on Kryton.

Interested in learning more about this topic and more social and sustainable ways of doing architecture? Apply now for our Postgraduate!

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DISCLAIMER

This article explains how to protect wood from pests, water and fire showing different environmental-friendly techniques

!UPDATE! !UPDATE! !UPDATE! !UPDATE! !UPDATE! !UPDATE! !UPDATE! !UPDATE!

DE BLOWA

UseProtectionLimitationInterior & exterior wood,
termites-infested woodKilling and repelling termites and other pestsIf a change in colour is not appriciated

DE BLOWA is a mixture of proven anti-termite and anti-pest ingredients that we at Critical Concrete used to protect almost all of the wood we use. So far, we haven’t done any long-term research into its effectiveness, but we’re optimistic that it’s a very useful combination because all of the ingredients are individually useful treatments for pests. The name is an abbreviation for the materials it contains:

DEDiatomaceous Earth100 gB
Borax100 gLLinseed Oil3 kgOOrange Oil100 gWAWood Ashes100 g

It is important to shake the mixture well before application, as the ingredients are not dissolving and settling on the bottom of the container. Then the mixture can be easily applied with a brush (or for a larger surface with a paint roller). Users should be aware that DE BLOWA gives the wood a darker shine. If a fine result is required, the excess should be removed a few minutes after brushing with a cloth.

ProTip: If the wood is already infested, it is recommended to briefly pull the wood through fire from all sides to kill the termites. Another option is to inject orange oil into the visible termite tunnels with a syringe. Read more about the single ingredients and techniques in the following article!

Interested in using this technology in your project?

Critical Studio can help!

Learn More!

Introduction

Wood is a versatile and renewable material with a positive carbon footprint, which proves to be a significant construction material in sustainable architecture. Because of its strong and lightweight characteristics and the possibility to be processed and worked easily, it is a good replacement for other, less ecological materials. Additionally, wood is a relatively cheap material and gives any construction a cozy and natural atmosphere.

All these advantages make wood one of our most used materials within our projects. For example, instead of concrete or metal, the heavy load of our green roof is carried by strong wooden laminated beams of 12x48cm. Also, reclaimed wooden windows are giving a unique touch to the backyard facade of our workshop.

Beams carrying the green roof

The facade in process

Despite the mentioned advantages, wood as a building material still faces some persistent prejudices, which can lead people to refrain from using wood in their constructions. Many bacteria, fungi and insects find wood appetizing, and humidity and moisture can lead to its early decay. Besides this, a misconception associates wood with being very flammable and thus, a risky building material (when in fact wood retains its strength longer and at much higher temperatures than steel [1]). So, if wood is prepared and treated in an appropriate way, it can be turned into a long-lasting, water- and bacteria-proof as well as fire resistant building material. Many still-standing examples prove that wooden structures can last over centuries and, taking their time of origin into account, that wood can be protected without any artificial products.

House on the Faroe Islands

When it comes to protecting wood from the mentioned dangers, one can already find a lot of articles on the internet. In this article we avoid the commonly used methods which often involve ingredients harmful to the environment and instead focus on the natural and non-toxic techniques. Besides, we want to promote and facilitate the usage of reclaimed wood. The basics of how to prepare reclaimed wood for the prevention technique can be found at the end of the article.

Based on our experience and research, this article aims to give guidance regarding sustainable and environmentally-friendly techniques to protect wood against pests, humidity and fire. What techniques fit best for your projects can be traced in the decision tree below.

Protection Techniques

Exterior and interior wood are exposed to very different conditions. Whereas both need to stand fire and pest, the wood outside is prone to much more risks as it may have to withstand heavy rain, persistent humidity or high-levels of sunlight radiation. In our projects we usually use applying borax and linseed oil for interior wood and the Japanese technique of charring wood (shou sugi ban) for exterior wood. Depending on the conditions of the property and on the available resources, a combination of techniques may be suitable.

CHARRING WOOD

UseProtectionLimitationExterior and interior wood;
preferably cedar, pine, marble, hemlock or oakagainst humidity
against pests and fungi
enhancing fire-resistance
sunlight-protectionnot suitable for glued and easily cracking wood

Charring Wood is a Japanese technique which originated in the 18th century, known as Shou Sugi Ban. The surface of the wood is burned until carbonation of the surface. The finished result is called Yakisugi. We already published an article about the technique’s history and contemporary use in architecture today, check here.

Counter-intuitively, charring wood has several astonishing advantages without involving any chemicals. The idea is to burn the surface of the wood without combusting the whole piece. Besides giving the material an interesting and unique look, the process lead to a triple protection:

fire protection – this might seem counter-intuitive, but the burning of the surface starts a carbonation of the material and thus lower the thermal conductivity. The treated material will take more time to burn in case of a fire than the regular wood.
termite and mold protection – burning wood destroys the nutritional value to insects and fungi, that regular wood gives to these species. Thus it helps to prevent the propagation of pests.
water protection – the enhanced carbonation gives the charred layer a waterproof resistance, as water slips on burned wood like over an oily surface.

TRADITIONAL STYLE
(suitable for a certain amount of similar boards)

Traditionally the technique is used with Japanese cedar. Cedar is usually the easiest species to burn because of its natural chemical properties and wide grain patterns, making it a more porous wood. In the last few years, the technique has been popularized in western countries and extended to other species of wood like pine, hemlock, maple, or oak. We used pine and beech, but we experienced that these species tend to show cracks when charring. Before burning other species of wood than the ones mentioned above, it is advised to research on previous experiences or make small prototypes. It needs to be mentioned, that once the piece gets charred, it may contract slightly and change its shape as it loses humidity. If working with very precise measurements, this needs to be kept in mind!

Following, the article is highlighting different approaches to do the burning process. For both it is recommended to choose a well-ventilated place, preferably outside, but to avoid breezes. Safety measures should include a nearby fire extinguisher, a bucket of water as well as fire-resistant gloves. Wearing flammable clothes like polyester, sawdust or any flammable items within the close surrounding must be absolutely avoided.

Traditionally in Japan, shou sugi ban is performed by bonding three planks of wood to form a long triangle and starting a fire in the resulting tube. This technique is suitable to char a bigger amount of similar boards (e.g. for cladding). The easiest way to create this triangle is to place the three boards next to each other on the ground with facing the sides to be charred upside and then folding the two outside boards upwards. The triangle can be easily fixed with wire.

One possibility is to put the triangle on a non flammable floor and start the fire at the opening at one side of the triangle. In the best case, the fire spreads over within the whole tube and it will take a few minutes to char the surfaces of the wood. Once the surface is sufficiently burned, the planks are separated and thrown to the ground to stop the burning [2]. The other possibility is to start the fire while the triangle is standing up. Therefore a stable and fire-resistant base (e.g using bricks) is advisable, best next to an also fire-resistant wall. Besides, a fire-resisting spot where the hot and probably still burning triangles can be placed later, needs to be prepared. The wooden triangle can be placed in a slight angle to the wall and the fire can be started inside the lower opening of the triangle. It is also possible to put a grill on the fire-resistant base and start a fire in there, keeping the fire slightly smaller than the hole of the triangle. That way the triangles can be just put on top of the fire and the process will be started. Once the bottom part of the tube catches fire, the fire will make its way to the top. After some minutes fire shoots will be visible on the top and after waiting another minute the triangle can be removed with fire tongs. Once the wood is placed on the prepared spot, the fire can be hosed off with water [3]. 

As it is can be an unhandy task to fix and loosen the triangles, we are working on a technique to facilitate the process. We are building a burning station, where you can easily put wooden boards and start a fire underneath. When the station will be refined, we will share the methodology and tools in another short article and in a YouTube-Video!

ADAPTED STYLE WITH A HANDHELD BLOW TORCH
(suitable for every form)

If the wood does not come in similar boards or if you do not feel comfortable with the traditional method, the wood can also be charred using a handheld propane blowtorch. For many tasks we worked with this method, for example burning the windows for the facade. Precautions for this method include the mentioned safety measures and the preparation of a fire-resistant spot to place the wood during and after the process.

Starting the process, the torch needs to be lit and the gas opened to the full, so the fire appears more in a bluish colour, meaning it is more concentrated and strong. A good distance between torch and wood lays between 10-15 cm, held in a relatively straight angle. (The distance depends on the torch, but it should be around the right distance when the top of the touching blue fire separates into orange flames).

Burning process with a handheld blow torch

It is recommended to move the torch slowly over the surfaces. In the first seconds, the grains will be highlighted in a darker colour and after the whole surface will turn darker. To get the full protection characteristics, the surfaces should turn completely black and the very first layer should start to get porous. After finishing all the surfaces, the wood needs to cool down.

The burning process

Charred board

FINAL FINISHING FOR CHARRED WOOD
(applicable for traditional and hand torch technique)

After charring the wood, one can clean it softly using a standard wire brush to remove the most superficial char and create a non porous surface, using the brush in the direction of the wood grain. This task needs some precaution. If the wood is brushed too much, its pores will be opened up again and thus the water protection layer might be lost. It is enough if the excess of the burn is removed and the texture of the drains become slightly visible. After the surface can be cleaned with a cloth or water or by using an air compressor. As final coating applying linseed oil is recommended (see the advantages of linseed oil more up in the article). 

CRITICAL CONCRETE CHARRING STATION
(Shou Sugi Ban without gas)

At Critical Concrete, we wanted to build up a tool with commonly available materials which enables us on the one side to charr wood of different sizes and forms effectively, but on the other hand, keep the process at very little risk and environmentally-friendly. Check out our Video about our very own Shou Sugi Ban Charring Station!

BORAX

UseProtectionLimitationInterior woodagainst pests and fungi
against humiditynot suitable for exterior wood (only combined with another technique or with a weather-proof resistant wood spieces)

Borax Crystals

Borax is composed of naturally occurring minerals that usually comes as a white powder, consisting of soft and colorless crystals that will dissolve in water. The structure of the boron, salt and oxygen molecules inhibit the metabolic processes of many organisms and therefore borax disinfects and kills unwanted pests and insects [4].

Be aware, that even if borax is a completely natural product, it doesn’t mean it is completely safe to manipulate. For sensitive people, contact with borax may lead to skin or eye irritation [5]. Even though borax enhances the woods protection against humidity, borate protections are only suitable for indoor wood that is protected from weather.

To prepare the solution, the mineral needs to be dissolved with water. We experimented on different percentages and concluded that the mix of 10% of Borax and accordingly 90% of water seems to be the most suitable division. When doing the mix, the water should have a temperature of around 40 degrees, so the mineral dissolves faster and in a higher quantity into the water.

Before applying the borax-mix, the wood needs to be cleaned with a wet but tightly squeezed fabric (to prevent the wood from absorbing more water) to remove dust and dirt. Just before putting the borax-water mixture, it has to be stirred again, because the solution will start settling after some time. To ensure not to apply too much water to the wood and to avoid running noses, it is recommended to wipe off any excess liquid of the paintbrush. To guarantee the effect of the borax minerals, a preferably homogeneous coverage is important. The borax must be fixed with a layer of oil, stain, lacquer or wax. (Look at the next step where we explain why and how you should use linseed).

We have to admit that using Borax as a termite repellent is the best solution we found so far, but that from a sustainable point of view it is far from perfect. The biggest and commercially most important sources of Borax are found in California and Turkey; minor resources can be found in Romania, Bolivia, Chile and Tibet. For us in Portugal that means on the one hand long transportation ways and its unsustainable consequences. But on the other hand and probably much worse the exploration of the minerals from deep layers in the earth can cause immense and devastating damage to nature and landscape. For this reason we are investigating alternatives such as wood ash mixes.

ORANGE OIL

UseProtectionLimitationInterior & exterior wood,
termites-infested woodagainst dry wood termites

Besides borax, orange oil has to be proven environmentally friendly repellent. Deriving from the skin of an orange peel it saturates the wood and gives it a shiny appearance. Thus the efficiency of orange oil against termites is debated. Some sources declare that it kills dry wood termites, but it fails to fight subterranean termites [6]. We applied little amounts of orange oil several times in a row to localized termite infections with a serine and in our case orange oil proved to be very effective. Orange oil is expensive (4 liters for around 100 €) but you never need a big quantity. For small surfaces and already infested areas it is a proper substitute for borax.

In our project we also use 5% mix of orange oil with linseed oil to protect our interior wood from future infestation. But bear in mind that if the borax will remain on your wood permanently, the orange oil would probably slowly be absorbed and loose effect with time. To our understanding it works better as a treatment than as a preventive measure.

LINSEED OIL

UseProtectionLimitationInterior & exterior Woodagainst humidity
sunlight-protection

Linseed oil exhibits many advantages and thanks to its non-toxicity and its environmentally-friendly characteristics is coming back into force lately. It can be used inside and outdoors and act as a protection for water and sunlight [7].

It penetrates deep into the wood, so it does not only saturate the surface but the whole piece of wood. It is also suitable to lock the layer of borax. It lends a golden hue to the wood which will turn to amber over time. The colour is a question of taste and due to its long drying time linseed oil may not be everyone’s favorite. But in fact, it is possible to reduce drying time by using double boiled or polymerized linseed oil [8].

Comparison between a beam with and a beam without linseed oil

To apply linseed oil is very easy, a surplus of oil needs to be wiped off from the brush before applying it to the whole wooden surface and after it needs two to three days to be completely absorbed by the wood.

Linseed oil has the advantage that it penetrates relatively deeply into the wood. But it is also possible to replace all the air contained in the wood with linseed oil. The technique uses first a vacuum to cause the air in the wood to be drawn out, followed by pressuring warmed up linseed oil into the wood structure. Once the oil has hardened, the wood cells should be prevented from absorbing any moisture. For now, this technique is common among instrument makers; at Critical Concrete we did not have the chance to experiment with it so far, but we will do in a close future (stay tuned for upcoming articles).

WOOD VACUUM STABILIZATION

Usually, this technique is done by using a sealable container and a vacuum-pump. The container is filled up with linseed oil, some sources recommend a 2:1-mixture of linseed oil and turpentin. One or more wooden pieces are put into the oil, the container is sealed and and the vacuum pump is started, going to a maximum pressure of 90 kPA (for less fragile parts the optimal maximum vacuum pressure needs to be evaluated). The second phase involves compressing the air up to 75 psi and isolating the container. It is recommended to heat the oil to a temperature around 35 degrees to prevent the oil from “boiling”. The whole thing should be left like this for about a day. After, the heating can be turned down and before starting the depression the oil should cool down for a few hours. When everything has cooled down, the pieces can be taken out of the oil. It is necessary to keep the wooden pieces in a cold environment and give them a daily wipe for the following days, as the oil may continue to sweat and thus leaving ugly patches which will later on be hard to remove. After this activity has terminated, the pieces can be removed to a warmer place to speed up the drying process (which can also involve many days). It is still questioned whether this technique is suitable for bigger pieces of wood, as we could only find examples for smaller pieces (as seen in a construction context). It has to be evaluated whether the oil can penetrate completely into big pieces of wood and if yes, if it can also dry completely. Besides making the wood waterproof, the vacuum pressure treatment adds to weight, stability and resilience of the wood [9].

LIME AND WOODEN ASHES

UseProtectionLimitationContact between ground and woodagainst subterranean termitesnot applicable on wood

Both lime and wooden ashes are alkaline, and termites do not prefer alkaline environments. This mixture was already used in ancient China, where it was usually spread on the soil to kill subterranean termites, which can also be helpful to avoid wooden construction to get in contact with termites via the soil [10]. Besides, we found some suggestions to put ashes directly in holes that derive from termites. Also a study from Uganda shows that wooden ashes (sometimes mixed with pepper or cow urine) applied to the trees and soils kept the termites away [11]. For now it seems like it is not directly applicable to wooden surfaces, because the wood’s ph is usually acidic and these of ashes and lime are alkaline. Whenever acidic and alkaline components come into contact and water is present a chemical reaction will occur. It might have been possible to predict the reaction if bringing together only a few inorganic compounds, but wood consists of a multitude of organic compounds which differ even from species to species [12]. Thus, it might be an interesting field to experiment in the future.

DDITIONAL OPTIONS SUPPORTING TERMITE-FREE WOODEN CONSTRUCTIONS

Termite-eating Worms and Fungus. There is also the possibility to attack subterranean termites (which might flow over to wooden constructions) while placing a special species of microscopic worms into the soil next to the construction – Nematodes. They come as parasitic roundworms and they will quickly find and enter the host insect’s body and start eating it from the inside. Doing so, they are releasing gut and the termite will suffer from blood poisoning and quickly die. Nematodes will go on to its next victim till they cannot find any host insect anymore and then die. Similar working species of fungus exist, too [13]. If these worms may have any potential to be put directly into a wooden construction or if they will act as a pest themselves (as for example Bursaphelenchus xylophilus does to pine trees)needs further examination.

Diatomaceous Earth. Consisting of small decayed organisms, which have dried out and become razor sharp cut the sensitive, outer shell membranes of small insects. After the insect’s shell is sliced, the extremely dry particles of the diatomaceous earth actively dehydrate and thus kill the insect in a short time [14]. Diatomaceous Earth is commonly used to kill existing pests by spraying the powder to the infested areas. If and how it is applicable as a preventive protection to be applied to the wood needs to be examined.

Sunlight. Termites might die when they are exposed to sun radiation and heat. So, furniture or pieces of wood which are mobile and where indicators of termite infestation can be indicated, might be without termites after they were put for some time into direct sun [15].

Termite traps. The favorite dish of a termite is cellulose, that is why they are craving for wood and everything which is somehow made out of wood. Cardboard boxes provide an ample amount of cellulose. If the infestation of termites is apprehend, setting out a wettendend cardboard box can lure them out of their hiding. This way will probably not lead to the total extinction of the termites in one place and it needs repetition from time to time, but every termite removed is a good termite [16].

Protective measurements deriving from the construction details

The protection of wood can be enhanced the way it is – installed in the construction. On vertical boards the water can flow more easily and thus will penetrate less into the structure. Another strategy can be to work with a ventilated wood and batten structure, securing a constant ventilation on the exposed wood. This is traditionally used in barns and today adapted to many contemporary wooden construction. If possible, exposed joints, screws and nails should be avoided, reduce possible enter spots for humidity and to obviate rusty spots.

Conclusion

Due to its environmentally-friendly characteristics and its easy-to-work with features, wood is one of the most important materials in our projects. To protect this precious material and to enlarge its usable life-circle, we discovered the mentioned techniques as the most suitable for us. One the one hand, those methods enable the protection of wood with commonly used tools or with very little acquisitions. On the other hand, they not just renounce spreading toxic material into the environment, they also prove that wood can be a durable construction material, which can replace other, less sustainable materials. Nonetheless, those techniques are not exclusive when it comes to sustainable and ecological wood protection techniques, but using these methods set incentive for a more sustainable architecture.

Building the green roof structure

BONUS-TRACK

Depending on if and how the wood was used before, the wood may need to be prepared before applying the protection techniques. This possibly includes cleaning and smoothing the wood. 

Notice: Before starting to work with wood, it is important to check the humidity of the wood (max. 20% – it is possible to use hygrometer or by comparing the weight of some size and species of wood). If the wood is too wet, it is not possible to work with it, otherwise all the effort will be in vain, you’ll damage your tools, and the wood is probably highly damaged already.

CLEANING THE WOOD

When using leftover wood, it most probably shows traces of its former life, including left-over nails, screws and other applications as well as old (and probably chipped and multilayered) paint. In case this “vintage style” is wanted, it is important to weigh the aspired look against to what extent the wood needs to be protected. Removing the leftover screws, nails and other applications will facilitate the following steps. To get rid of the paint, we suggest two tools: the classical scraper or a piece of broken glass.

When using the scraper, it is crucial not to use it in a steep angle, even if this may work more efficiently. Instead using it in a shallow angle and trying to get the scraper under the paint to protect the underlying wood from scratches.

Scraping paint by hand

Measuring

A suitable piece of broken glass for this task has a curved side. For some kind of paint, thinner glass may be more efficient, but the thinner the glass is the more likely it is to break. Also it may be more handy when the piece of glass is a bit bigger (around 10-20cm), but depending on its thickness it is also more likely to break.

It may appear that it is easier to do this task without gloves, as it brings more precision in your hands. Before taking off the gloves, changing to more tight-fit gloves can probably solve this issue. 

Changing between scraper and different pieces of broken glass, in some areas one or the other may work better. Independently of the chosen tool, the scraping off of old paint can be either an easy task if the paint happens to be brittle and already chipping, or in the worst case it can take hours.

SMOOTHENING THE WOOD

After removing the nails the wood probably looks dirty, but also new wood may also have a layer of dirt, bark or mold covering its surface. It is important to clean the surface well to make the wood receptive to the following wood-protection treatment, for example to ensure a better infiltration of pest-protection and oil. An additional advantage of the removing of the first layers is the beautified appearance of the new wood surface.

The removal of the top layers and smoothing of the surface is achieved by sanding or planing. Of course there is the possibility to sand by hand, but unless it is not a very small wooden surface that you need to be protected, it may be really better work with a sanding machine. 

While using the sanding-machine, it is crucial to put the sanding patch or belt as flat as possible on the wooden surface (of course as long as this is manageable with the kind of surface you have). It may appear that it works faster and more efficiently when the sanding paper is touching the wood at an angle. But on the one hand it ruins the result as the surface will not turn out straight and bumps can be easily created. On the other hand, it also ruins the sanding pad at the edges.

Sanding

Little corners, that cannot be reached with the sanding machine – or while using the machine could come close to very weak parts – need to be sanded by hand, or a multi-tool if you have one! The worn out patches of the sanding machine probably can be used for the parts which need to be sanded by hand.  

Now the wood is ready for protection!

Sources

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[6] Networx “Does Orange Oil Work for Termites?”, [Online] available at www.networx.com › article › does-orange-oil-work-for-termites (Last accessed in January 2020)

[7] The Craftsmen’s Blog “How To: Use Boiled Linseed Oil (Safely)”, [Online] available at https://thecraftsmanblog.com/how-to-use-boiled-linseed-oil-safely/ (Last accessed in January 2020)

[8] ARDEC “Linseed oil, a natural solution for Wood Finishing”, [Online] available at https://ardec.ca/en/blog/22/linseed-oil-a-natural-solution-for-wood-finishing (Last accessed in January 2020)

[9] Good Bagpipes “Vacuum and pressure oil treatment of wood”, [Online] available at https://www.goodbagpipes.com/index.php/about-me/writings/pipe-making/131-vacuum-and-pressure-oil-treatment-of-wood (Last accessed in February 2020)

[10] Abdalla House “Termite deterrents”, [Online] available at https://www.abdallahhouse.com/2009/11/termite-deterrents.html (Last accessed in January 2020)

[11]P. Kiwuso, G. Maiteki and J. Okorio “Indigenous methods of controlling termites in agroforestry in Uganda”, 2015, Kampala, Uganda

[12] Passivhaus “LA PRESERVATION DES BOIS DANS LA CONSTRUCTION” [Online] available at https://passivhaus.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/traitementsalternatifsdesboisdeconstruction-1.pdf (Last accessed in January 2020)

[13] Varsity termite and pest control “All-Natural Ways of Eliminating Termites” [Online] available at https://varsitytermiteandpestcontrol.com/natural-ways-eliminating-termites/

[14] Citypests “Diatomaceous Earth for Termites”, [Online] available at https://citypests.com/diatomaceous-earth-for-termites/

[15] Pesthow “How to get rid of termites”, [Online] available at https://www.pesthow.com/how-to-get-rid-of-termites/

[16] Pesthow “How to get rid of termites”, [Online] available at https://www.pesthow.com/how-to-get-rid-of-termites/

[image by Vincent van Zeijst], [Online] available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Faroe_Islands,Streymoy,_Kirkjub%C3%B8ur(1).jpg (Last accessed in January 2020)

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