Q. I need to give you insight before i can ask 3 questions. I poured a stiffened raft concrete slab using 20mpa concrete with 80 slump 20mm gravel also vibrated and compacted the concrete. After power trowel had finished i sprayed on a colloidal silica solution that is sold for curing concrete to total slab. Nothing unusual noticed with concrete. 1 hour later i sprayed half the slab with lithium silicate densifier . (I did this as an experiment to see what would happen.) i noticed that concrete was slippery after application to half the slab. Concrete cured as normal. Next day i noticed a reaction to the lithium silicate areas. Looks like it was pushed out to surface and a little lighter in colour compared to rest of concrete. Hosed and broomed area .once dried then gave another colloidal treatment to slab by flooding and broom. I wet cured the Concrete for 7 days also as im a noob with these treatments. Now its been 4 weeks since pour. Question = should concrete treated with colloidal silica still absorb small amounts of water and is it normal to notice a change to the concrete fat of the trowel finish ? Do hairline cracks not appear?(hot summer and humid in brisbane)seems too good to be true? Bloody long question. Ill keep it shorter next time. Cheers.
👏👏👏Bravo . The best explanation for that Question that I have heard so far! Ive asked many professionals down here in oz and not many people know about colloidal silica treatments for concrete. Even the literature supplied by manufacturers are vague. 1 question done, only 15 to go👍 cheers
colloidal silica, made of suspended particles penetrates better than silicates, which are actual liquids? are the particles smaller than silicate molecules, or is there another factor at work here? silicates polymerizing on contact maybe?
Hi John, Great explanation. Love your videos. Can you explain when to use colloidal silica and when to use a silicate (also which silicate - Sodium, Pottasium or Lithium). This is in respect to polishing concrete floors to achieve maximum density (hardness) and also reflectivity. Thanks a lot ans please keep the videos coming.
Howdy Muthu. I would say it largely depends on comfort level for trying new things. You'll get better results with silica but if the contractor is not comfortable learning how to use a new material, you might get some failures from unintentional or intentional mishaps with the new tech.
Thanks for sharing the science behind concrete!
Q. I need to give you insight before i can ask 3 questions.
I poured a stiffened raft concrete slab using 20mpa concrete with 80 slump 20mm gravel also vibrated and compacted the concrete.
After power trowel had finished i sprayed on a colloidal silica solution that is sold for curing concrete to total slab. Nothing unusual noticed with concrete.
1 hour later i sprayed half the slab with lithium silicate densifier . (I did this as an experiment to see what would happen.) i noticed that concrete was slippery after application to half the slab. Concrete cured as normal.
Next day i noticed a reaction to the lithium silicate areas. Looks like it was pushed out to surface and a little lighter in colour compared to rest of concrete. Hosed and broomed area .once dried then gave another colloidal treatment to slab by flooding and broom. I wet cured the Concrete for 7 days also as im a noob with these treatments.
Now its been 4 weeks since pour.
Question = should concrete treated with colloidal silica still absorb small amounts of water and is it normal to notice a change to the concrete fat of the trowel finish ? Do hairline cracks not appear?(hot summer and humid in brisbane)seems too good to be true?
Bloody long question. Ill keep it shorter next time. Cheers.
MrMickteen Thank You! Awesome Question! We are answering your question in a video that will be up next week.
👏👏👏Bravo . The best explanation for that Question that I have heard so far! Ive asked many professionals down here in oz and not many people know about colloidal silica treatments for concrete. Even the literature supplied by manufacturers are vague.
1 question done, only 15 to go👍 cheers
MrMickteen thanks for the feedback!!! Let me know what other concrete questions you have.
colloidal silica, made of suspended particles penetrates better than silicates, which are actual liquids? are the particles smaller than silicate molecules, or is there another factor at work here? silicates polymerizing on contact maybe?
Larger than silicates. Discrete particles between 1-999 nm in diameter. More often made between 3-100 nm.
Hi John, Great explanation. Love your videos. Can you explain when to use colloidal silica and when to use a silicate (also which silicate - Sodium, Pottasium or Lithium). This is in respect to polishing concrete floors to achieve maximum density (hardness) and also reflectivity. Thanks a lot ans please keep the videos coming.
Howdy Muthu. I would say it largely depends on comfort level for trying new things. You'll get better results with silica but if the contractor is not comfortable learning how to use a new material, you might get some failures from unintentional or intentional mishaps with the new tech.
can drinking silicate (from soda water) dangerous?
Drinking soda water isn’t dangerous that know of…
Hi ,can I use sodium silicate for tiles .if I mix sodium silicate with cement what should be the ratio ? What agent can I use to make shiny tiles
Nice 👍