Concrete Waterproofing

Concrete Waterproofing: Concrete Admixtures

Before we develop the external seals we must refer to the bulk additives. Admixture solutions are the most powerful interventions in a structural element. In contrast to the smeared materials, they are the construction and not the repair solutions, which act on its entire thickness. The first admixture ever produced was a bulk sealant. The company that produced it in 1890 was the Wunner'sche Bitumenwerke and gave him the name Ceresit. (Ceres = wax, – the Romans sealed with wax). The global success of the material was unprecedented and the change in building methods revolutionary. The word Ceresit became synonymous with admixture technology and the producing company renamed itself to Ceresit. Having the historical responsibility and at the same time more than a century of experience in additives n Ceresit always keeps the forefront of their expertise.

Today's technology provides 2 families of materials:
Lignin sulfonate base and polycarboxylate base. There is always a confusion in choosing the right one. They are not the same for the same applications.

The base materials lignin sulfonate As the Ceresit CC 189 waterproof energetically & immediately that is, not by reducing porosity but by making electrostatically water repellent on the sides of the pores. So the sealing cannot fail even if micro-pockets appear somewhere due to bad vibration. These materials do not require pharmaceutical precision in dosing and thus are adapted to real building conditions. Suffice it to say, that in their CE certification, even double dosing by mistake does not affect the concrete. For this reason, these materials can be added to the concrete in the building at the time of receipt. Ideal for the Greek concrete production conditions. Unique choice for ready-mixed concrete.

Materials exclusively polycarboxylic base waterproof passively & indirectly, i.e. by superfluidizing the mass of concrete so much as to make its porosity narrow and compact and thus mechanically impervious to water. Their dosing - in order to succeed - must be precise, it is therefore impossible to do it at the reception on the project, except - with electronic dosing - at the concrete production unit. If, due to bad vibration, small pockets appear there, the water will pass through. These materials are as waterproof as those of the previous family, they flow much better than those, but they do not forgive mistakes in production and concreting. It is wrong to mix materials of such composition in the concreting area. To bridge this gap the Ceresit produces the material CC 198 which rests on a sophisticated polycarboxylic ester (PCE) with lignin sulfonate. For this reason, it can be mixed both in the unit and on the project site.