LANDSCAPING OF R winter weather.
As always, planning and preparation is key. Dr Bill Price, national commercial technical manager at Tarmac Cement says that a quick tour around the exterior of the house and the garden will ensure that maintenance jobs can be identified and addressed as early as possible, before problems escalate and unnecessary damage is caused.
“But, what are the priority jobs and what methods and materials are available to support RMI (repair, maintain, improve) solutions,” he asks.
With the winter months often bringing higher wind speeds, Price says that now is the perfect time for merchants’ customers to check the stability of their garden fencing. “If fence posts need to be reset, then a quick setting, no mix concrete product, such as Blue Circle Postcrete, can be used for fixing wooden, concrete and metal posts.
“As a general rule around 25% of the post should be buried below ground. Then, simply fill the hole one third with clean water and pour in Postcrete evenly around the post until dry powder is visible on the surface. The
Postcrete will set in as little as 10 minutes.”
Pointing
Builders and their householder
customers should 26
Repairing damaged concrete Often caused by consistent wear and tear and long term exposure to the elements, concrete
PLANNING AHEAD THE IMPORTANCE
epair and maintenance jobs undertaken over the coming months could help save merchants’ customers time and money before the onset of the harsher
be on the look out for any areas of brickwork pointing that are missing or are loose and crumbly, he says. “These should be repaired by raking out the joint and re-pointing with a suitable mortar. A general purpose (designation iii) mortar is normally suitable for most houses and pre-mixed, bagged products are readily available.
“A mortar containing hydrated lime as well as cement (such as Blue Circle Quality Assured Mortar) is more cohesive and flexible and can accommodate slight movements in the brickwork. If customers are batching the mortar at home from separate constituent materials, they shouldn’t make it too strong, 1-part cement to 5-6 parts sand is ample. For older or historic properties, with soft bricks or stonework, a lime and sand mortar (hydraulic lime not hydrated lime, this time) is much more appropriate than a cement-based mortar.”
Repairing patios
Patios aren’t just for Summer and Price points out that pointing between the patio slabs should also be checked and repaired where necessary. “Once again, pre-mixed bagged mortar is suitable as this can help overcome many potential problems relating to batching or mixing. These include the use of excess water and the addition of other inappropriate materials that can result in reduced strength, increased permeability and reduced durability of the hardened mortar.” However, he adds that customers should remember that in cold weather, cement and mortar set and harden more slowly and will require protection for the first day or so after placing. “As a rule of thumb, if the outdoor temperature is less than 3oC and falling it is best not to try making mortar.”
paths can sometimes develop unpleasant surface cracks or spalling. However, with good preparation, repairing the concrete can be done simply and efficiently.
Price says: “Merchants’ customers need to start by identifying the area that needs repairing and remove any debris and loose materials. Once the damaged area has been dampened, pour in a dry quick repair concrete (readily available in bags) and spread and level using a straight edge such as a float or trowel. Using a watering can and rose attachment, sprinkle with clean water without causing excessive water to pond on the surface. Using the straight edge, compact and smooth finish the concrete and leave to set for thirty minutes. Finally, sprinkle again with clean water after two hours.”
Guttering
An essential check should be to review gutters and down-pipes for leakage, as water leaking onto brickwork walls for prolonged periods of time can cause leaching of soluble salts from the bricks and mortar and resulting in white staining. Price says that in extreme circumstances the bricks may become saturated with water which can freeze in the winter and ‘blow’ the face off the brick. “Prevention is always better than cure, fixing the odd leak in a pipe is much simpler (and less costly) than repairing whole areas of brickwork.”
Finally, he says that merchants’ customers should remember that tools also need to be ‘put to bed’ for the winter. They should therefore make sure that they are properly cleaned before they are put away in the shed (or garage). A light film of oil on trowels, shovels and other tools will help to protect them from rust, as the air in many sheds is often a bit humid. It’s also a chance to put them away in a more organised way than normal, so come Spring everything is easy to find BMJ
Continued on page 28
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net September 2018
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