Five Star Products
Providing solutions that meet the ever-increasing demands of modern industrial construction, including:
- Epoxy Grouts
- Cement Grouts
- Concrete Repair
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We’ve Teamed up with Sika!
Sika is a worldwide leader in products used for tasks including:
- Concrete Repair
- Joint Sealing
- Waterproofing Corrosion Protection
- Grouting
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Latest Articles
Epoxy Grouting When the Seasons Change
Epoxy grout. If you have rotating equipment in heavy industry, you have to have it. But, when it’s really cold, it’s a challenge to use. So, we build shelters, heat everything for what seems like a week and it all goes well. Cold weather grouting, we’ve figured it...
Prepare Your Floor Joints for the Damage That Comes With Automated / Robotic Lifts and Carts
Concrete floors are an essential part of your plant infrastructure. Let’s face it, there’s no other real affordable option for large product storage areas. But, these large floor have to have joints to allow for stress relief and expansion/contraction to prevent...
Concrete Replacement
Replacing concrete with concrete makes perfect sense. It’s just not always the best choice given your schedule and the clients expectations.
Construction
Joint Fillers vs Joint Sealers
Concrete joint sealants and joint fillers are different in both chemical formulation and intended use. Elastomeric Joint Sealants are cold-applied elastomeric single or multi-component materials used for sealing, caulking, or glazing operations on buildings, plazas,...
Why Grout Pumping Beats Pouring
Traditional grouting has long been a labor intensive task that most people don’t look forward to doing. While its clear that grouting is a crucial step in the installation process, it doesn’t always get the same attention as other steps in the installation process....
Preventing Rapid Evaporation When the Heat is On
When placing concrete and cementitious concrete repair mortars, especially in hot and dry weather, evaporation rate is one of the most critical factors to take into consideration. The evaporation rate is the rate at which moisture is being lost from the concrete or...
Get the Best Results and More Profit by Selecting the Right Mixing Method
When it comes to grouting or concrete repair, everyone knows that the mixing determines your pace. Conventional mixers, required mixing times and basic packaging all combine to slow your production during installation. Let’s face it, you can only mix so much so fast...
Making Repairs to Large Areas Made Easy
Sometimes you just don’t have the time to repair your floors and keep up with your production schedule. Especially if the damage is extensive and spread over a larger area than what you’d “patch” on a regular basis. In most cases, it’s more cost and time effective to...
Step-by-Step Guide to 2 Common Foundation Repairs
There are far too many repair options to cover them in a single email. So, we’ve picked two options for a very common issue. Look around the mill and you’re sure to see this one. A large piece of concrete cracked off the corner of a foundation. It may be on the floor...
Product Selection Guide for Equipment Foundation Repairs
Material Return to service time Application Type Ease of use 1-3 SR 30 Structural Repair 8 hrs Mix and trowel 1 Form and Pour 2 SR 15 Structural Repair 2 hrs Mix and trowel 1 Form and Pour 2 SR Deep Pour Epoxy Grout Fast Set 6 hours Form and Pour 2 Crackbond CSR 1-2...
Step-by-Step Guide to Equipment Grouting
So, you’ve determined that you need to re-grout a pump, but it’s not something you do very often. Refresh your memory with the guide below. 1. Make sure you choose the right grout for your application. Utilize available application guides or call an expert to have...
Reduce SLU Scheduling Headaches and Labor
Owners, designers and general contractors demand high quality, along with rapid installation. For contractors installing self-leveling underlayment (SLU), this means new approaches are needed to complete work faster and more efficiently. With ever-growing pressures to...
Product Comparison Guide to Quick Turn-Around Grouting
Product Vibration Chemicals Yield Max thickness Start-up Time SR Deep Pour Fast Set Epoxy Grout excessive General resistance to mild acids and caustics 0.5 cubic feet per unit 3” Neat 12” Extended 6-8 hours SR Thin Pour Epoxy excessive General resistance to mild acids...
Product Selection Guide for Chemical Resistant Concrete Repair Materials
Basic Chemical resistance of repair materials: Material Chemicals Resistant to Temperature Traffic and Abrasion Resistant to Ultraviolet Light Epoxy Grout General, mild acids and caustics 150 F yes No Novolac Polymer Concrete Sulfuric acid 180 F yes No Vinyl Ester...
Tips to Making Sure Your Concrete Repair Will Last
Your concrete isn’t just exposed to general wear and tear like a plant floor or warehouse. Your concrete takes a beating from steam, traffic, metal totes and the chemicals you’re processing. You need repair materials that can take it. Here a few things to consider...
The Key to Ensuring Long-Term Success of Your Joint Sealant
We all know that the key to the long term success of your joint sealant is it’s ability to stay bonded to the concrete sidewalls of the joint. But how do you make sure you have the best chance at superior bond in an existing joint. In one word, Prep. Preparation of...
Maintenance
Filling Control Joints: When Does It Make Sense to Use Bulk Material? Mini-Pump Update!
The bar for affordability of a pump for joint filling just dropped. Just because your projects are smaller, working on your hands and knees to fill floor joints shouldn’t be your only option. Check out this updated article explaining how much more affordable pumping...
Repairing Cracked Concrete Using Epoxy injection: Is this the right repair for you?
We design and build various structures using concrete because we need its strength. Pouring concrete allows for it to take virtually any shape we need it to and its strength is in its solid form. The weak links in other materials like the mortared joints in masonry...
Filling Control Joints: When Does It Make Sense to Use Bulk Material?
So, you’re comfortable filling floor joints on the average job. It’s easy. Just get some cartridges and start pumping. But now you’re looking at a larger project and there are far more joints to be filled than your average job. You’re adding up the cost of the...
Don’t put off repairs to your floor because you don’t think you have the time. You do.
Keeping your plant floors and slabs in good condition is critical to keeping your operation humming. Cracks and potholes in slabs can cause extensive damage to your lifts and other equipment. This may leading to high maintenance costs and shortened life of some very...
Flooring & Joint Maintenance: Self-Perform vs. Hiring a Contractor
You’re comfortable doing the minor repairs yourself and you’ve gotten good at it. But this overlay of a large area has your confidence dropping and you’re not sure your people can do it. At what point should you consider hiring a contractor? 1. Consider the ability of...
Patching Your Concrete Floors Quickly Can Make Sure They Last
Your concrete takes a beating every day. The traffic, the dropped tools, the dragged pallets, they have your floors under constant attack. The result is seen in a wide range of damage. Some areas have minor spalling or chipping, some have scrapes and grooves and...
Restore Your Damaged Floor Joints Quickly and Easily
All those little chips in your floor joints weren’t a big deal at first. Now after years of traffic impact, they have gotten larger and now you have to address them. The rough travel is killing your forklifts but you don’t feel like you can shutdown traffic for an...
Filling Spalling Joints Can Prevent More Damage
You’ve noticed that the joints in your higher traffic areas look like they’re getting wider. The edges of the concrete seem to be “chipping away.” Now is the time to prevent any further damage to these joints. Afterall, you need the concrete floors in your plant to be...
Address Problem Cracked Areas While You Still Can
“Fixing small cracks in the concrete didn’t seem to be worth the effort. I mean, they’re just cracks. What real harm could they do?” Now those small cracks are wide enough to cause issues. You’re having to put down steel or plywood to cover areas to prevent tripping....
Repair Cracks in Concrete Before They Become a Problem
“Concrete Cracks. It’s Really Not a Big Deal.” Of course, concrete cracks. We all know it. But like most problems, it only gets worse if you don’t address it. If you have a bearing on the brink, worn belt or broken sprocket, you’d change it to prevent any potential...
Repair Damaged Foundations and Return Them to Service in Hours, Not Weeks
Repairing a foundation is the best way to reduce the chance it gets worse and eventually fails to do its job. But, when would you do it? You put it off because you don’t think you have the time or the expertise to do it yourself. Well, it really easier than you think....
Dealing with the Undermining of Slabs Near Trenches, Drains, & Sumps
In food and beverage facilities, one of the most important tasks is cleaning and sanitation. Trench and drain maintenance are an often overlooked - yet critical – aspect of keeping your floors clean and up to USDA standards. With the constant clean up, your trench or...
Common Myths About Repairing Trenches That Stay Wet
Maintaining your trench drain in your facility is a necessity. Damaged trench drains could lead to unpleasant odors and allow bacteria to grow. With all the USDA regulations, cleaning, flooding, or rinsing your trench is a daily routine. This means there is not a lot...
Engineering
Resurfacing vs. Replacement: How to Restore the Function of Your Floors Quickly
It’s hard to believe that it makes sense to “repair” a slab with extensive and continuous damage. If you’re thinking about a conventional “patch job”, you’re right. You’d never be able to justify the time for prep on dozens or even hundreds of small areas much less...
You Don’t Have to Wait to Repair Tank and Pit Linings
Discovered damage in your pit or chest linings? Regular inspections are key to planning work for mill outages. Once you’ve made an assessment, you have an idea of what you’ll need to plan for on the schedule and for your budget. Most people still wait to perform the...
Stop putting off re-grouting because you don’t think you have time to do it.
Still think your only option for re-setting and grouting equipment is waiting on a semi-annual shutdown? The truth is, cement and epoxy technology has advanced just like your office computer. New materials and additives have produced products for grouting that allow...
Product Selection Guide for Restoring Your Foundation & Grout In One Step
Take a look at the range of materials you can use to restore your foundation and grout in one step. Material Chemical resistance Yield per unit Yield extended with gravel per unit Equipment needed SR Deep Pour Epoxy Grout General, mild acids and caustics 2.0 cubic...
Encapsulation Explained & How This Technique Can Be Used When Restoring & Protecting Pump Foundations
When restoring and protecting pump foundations, you can use the same chemical resistant patching materials (mentioned in our guide “Product Selection Guide for Chemical Resistant Concrete Repair Materials”) in one step. You can use those same materials you used to...
Product Selection Guide for Sealants for Exterior Control and Expansion Joints
Material Joint Type Consistency Chemical resistance Tools needed Sika ICSL Self-leveling For light traffic, no chemicals Caulk Gun Sika IA Non-sag For light traffic, no chemicals Caulk Gun Pecora 322FC Expansion or control joints Self-leveling Fuels AT 1200S Air...
Product Selection Guide for Containment Coatings
SR Epoxy Sealer Long Term Immersion (LTI): the coating will be immersed in the solution for extended periods of time. Short Term Immersion (STI): the coating will be immersed for up to 72 hours. Splash Zone (SZ): the coating will be exposed to the solution for only...
Make Sure the Coating You Choose is Up to the Task
With the wide range of chemicals and compounds used in Chemical Production these days, there’s no way to use one product. You need to consider a few things before you decide what you’ll use. 1. What’s the basic chemistry of your product in this containment or...
How Quickly Can My Equipment Return to Service After Grouting?
Let’s face it, nearly every installation of process equipment is time sensitive these days. Ultra-competitive markets and slim profit margins force most companies to limit even planned down-time to the bare minimum. Saving the cure time for conventional grouts could...
Versatility of Urethane Cements
There is a wide variety of material on the market designed to be applied to concrete floors to seal and protect. The best know are Epoxy Based and come in many grades. They can be poured to self-level, squeegeed, rolled, troweled or placed as a grout topping. While...
OSHA’s New Regulations for Silica Dust
Proper dust collection systems for mixing operations are important not only for the health and safety of your crew, but also the health of your business. If you fail to meet the OSHA standards, you could receive a serious and extremely costly violation. OSHA's...
Active Water Leaks Can Lead to Long Term Damage to Your Concrete Structures
Active water leaks in your concrete can be more than just a nuisance. Learn more about how to stop them.
Polymer Concrete: The Low-Cost, High-Protection Option
Polymer concrete is the protective system that doesn’t require specialized equipment, elaborate preparation between coats or any special skills.
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