Category: Waterproofing

Need for waterproofing of your Terrace/Roof

The construction industry, along with other industries is responsible for generating enormous quantities of waste, in various forms. The huge amount of accumulated waste not only poses a threat to the atmosphere as most of it is difficult to recycle, but also consumes huge space for stocking. This along with the unrestrained and haphazard exploitation of mineral resources like stone, clay, lime, coal, sand that are used by the construction industry in large amounts, has led to a major impact on environment and climate change along with depletion of natural resources.

These factors have made it pertinent for the Construction and Infrastructure Industry to find ways and techniques to mitigate these perils by effecting innovative solutions and design structures that are not only captivating but ultra-durable. Easy on the environment to produce but durable enough not to become a victim to nature’ forces.

However, its easy said than done, as harsh weathering influences and water infiltration remain the major deterrents to enduring structures. Prolonged exposure to water causes accelerated ageing and damage to civil structures. Water infiltration causes both aesthetic and structural damage. Conventional waterproofing chemicals and waterproofing membranes form a barrier over these civil structures to prevent water ingress. However, they are incapable of penetrating the micro cracks and pore channels. With time, most of these waterproofing chemical products generally peel-off and crack on account of thermal and UV degradation, resulting in complete waterproofing failure as physical adhesion has its limitations.

The ineffectiveness of conventional waterproofing membranes on account of its impenetrable structure gave rise to the innovation of a new generation penetrative organosilane technology.

Understanding Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology, one of the most breakthrough innovations in the recent years, still remains an elusive subject since the common man is not exposed to the technology.
In the metric system of measurement, “Nano” equals a billionth and therefore a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. Just to appreciate the size, a human hair is over 1,00,000 nanometers long; therefore, it is virtually outside the nanoscale range!

Nanotechnology based waterproofing

For the first time, a nanotechnology based waterproofing agent, has been developed.

This advance penetrative nanotechnology changes the basic nature of the structure from hydrophilic to hydrophobic making the water absorbing structure substrate, water resistant. This prevents water ingress in the structure and checks ageing of the structure.

The result is, significant life extension of the structures and optimized resource preservation.
The salient features of this new technology are:

• Long Useful Service Life (UV stability upto 20 years)
• Water Soluble – 20 times its volume (cutting transportation cost)
• Easy to Apply (colloquially speaking, is Idiot-proofed, eliminating misapplication)
• Eco-friendly (meets the toughest Californian VOC norms)
• Affordable (can be even considered for Low-cost mass housing)

Concrete Joint Sealant

To prolong the life of the structure and maintain its beauty and durability even when the most important concrete structure has damaged, the solution is to repair it and provide it with the strength of a monolithic structure.

When the concrete layer/surface/floor gets damaged, the only options available are either repairing it or building a new one after demolishing it. Demolishing and creating a new surface is not always possible due to many factors, which include the availability of space for the new construction, load on the structure, etc. Even though a new surface is created, the characteristics of the new surface will be polylithic surface.

It will never have the physical and chemical characteristics of a monolithic surface. Removal of the floor and re-pouring of it is not economic and also takes a lot of time. It will also be a waste of resources if the flooring is still structurally sound. Hence, the only option left is of adding a new/fresh layer of concrete on top of the old surface.

Cold Joints

The major requirement of the new/repaired structure is to not have any weakness or failure points. Due to a lack of concrete bonding, these structures are generally vulnerable to failure/fracture/cracking at the joints between the new and the old surface/structure. These joints are called Cold Joints.

In technical terms, a cold joint is a plane of weakness in concrete caused due to interruption/delay/new structure formation in the concreting operations. Because of these joints, the new and old surface does not act as one and the load or any impact is not evenly shared between them. In this situation, these joints act as weak points and are the most vulnerable for failure/fracture/cracking.

The same phenomenon is observed during the laying of a new PCC/RCC structure and also during tile fixing. During the extension of buildings or section-wise structure creation, the PCC/RCC structures are generally left with these cold joints, which is the main cause of structural damage and failures.

During Tile/Marble/Stone fixing operations, the same polylithic surfaces/structure are created resulting in non-monolithic strength and hence, leading to cold joints. These joints are the main cause of structural damage and failures leaving to Tile/Marble/Stone falling off the structure.

Cold Bond – Concrete Joint Sealant from Zydex

To address these structural and joint problems, Zydex provides a set of concrete or cement bonding solutions that can be applied on the surface easily for achieving the monolithic strength and properties. Cold Bond is a concrete joint sealant from Zydex that can be applied on the old surface (with just a use of brush and do not require any other equipment) and then the new construction can be carried out. This concrete or cement bonding solution will create a bond between the two surfaces that allows them to reach monolithic strength.

ZycoFix from Zydex

Similarly, Zydex provides a separate solution – ZycoFix for Tile/Marble/Stone fixing application. These solutions are very easy to use, user-friendly and can be applied by just using a brush. To apply ZycoFix Stone, Marble or Tile Adhesive, no extra application machinery is required and can be done at any location without any extra time requirement.

These applications also do not necessarily require skilled labour and can be done very quickly.
Hence, the problems of cold joints at both concrete to concrete structure or/and Tile/Marble/Stone fixing applications can easily and economically be solved using Zydex solutions.

We have long-term & economical waterproofing solutions

For a construction to sustain a longer life, every small things which damage the structure should be taken care of. One of the most critical and most neglected of these is waterproofing of the structure.

The lack of knowledge regarding this leads to leakages and seepages in the structure due to unintentional cracks created on the structure surface causing entry of unwanted water in the structure and damaging its construction. If not taken the initial signs seriously, these cracks and water seepage can lead to major cracks and structural damages in future and can even lead to structure failure.

Water damage also leads to decay and deterioration of the structure. To stop this entry of unwanted water in the structure is done with the process of waterproofing. In this process the water loving nature of the surface is transformed to water repelling nature and will result in no unwanted water entry.

Most waterproofing chemical solutions provided in the market are like a structural film on the surface and do not form a chemical bond with structure. With time the surface is exposed to different temperatures, climatic conditions and wearing which leads to peeling of the film or even cracking of the film leading to new crack formation on the surface and exposing the surface unwanted water entering situation. These waterproofing chemicals do not provide complete waterproofing rather only provide temporary solution via film formation done using physical adhesion.

To solve this problem and provide a long term solution for waterproofing helping to maintain the health and looks of the structure, Zydex industries provide a penetrative nanotechnology solution which forms a chemical bond with the surface. This solution penetrates the existing cracks and treats them to make them water repelling in nature. The solution is 100% silane and reacts with the structure surface and forms a chemical bond which does not get effected by temperature, climate change and wear. This solution also prevents involuntary cracking of the surface and make the whole surface hydrophobic i.e. water repelling in nature.

This also solves the other problems like leakages, seepages, paint peel-off, falling of tiles and stones from the surface, efflorescence and further structural damage. It also provide UV, Heat and Abrasion stability and safe to apply indoors. The application is very simple and do not require trained labour. The solution can be sprayed, brushed or flooded after mixing with water and has a large coverage area. The waterproofing chemical solution provided by Zydex is not only for the exterior surface but also for interior surface and also replace the fragile membrane technology with a waterproofing membrane technology. The product can be used on Terrace, Slabs, Basements, Sunkens, Retaining walls, Balconies, Water tanks, Utilities etc. The waterproofing chemical bonding solution provided is a nanotechnology solution:

• With excellent penetrative results,
• Is economical in use,
• With large coverage area both vertically and horizontally
• Is eco-friendly in nature and provides sustainable solution.

Most construction materials used today in enormous quantities are not recyclable. The availability & quality of raw materials have posed serious questions for reliability in construction. The speed at which these resources are being depleted demands serious attention towards finding ways and techniques to mitigate this threat by implementing innovative solutions that can keep structures healthy and long -lasting.

Understanding Nanotechnology

If you ask about nanotechnology 90 out of 100 people will say “I have no idea”, and the other ten will give you varying explanations.

In the metric system of measurement, “Nano” equals a billionth and therefore a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. Just to appreciate the size, a human hair is over 1,00,000 nanometers long; therefore, it is virtually outside the nanoscale range!

Waterproofing your structure for complete protection

Water seepage, “architect’s and home owner’s nightmare”, is a perennial problem that causes aesthetic and structural damage to a structure. Many waterproofing chemicals & techniques have been tried and none has an absolute success record.

Waterproofing approach in most cases is – ‘COVER-IT-UP’. We cover up the concrete with various available materials. In most cases, the COVER deteriorates (cracking, de-bonding, peeling, etc.) resulting in water ingress into the structure. This results in shortening of the useful service life of the structure.

Conventional waterproofing membranes like film formers form only a surface film over surface cracks. They cannot penetrate the micro cracks and pore channels and suffer from the following limitation: –

1. Short life 2 – 5 years
2. Thermal / UV degradation

New generation penetrative organosilane technology

Now – for the first time, a nanotechnology based waterproofing agent, indigenously developed for the Indian conditions – is available.

The New Generation Organosilane is a blessed technological breakthrough that has addressed almost all issues that prevented widespread use of the Silane technology for mass consumption. The salient features of this new formulation are:

• Long Useful Service Life (UV stability upto 20 years)
• Water Soluble – 20 times its volume (cutting transportation cost)
• Easy to Apply (colloquially speaking, is Idiot-proofed, eliminating misapplication)
• Eco-friendly (Meets the toughest Californian VOC norms)
• Affordable (Can be even considered for Low-cost Mass housing)

Through penetrative nanotechnology the basic nature of the structure is changed from hydrophilic to hydrophobic. The earlier, water absorbing structure substrate, becomes water resistant.  This prevents water ingress in the structure and retards ageing of the structure.

The result is, significant life extension of the structures and optimize resource preservation.