Construction chemicals are needed to build a robust and quality building. In a sense, the products created by combining civil engineering, chemical engineering, metallurgy, and materials engineering are building chemicals. You can find an answer to the question of what are building chemicals in this article that we prepared about building chemicals, which are insulation and isolation products.
Construction chemicals are an important component of the chemical industry. It is widely used in the construction sector, which has an increasing market share in our country and is the locomotive of the economy. Widespread use of building chemicals increases the quality and durability of structures. With the right awareness of this sector, the use of building chemicals will continue to increase.
What Are Construction Chemicals?
Construction Chemicals, as the name implies, are chemical compounds used in construction activities that find usage areas indoor, outdoor, or outside the building. These compounds belong to a specialized segment of the chemical industry and can be used in existing construction projects to speed up work or new construction projects to provide durability and strengthen structures.
Construction chemicals increase the cost of any construction project by 2-5%, but the benefits are versatile. Some chemical products help minimize the amount of cement and water used in construction. These compounds give physical and chemical properties in applications such as crosslinking or liquid to solid phase change. Construction chemicals are essential to encourage the improvement of high-quality concrete and concrete performance. They also extend the life of construction works and provide additional protection from environmental hazards. Based on end-use applications, these compounds can be broadly classified into five categories.
- Concrete Additive Construction Chemicals
- Waterproofing Chemicals
- Flooring Compounds
- Repair and Rehabilitation Products
- Construction Chemicals for Other Uses
Concrete Additive Construction Chemicals
When the question “what are building chemicals” is asked, the first type of building chemical that comes to mind is concrete-added building chemicals. Concrete additive building chemicals are a commonly used non-metallic building material and are mixed with a certain amount of crushed rock, sand, and water to produce concrete. To achieve better results, better workability, more strength and finishing additives, cement, or mortar additives are used. Chemical additives are added to the mixture immediately or immediately after the mixture. In this sense, it is both practical and effective. The main uses of concrete reinforced construction chemicals are:
- To reduce the cost of concrete production
- Changing the properties of hardened concrete
- Ensuring the quality of concrete during mixing, transporting, placing and curing
Concrete reinforced building chemicals assist in the production of high-strength, long-lasting concrete used in complex architectural designs. It allows the concrete to flow, thus increases the application time and ease of use and prevents the separation of concrete components. This is the correct answer to the question of what are the building chemicals that form the main subject of our article. Successful use of such additives depends on the use of appropriate dosing and concreting methods. Most additives are supplied in ready-to-use liquid form and added to concrete in the plant or on the job site. Normally, additives carry less than 0.5% of the cement mass. It is estimated that 50% of the concrete produced in India nowadays contains one or more types of additives. 80% of the ready mixed concrete is produced using volatile material and at least 70% of the produced concrete contains a water-reducing mixture.
Waterproofing Chemicals
The question of what are building chemicals in a construction process also raises about waterproofing chemicals. At this point, you need to choose the most accurate waterproofing materials to meet your needs. It is suitable for various end-use water applications with products such as polypropylene cement-based composites, elastomeric polyurethane, waterproof concrete, expanded polyethylene, polysulfide sealants, polyurethane systems, water-repellent materials and products such as butyl and acrylic sealants.
Waterproof compounds can be used in liquid, solid, slurry, and two-component processes, i.e. dipping or spraying or low pressure spraying on surface coating forms. These products can be urethane-based, modified asphalt, clay-based, or rubber polymers. Waterproof components are designed to prevent water leakage. These compounds or membranes can be extremely effective when applied outside of a basic system. Getting expert support on what are the best waterproofing construction chemicals and how to apply it will always give correct results.
Flooring Compounds
In the construction of a building, construction chemicals can be used in all areas from ceiling to floor. This includes flooring compounds. Therefore, it is necessary to take a look at the question of what are building chemicals under the title of flooring compounds. Flooring compounds commonly used in construction today are mostly epoxy and polyurethane-based.
Industrial flooring compounds are used to meet various industrial needs, such as abrasion, load effect, chemical attack, moisture penetration, strengthening damaged floors, and improving the aesthetic appeal of the floor. They are also used to provide specific features such as shear resistance, static resistance, fire resistance, antibacterial properties.
Repair and Reinforcement Products
Construction chemicals have started to manifest themselves not only in construction from scratch but also in the field of repair and reinforcement. Repair and rehabilitation Reinforcement is an undiscovered and underdeveloped market. Nevertheless, the question of what are building chemicals is gaining importance for those who are interested in this field.
Reinforcement is adding new technologies or features to old systems and improving energy-efficient structures. Reinforcement is the reconstruction of damaged building components. These products include cement-based repair mortars, concrete floor repair systems, polyester, and epoxy-based resin mortars, moisture-insensitive epoxies, structural additives, synthetic adhesives, rust removers, and corrosion inhibitors. The main methods are concrete coating, steel jacketing, and FRP coating. Old and historical buildings can be renovated using such methods. During the renovation processes, the question of what are building chemicals comes to the fore.
What are Construction Chemicals: Other Uses
We examined the answers to the question of what are building chemicals under different headings. Now we will take a look at the sub-titles that are not included in these main titles. Other application areas that can answer the question of what are building chemicals are divided into three as sealing products, preservatives and resins, and mortars.
Sealing Products
Sealants or filling compounds are chemical compounds capable of responding to what are building chemicals. Sealing materials are used to close expansion joints, cracks, joints in concrete roads and to fill gaps between concrete. There are four types of sealants. These are polysulfide sealants, polyurethane sealants, silicone sealants, and acrylic sealants. Let's take a closer look at them to find an answer to what are building chemicals in the sealant category.
Polysulfide Sealants: These products are mostly used in construction: They are common in the industrial sector as expansion joints for concrete roads, structural joints, and others.
Polyurethane Sealants: These are used for high-quality applications in high places. Flexibility and bonding power are required.
Silicone Sealants: These are generally used where good adhesion is required: They can be used between two different surfaces, such as fixing glass to the metal frame.
Acrylic Sealants: These are generally used for crack or gap-filling and today, for applications such as window and door gap sealing.
Protective Coatings and Resins
Another chemical compound that comes to the fore when researching what are construction chemicals are protective coatings and resins. Protective coatings contain high-performance waterproof coatings and epoxy resins. These are paints or coatings that place more emphasis on protective properties rather than aesthetic properties. They provide excellent adhesion, sealing, and dust binding properties. The most common use of industrial coatings is for corrosion control of steel or concrete.
Jointns
It is time to examine the last subject that answers the question of what are construction chemicals. Joints are compounds that are used to provide extra strength for the foundations of bearing structures. Joints have different chemicals depending on the applications as discussed below:
Epoxy-based liquid joint filler compounds are injected mainly into the walls to fill hairline cracks and cavities, thereby increasing the strength of the structure. Cement-based mortars are used to add extra strength to machine foundations, base plates, or anchor bolts for machinery or equipment and others.
They are also used in the repair of building structures and in heavy industries such as steel, power plants and ports. There are also polyester-based joints used for anchoring and strengthening the foundations that should be reached but have a limited usable area. Lastly, mortars can also be made for particular features such as quick adjustment, free flow, pull-out, and more by putting in different additives based on the user’s needs.
