[SBE] Concrete degradation

[Cowboy]

On Tuesday 06 May 2008 02:59 pm, k7cr wrote:

>  As a follow up to my grumbles about worse than usual winters...We

>  experienced this year something new.   Freeze/Thaw spalling of the

>  concrete piers at the base of the tower.   This tower, a big self

>  supporter, has been at this site for 21 years and this year, for the

>  first time, edges of the tower piers have broken off due to the wet

>  concrete going below freezing etc.

>  

>  Now you guys that live in frigid climates likely know what to do...What

>  do you to to treat and/or seal the concrete on tower piers to prevent

>  this from happening?


 Mostly, pour the right mix in the first place, and it simply doesn't happen !
 Road salts on the highways are what destroy concrete, not water by itself.
 Keep the ice-melt stuff away, and good concrete will last almost forever.

 In your case, I'd look into basement waterproofing coatings.
 Polyurethane paints, epoxy paint, and the like.
 The stuff they use on school busses ( and we used to use on top-fuel
 dragsters ) is impervious to almost everything.
 Meantime, I'd find a good structural engineer specializing in concrete.

-- 
Cowboy

http://cowboys.homeip.net

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