One of the first major concrete repair projects completed using Ronacrete’s concrete repair AND protective coating system after its launch in 1990 was Nether Edge Hospital in Sheffield. The concrete facade was repaired with Ronafix mix D site batched concrete repair mortar and then coated with Joltec Smooth elastomeric anti carbonation coating.
The specification prepared by Arup allowed contractors to price on two different materials from two different manufacturers, Ronacrete, and another which at that time was the UK market leader. The budgets showed that the Ronacrete system not only provided the required performance but also provided cost savings AND provided a 10 year insurance backed guarantee too.
At that time, the early 1990’s, such IBG’s were new and Ronacrete’s offering was unique, with the guarantee covering the cost of materials, labour AND access in the event of a partial or total failure. That allowed the client to pay a small percentage of the contract cost and know that his investment in the repair cost was secure for 10 years.
Whilst it is not necessarily healthy to talk about concrete repair and failure in the same breath and paragraph, just as failed marriages can be protected with a pre-nuptial agreement so concrete repair projects can be protected with an IBG. It is also appropriate to recognise that an insurance underwriter will only give cover on what he considers to be a safe bet. Therefore if an underwriter has been prepared to cover Ronacrete’s repair system, it is safe to assume that he must consider it a safe bet and safe risk.
The system applied at Nether Edge required spalled and damaged concrete to first be cut out to a sound background and to expose reinforcing steel. Badly corroded steel was replaced, exposed steel was cleaned to remove loose rust and scale; steel was primed with Ronafix and cement primer and the concrete then rebuilt and replaced with Ronafix mix D, a mix of cement, sharp sand, Ronafix and water, also now available prebagged as Ronafix Pre-packed Mix D for those that prefer to use a prebagged repair mortar.
Once repairs were complete the entire facade was give a uniform texture coating of Ronafix Slurry Coat, applied with a roller, to mask the patch repairs. The surface was then coated with RonaBond Zolpafix Primer and two coats of RonaBond Joltec Smooth. The coating system provided a live crack accommodation of 1.0mm. This allowed the coating to stretch over a brand new crack to a maximum width of 1.0mm, and to continually recover and then stretch again, without any risk of cracking.
Many such contracts have been completed over the years with the Ronacrete Concrete Repair and Protection System and with 10 year IBG’s in place.