Prepping your concrete surface before you paint is essential to getting that coveted smooth, beautiful outcome. If the surface underneath your paint has cracks, unevenness, and other concrete problems, you can bet these will affect the look of your paint job. This is where construction chemicals come in.
In this episode of Boysen PinTanong, Engineer Calvin from Konstrukt Construction Chemicals goes over common concrete problems and what to do about them. He also recommends a line of products specifically designed to repair concrete imperfections. Watch and learn!
Types of Concrete Imperfections
The most common imperfections you’ll see on bare concrete include cracks, unevenness, and roughness.
- Cracks – can be anywhere from appearing as hairline cracks which are easily managed to being wide enough to merit cause for structural concern; can also be either active cracks which become larger over time or passive cracks which do not change over time
- Unevenness – also called paglobo or pagalon in Filipino, this appears as noticeable bumps or waviness on a surface causing it to be uneven
- Roughness – is seen as rough texture on a bare concrete surface which is typically the result of using the wrong tools during application or poor application technique
Construction chemicals are what we call the products that repair these imperfections so you’re left with a smooth finish that’s ready for painting.
Repairing Concrete Imperfections
The Konstrukt Permaplast line of products is manufactured as repair solutions for problems on concrete walls and concrete ceilings. These products include renders and skimcoats.
• Skimcoat – used for imperfections that are 2 to 3mm in depth; can be used after applying render to further smoothen out a surface
• Render – to level concrete imperfections such as unevenness and waviness that are 3 to 8mm in depth
Remember that both of these construction chemicals must be applied on bare surfaces, meaning they’re not for surfaces that already have paint on them. If you want to fix imperfections on painted concrete, use putty.
What’s Next
Keep an eye out for the next PinTanong Videoserye episodes we’ll be releasing. We’ll be going over how to apply the construction chemicals mentioned above so watch out for that.
To get notified when PinTanong videos are released, you can follow the Boysen Facebook page or subscribe to the Boysen YouTube channel. Leave us comments as well if you have any questions on painting or want to suggest topics for us to discuss in the series.
Happy painting!
For help on skimcoats, renders, and other construction chemicals, consult with an engineer from Konstrukt. Send a message to the Konstrukt Facebook page or call (02) 8363-9738 local 413 to 418 during office hours.
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