Cement repair help ?

[Al Willits]

Our house has about 3 courses of cement block that comes up out of the ground before the siding starts, first floor is actually a couple feet above ground level.

Anyway the block has started to deteriorate in spots, enough so there is a couple small holes in the outer shell of the block, I can fill these with regular cement I think but what kind of cement should I use to refinish the block ??

I'm also thinking I should mount some sort of grating/lathe to help keep the cement in place, any suggestions for that?
tia
edit... Anybody use that Flexcoat stuff?
Seems like it might work and I can add a inch of insulation at the same time.

Al

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[Bob Ross]

Hi Al,

I think the Flexcoat would be fine, but I would still patch the holes to keep out the bugs. I use mortar mix and latex additive to mix patching cement. It sticks and holds up very well.

Menard's has the foundation insulation stuff on sale I think. I don't know if it's Flexcoat.

[Kevin Arceneaux]

Al, when I get to work this morning, it is only 5AM right now, and I will get you the name of we use. It is a 2 part epoxy.

If you have a White Cap supply handy, they have a lot of top notch products.

[Al Willits]

Thanks guys, closest White Cap is Iowa, bit fer...:)

Gonna patch this weekend and prob install the flexcoat (?) the next, if all goes well.

Whenever ya get to it Kevin, thanks

Al

[Lee Schierer]

I would also try to determine why the blocks are flaking off. The normal cause is water getting into them and freezing. Make sure you don't have a water problem before you do the patching.

[Kevin Arceneaux]

Pro-poxey sealant.

[Matt Meiser]

My brother's house has the same issue. Since he doesn't live far from you I suspect its a similar block to his. He said the home inspector told him its a common problem in Minneapolis in houses of that age and that it was due to the porosity of the concrete. The water gets in and breaks it up.

When we wired his garage we bought some hydraulic cement to patch where we drilled through for the conduit. He used the leftovers to patch several holes and a year later they are holding up well. Home Depot carries it and it comes in a quart-ish size can, in the paint department if I remember. That only fixes holes though, not the scaling problem.

[Al Willits]

Thanks Kevin.

Lee its from 60+ years of snow and rain, drainage is good, except I think the previous owner piled snow up against it and that may be part of the problem.
Also its common to use salt to help clear the sidewalks and that doesn't do the concrete any good if it gets covered in the snow/ice that has salt in it.

Been reading about the Stryo products and that looks like the best way for me, repair the holes with motar then the sheet of 1" styrofoam stuff then flexcoat, neat stuff btw

For anybody who curious..

http://www.styro.net/

Stuff will probably fall off in a couple of years, but at least the wife will be happy for a while and some of the beatings will stop....:D

Al...who's running low on band-aids

[Al Willits]

My brother's house has the same issue. Since he doesn't live far from you I suspect its a similar block to his. He said the home inspector told him its a common problem in Minneapolis in houses of that age and that it was due to the porosity of the concrete. The water gets in and breaks it up.

When we wired his garage we bought some hydraulic cement to patch where we drilled through for the conduit. He used the leftovers to patch several holes and a year later they are holding up well. Home Depot carries it and it comes in a quart-ish size can, in the paint department if I remember. That only fixes holes though, not the scaling problem.


Thanks Matt, I'll look into that stuff for patching, don't have a free weekend do ya????
:D

Al

[Kevin Arceneaux]

http://www.unitex-chemicals.com/index.html

These are the product we are using here. This is a saltwater marine environment, so they ought to work for you. Granted the cost may be higher, but I think the life of the product will outweigh that.

[Al Willits]

Kevin, thanks, site has a ton of stuff but I'm not sure which product they have your suggesting?

Al

[Matt Meiser]

Thanks Matt, I'll look into that stuff for patching, don't have a free weekend do ya????
:D

Al

No, and what's worse is the outrageous price Northwest charges to fly there!

[Kevin Arceneaux]

http://www.unitex-chemicals.com/catalog/hydraulic_cement.shtml

This is, IMHO, what would do for you. Probably any type of hydraulic would work.

Tomorrow I am assisting at another site. The crew there is preparing a site for a pour Monday. All they do is marine concrete work. They use a polymer cement for their work. Let me check with them and see what they would recommend.

With any type of cement work, you have to make SURE that the concrete you are covering is saturated or the cover may not bond that well to the blocks.

[Al Willits]

Thanks again Kevin.

Matt are you saying I'm not worth the price of a plane ticket???.....er...nevermind, I have the feeling I won't like the anwser...:D:D

Ya, NW is a four letter word to most here, anybody want a airlines???

Al

[Jim Becker]

I would also try to determine why the blocks are flaking off.

Bingo! That was my first thought, too. Fixing the damage is the last step...understanding why it's happening and correcting is the first.

[Al Willits]

Jim, like Matt said its the concrete, time and water, trick seems to be to patch and seal so futher damage is stopped, or at least slowed way down.
The styro stuff should help that, least that's what they say.. :)

Plus the 1" of insulation can't hurt the heating bill..I hope. :D

Al

[Kevin Arceneaux]

This is what the marine concrete guys recommend

http://www.euclidchemical.com/product_detail.asp?id=483&pselect=240&cselect=275&tselect=288