Commercial Buildings

In many commercial structures water or moisture ingress occurs due to several reasons, in addition to poor concrete mix designs, improper vibration etc. In fact, some of the worst defects caused by under vibration are:

1. Honey comb
2. Excessive amount of trapped air voids, often called bug holes
3. Sand streaks
4. Cold joints
5. Placement lines and
6. Subsidence cracking.

Honey comb results when the spaces between aggregate particles do not become filled with mortar, faulty equipment, improper placement procedures, a concrete mix containing too much coarse aggregate or congested reinforcements.

Foundation walls and the like must be properly constructed in order to avoid water ingress. Concrete slabs can be finished in many ways, depending on intended service use. With regard to sub base slabs, concrete should not be placed on the sub grade or into forms more rapidly than it can be spread, struck off nor should a large area be struck off and bleed water allowed to accumulate before bulk floating or darbying. Cracks, slab settlement and structural failure can often be traced to an inadequately prepared and poorly compacted sub grade.