2011 was a very tough year for Queensland. There was massive flooding, which left a lot of properties under water. Lots of lessons were learnt, particularly, awareness of how moisture can be a big problem. It became clear to all businesses that it’s very important, now more than ever, that they ensure waterproofing is in place that is effective, and affordable.

If you have a system in place that doesn’t have a proven record of excellence, it could end up costing your clients thousands of dollars.

Recently, the Centro Shopping Centre in Emerald was damaged in the floods, and had to have its fixtures stripped back to the concrete for cleaning, drying, and decontamination.

At the beginning of the project, dehumidifiers were used to dry the shopping centre’s 3500m2 concrete surfaces, but the process took up too much time, and ended up costing tens of thousands of dollars.

The project managers decided to turn to a colloidal silica for the project, because of two reasons:

1. Colloidal Silica can purge out the contaminants in the concrete left over from the floods, and;
2. is able to purge and lock up any excess moisture left over in the concrete.

Within 24 hours of a single application being applied to the concrete, the moisture levels were below the Australian Standard, and floor coverings were ready for installation.

One application of colloidal silica meant that:

• The project saved the builder, client and insurance company tens of thousands of dollars
• Downtime of the shopping centre was decreased dramatically
• The insurance companies were given the warranties that they required

If flooding were to happen again, the centre would not have to worry about moisture getting to their concrete, as colloidal silica provides a permanent one-time solution, and will act as a barrier to prevent water damage on the concrete’s surface, or from hydro-static pressure.

Densi Crete is 100% colloidal silica that has the following benefits:

• Densi Crete can be applied to almost any concrete product containing Portland cement.
• It is easy to apply and can be sprayed on to existing concrete or concrete at time of pour.
• After applying Densi Crete the surface is foot traffic-able after just 1 hour.
• Install floor coverings within 24 hours of application to existing concrete or within 14 days of application if used at time of pour.
• Densi Crete is more than 21% cheaper than other waterproofing membrane methods.

For more information about DuraCore’s range of products, please feel free to contact us or visit www.duracore.com.au. Alternatively, to find your nearest distributor please click here.