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The task of wood floor adhesives is to firmly bond the organic wood floor elements to the generally inorganic screed. The adhesive must hold the wood in place, connect it to the underlying screed and transfer stress originating from the natural expansion and contraction of the wood to the generally rigid screed. The undesired but natural movement of the wood can become visible in cupping, joint formation, or in extreme situations failure of the adhesive or screed.

A prerequisite for a sustainable and beautiful wood floor is a strong and dry screed. Therefore this screed has to be carefully accessed. The first source of information is the architect, engineer, or main contractor who will have all of the information about the build-up and nature of the floor. The second source is the screed contractor who can provide the screed details and if appropriate, any subfloor heating protocols. If, as so often in renovation projects most of this information is not available, there are a few simple methods that can be used to evaluate the screed.

Successful sprayed concrete requires the combination of many aspects of modern concrete technology especially concrete admixture chemistry, together with modern materials handling technology. The increasing demands for cost-effectiveness and the protection of health and the environment mean that sprayed concrete has been in continuous development. Thanks to more than one hundred years of experience, expert knowledge and a focus on performance and economy, Sika is able to provide the newest generation of sprayed concrete solutions.

Sika’s passive fire protection solutions are designed to be able to seal all different types of building joints and penetrations, in order to help keep fire in defined compartments for a certain period of time, thereby allowing people to evacuate safely. Sika passive fire protection solutions comply with the most relevant national and international standards (including EN, UL, EAD (ETAG), ASTM, AS, Certifire), in order to confirm that they meet the highest fire resistance requirements and consequently can help save people’s lives.

Passive fire protection is a vital component of any fire safety strategy for buildings. Built into the structure, it safeguards people’s lives and limit the financial impact of damage to buildings and their contents. Sika provides comprehensive solutions for fire resistant constructions such as tunnels, commercial and residential buildings and steel structures especially. Fire resistant coatings for load bearing structures enable to build secure buildings.

Sika provides comprehensive solutions where fire resistant construction is required such as commercial, public and residential buildings, steel structures and others. Fire resistant sealants, fillers and backing materials for linear seals as well as solutions for penetration seals enable safer buildings and infrastructure to be built. Passive fire protection applications for compartmentations can be divided into the following three main groups: linear joint seals, cavity barriers, penetration seals.

If the screed is even, strong and dry enough, then only mechanical surface preparation such as grinding and cleaning is required, before wood floor bonding is possible. However there are many situations where the existing or even new screeds are not suitable, and additional treatment is necessary before wood flooring can be installed. Sika has developed complete balanced system solutions for all of the different possibilities that may be found in these situations.

Waterproof concrete is an impermeable concrete used for long-lasting, durable watertight construction. To improve the impermeability of the concrete, water-resisting admixtures can be added. Nevertheless, design and construction of a watertight concrete structure is a system approach, and waterproof concrete is only one element of it. Water impermeability is determined by fulfilling requirements to limit water permeability through the concrete itself, the joints, installation parts and cracks.

The motives to replace clinker with supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) are well known. However, granulated blast furnace slag, natural pozzolanes, qualified fly ash and further SCM have a limited availability; the total potential replacement of the global clinker production is less than 30%. Limestone is increasingly being used as a component in Portland-Limestone cements: Sika offers an additive to enhance grinding and performance.

Grinding aids and strength enhancers are well known for their ability to increase cement mill productivity, and the mechanical strength of mortar and concrete. However, little information is available on the potential drawbacks of their usage. To close the gap, Sika Services addresses the possible impacts on health and safety and the environment, and on cement properties in production and use.

Dry shake aggregate floor hardeners are commonly applied to the surface of freshly placed concrete to improve wear resistance and occasionally to color a concrete surface. They decrease typical plain concrete negative properties like dusting and liquid absorption by improving the abrasion resistance and reducing surface permeability.

The effect of grinding aids on the comminution of cement is based on the dispersion of fine particles. It is a misunderstanding that grinding aids for vertical roller mills (VRMs) should stabilise the material bed between the rollers and the table by adhesive forces between the particles. Grinding aids reduce the polarity of the cleaved surface and the attraction forces between particles.

The facade is the face of buildings. In contemporary architecture, the facade is of special interest expressed by large dimensions, unconventional shapes and high material diversity. Especially with these unique shapes and connections, joint design is demanding and prone to mistakes. For integral joint specification, following some rough guidelines will result in a long-lasting and tight building envelope.

Many passive fire protection products are claimed to be intumescent – what does this mean and when can a product be classed as intumescent?

Cool roofs are one of the most effective and easiest solutions to increase the thermal comfort of buildings and reduce cooling costs in hot climate countries with high solar radiation and outdoor temperatures. Brunel University London, in cooperation with the European Cool Roofs Council, Sika Services AG and the University of Technology in Kingston, evaluated a project in Jamaica to study how the application of a solar roof can affect the thermal comfort of residential buildings in hot climates.