How to Use Crack Injection in Concrete Repairs
Blog |September 14th, 2017Whether you own a large warehouse or a small auto-shop, your floor is going to take some damage over time. Though we don’t think about it, there is definitely upkeep involved in keeping your floor in great shape — and we’re talking about more than just sweeping and mopping. Concrete is considered one of the most long-lasting and durable materials that you can use for your flooring, but that doesn’t mean you won’t ever have to repair it. Today we are going to talk about using crack injections to repair concrete floors that have suffered from deterioration.
What causes concrete to crack?
Before we can dip into our information on how to repair concrete with crack injections, we want to inform you on what actually causes concrete to crack. Essentially there are two types of cracks that occur in concrete: active and dormant. Active cracks will grow and spread if left alone while dormant cracks stay the same. The most common cause of concrete cracking, outside of physical trauma, is excess moisture, improper mixing during installation, and the concrete actually settling during the curing phase.
How to repair concrete with crack injections.
No matter what is causing your concrete to crack you are going to need to address the issue sooner than later. All concrete cracks are not made the same and as such they should not all be approached in the same way. With crack injection for concrete repairs we are going to be focusing on repairs in your floor. Here is the typical way you would approach fixing a concrete crack with a crack injection kit.
1) Place the injection ports
In order to guide your epoxy or polyurethane into the crack you are going to need to install the injection ports into the crack. Injection ports make it easy to get your material into the actual crack without having to drill into the concrete. For larger cracks you will need multiple injection ports. Each port should be placed in the crack at an interval of roughly one inch from the nearest injection port.
2) Seal with epoxy adhesive
After your injection ports have been placed into the surface you will use an epoxy adhesive in order to seal the ports as well as the rest of your exposed crack. Depending on the epoxy you will have to wait between 20 and 45 minutes for the surface to seal.
3) Crack Injection
After your 45 minute waiting period it is time to start injecting your epoxy or polyurethane. Start with the lowest injection port and work your way up, plugging each port with a cap after you are done.
4) Remove the ports
Wait a day or two for the epoxy or polyurethane to cure before removing the injection ports. You should be all set.
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