Alchatek Blog

Pursuing the Dream

You can make a lot of money in the slab lifting business. There are many markets to take advantage of, including Residential, Commercial-Industrial and Transportation. Let’s take a quick look at all three...

Residential Slab Jacking

The residential market offers tremendous opportunities for the slab lifting contractor. Obviously there are driveways, foundations, patios, pools, and porches. Don’t think residential only includes houses. There are countless opportunities in the apartment and condo sectors as well.

Commercial-Industrial Slab Jacking

Because scenarios for slab lifting are infinite in the non-residential category, let’s lump Commercial and Industrial together. Concrete parking lots, showroom floors, industrial park walkways and an endless supply of huge warehouse floors are just the tip of the iceberg in this extremely lucrative field of opportunity.

Slab Jacking for the Transportation Sector

Last but not least, take a look in the transportation sector. The world is covered with miles and miles of concrete roads, highways, bridge approach slabs, and railroad support slabs. A large percentage of them have settled in one spot or another (and the rest are vulnerable to future settling). There will NEVER be enough slab lifting contractors out there to address ALL of these current and future slab lifting needs. Your fortune awaits...IF you know what you’re doing.

Avoiding the Nightmares

It would be irresponsible to paint a completely rosy picture of the business and neglect to warn you of the pitfalls. Risk is an underlying factor in any new endeavor, and slab lifting is no different. Threats of failure can arise from problems with your Equipment, your Lifting Material and your Technical Knowldege.

Equipment Problems

You don’t want to wing it when you put your lifting rig together. Seek the advice of an experienced technician to make sure you have all the equipment you need, reliable machinery, and a trailer rig that was built to haul it all around. The last thing you need is a hose bursting, a generator failing or (and this has happened) a trailer axle breaking on the day of your first job!

Lifting Material Problems

How would you like to spend your time working on jobs that actually pay? Using reliable polymers will cut way back on the chances you’ll have to load up your rig and waste a day re-doing a job you were paid for long ago.

Technical Problems

Here’s where it’s critical to partner with a knowledgable polymer supplier that cares about your success. Some who have gone before you failed at their new venture because they weren’t prepared to overcome common challenges that arise on slab lifting jobs. How do you deal with a slab that has fused to a wall or another slab and stubbornly refuses to lift? What about very small structures that easily leak polymer from underneath all sides without raising an inch? Then there’s the fun surprise of realizing the wrong side of your slab is lifting. You can also accidentally crack slabs, damage your customer’s proprty and - in the the biggest nightmare of them all - permanently overlift the slab.

A Realistic Guide to Slab Lifting Success

We can start you on the journey of total preparation for success in slab lifting. Our experienced technical consultants can educate you on the causes of settled slabs, the process of repairing them, and critical facts about the polymer material on which your jobs will rely. You'll learn about trailer rig options, the MixMaster slab lifting gun, pump options and accessory equipment. We also offer tips on markering your business, estimating materials for jobs, and essential techniques for avoiding on-the-job problems. To get started, call us today at 404-618-0438.

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Many distributors and contractors are familiar with the Alchemy-Spetec brand.  One thing we are well known for is consistency of our products.  Let’s take a look behind the scenes at how we make this happen.

In House QC

Alchemy-Spetec manufactures all of our polyurethane products as well as pump flush and parts cleaning solvents. Extensive quality control is in place to insure that we achieve the same results in spec every time.  QC is monitored from the moment we receive raw materials, continued throughout the production of finished goods, and completed when our finished products leave our dock.

Raw Materials – Receiving, Testing, and Storage

Incoming raw materials are checked against the open purchase order to make sure we are receiving what we ordered and in the right quantity.

Visual inspection is performed to make sure that raw materials are undamaged.  Once steps 1 and 2 are completed, the goods are signed for and the open purchase order is considered received.

All raw materials are weighed and compared against the stated net and gross weights.  All scales within our facility are certified per the required basis and duly recorded.

Certificates of Analysis (C of A) are checked to make sure material is stated to be in spec from the chemical manufacturer, then the C of A is filed in the C of A log book.

Certain raw materials have specifications for minimum allowable water content.  There are typically microscopic quantities of water in almost all chemicals, usually measurable in parts per million (PPM).  The C of A is checked and then we do an in-house titration of those specific chemicals to determine the amount of water present.  This is important because some of our polyurethanes are water activated and other polyurethanes we manufacture (slab lifting polys) use water as a blowing agent.  Once the materials pass this incoming QC titration they are put into storage for manufacturing.

Other raw materials we use are temperature sensitive.  Alchemy-Spetec has warm rooms and hot rooms for storing those specific raw materials to prevent them from crystallization.

Production of Finished Goods

Written Systems

There are written systems in place for the production of each finished product that we manufacture.  Production employees are all cross trained and tested on a monthly basis to ensure they understand the systems in place and can follow them accordingly.  A production manager is always on the floor supervising the batching of materials.  Raw material inventories are checked daily on the manufacturing computer system and also physically checked every Monday.  Any discrepancy in raw material weight can be back tracked to determine where it went into a batch. There are allowable tolerances for each ingredient in our finished products but we track it and record it accordingly. Our entire manufacturing process is recorded at all times by up to 12 high definition cameras.  Packaging is done on certified scales; materials are package accordingly into different containers depending on the product, including: Quart Cans,1 Gallon Cans, 5 Gallon Pails, 55 Gallon drums, and 250 Gallon totes.

QC Procedures for Finished Goods

It is the written policy of Alchemy-Spetec that no finished goods will leave our facility unless they pass stringent QC testing.

Testing

Samples are drawn from every batch of material and tested in a controlled 77° F environment.  There can be as many as 12 tests done depending on the product; here are a few of them:

1. Rheology – materials tested for viscosity in centipoises at different temperatures
2. Titration – finished goods tested for water content
3. Reaction profile – materials reacted in the lab and tested for crème time, rise time, tack-free time
4. Reacted materials are tested for compression strength, expansion, density, and permeation in sand for certain polymers

Documentation

A material testing worksheet is created for each finished goods batch.  That worksheet is filled out by hand during the testing, given a serial number, and then entered into our database.  The finished goods are given a Batch # which is printed on every label affixed to the packaged finished goods.

Retained Samples

A retained sample is collected from every batch of finished goods we produce.  That retained sample will be labeled with the corresponding batch number and then placed into controlled storage.  If there is ever a problem in the field, the contractor can read us the batch number from the package and we can look that up in our database, pull the retained sample, and test the sample in the lab again through the full QC process.

Conclusion

We also have to be experts on how our products are used in the field.  Preparing grouting plans and consulting on projects is part of our daily routine.

Want more information on Alchemy-Spetec products?

It’s the end of the year and soon there will be all kinds of awards being given out for the best this and most valuable that, etc etc.   In that spirit I want to nominate AP Lift 430 as Product of the Year for the polyurethane industry.

Now some of you may think that’s kind of a bold move; but it’s also my blog post and I didn’t hear any other nominations.  Let me make the case:

Why a 3 Pound Density Foam?

We didn’t randomly make a decision to manufacture a 3 lb density slab lifting foam.  This was a calculated decision based on what we were hearing from contractors in the field and what we were able to do in the lab. 

Early in the history of Alchemy Polymers (one of the predecessors to Alchemy-Spetec), we manufactured only heavier density lifting foams to go along with our lines of leak sealing and soil stabilization resins.  The reason being that our focus was on the commercial, industrial, and transportation segments of the market. 

More Lifting Power Than Higher Density Foams

As we became more aware of the potential in the residential market, we decided to make a superior lifting foam for that sector as well.  Feedback from contractors using 2 lb and 2.5 lb density lifting foams seemed to indicate that they experienced too many callbacks - lifting jobs that resettled.  We also found out that some contractors were using foams that were not designed to work in wet conditions.  If they wanted something to work when it was wet; they had to pay a premium.   

Contractors were also told that these lighter density foams would increase in density as they pumped more under the slab, and that is true.  But it also means having to put a lot more material under the slab to ultimately get it to a density strong enough for the job.

From this information we developed AP Lift 430.  Working with our chemist, we were able to create a 3 lb density foam that had higher lifting pressures than even our 4.75 lb workhorse, AP Lift 475.  Clearly, this is not a product for snowflakes or wimps.

We also designed it to meet DOT specifications: Hydrophobic (displaces water and works in wet environments), 90% Strength in 15 Minutes, traffic ready in 45 minutes, and NO shrinkage.  One other thing… we don’t cut corners or put recycled materials in products to save cost.  Our green statement is that you only have to do the job once. 

NSF / ANSI 61 Approved for Contact with Drinking Water

In 2017, AP Lift 430 really shined for us.  Easily our number one product for residential slab lifting, its combination of excellent expansion rate for filling voids and high lifting power has made it the go to product for contractors.  Once you try it; you won’t go back.  It literally gets more done with less material required. 

And now...AP Lift 430 is officially NSF / ANSI 61 approved.  This means it is approved for contact with drinking water and that it is also the SAFEST slab lifting polyurethane to have installed around your family and pets.  Ask your current supplier if their product is NSF approved and I think you’ll find that it’s not.

Tired of callbacks? Tired of foams that shrink and fail in wet environments? Tired of foams made by insulation experts rather than geotechnical experts?  Make the move to something safer and more powerful - AP Lift 430 and the rest of our Lift series foams.

Want more information on Alchemy-Spetec slab lifting products?

In this article, I'm providing in-depth technical tips for experienced polyurethane slab lifters. If you're new to slab lifting, you may want to start by browsing the Lift Slabs topic to find more basic articles on the subject. As always you can call us with any questions at 404-618-0438.

For the rest of you, let's take a look at some pressure imbalance troubleshooting tips. Making good foam is all about temperature and pressure.  Sometimes there are issues that cause a PMC Proportioner or a Graco Reactor to get off ratio on pressure.  Graco machines will throw an E24 code requiring you to go to the pump and pressure it back up again.  A PMC machine with pressure imbalance controls will also stop the machine and require a reset.  Sometimes this will happen once or twice when getting going in the morning and then the issue clears up.  Maybe the gun had a few particles in it that needed blasting out.  Other times, the pressure imbalance is persistent and you need to figure out what to do.

Consider what information you have.  When you do a test shot is the material dark in color or very clear in color.  With AP Lift products, the B side is always nearly clear and the A side is dark brown like coffee or tea.  If it is coming out clear, or very light, there is a restriction on the A side somewhere.  Inside the rig you should also see that the A side pressure gauge is reading well above the set pressure and the B side gauge will probably be reading very little pressure if any.  This means A is blocked and not getting into the mix.  The restriction is most commonly in the gun on the A side injector or A side check valve.  This will be your most common pressure imbalance situation; A side restriction due to the nature of the ISO chemical.  If the opposite situation occurs (A side flowing freely while B side is restricted) follow the same steps to check for restrictions inside the gun.  As always, wear safety glasses and gloves when checking and working around this equipment. Use proper depressurization steps of the system before performing gun cleaning or maintenance.

The gun restriction on the A side is most common for slab lifters.  If it’s not the gun, what else can be going on that may cause pressure imbalances.  I am not a master Graco or PMC technician so I always check the easiest stuff first.  

Here are a few quick items to check:

1. Is the air compressor running? Sometimes an electric air compressor will shut off and you can’t hear it over the noise of the generator.  Possibly a low oil indicator because the rig is on a slope or, it’s low on oil.
2. Are the temperature settings at the machine correct? AP Lift foams have correct temp settings on the top of the B side drum.  For AP Lift 430 – it is A side 100F, B side 110F, and Hose Heat 105F
3. Is the material in the drums too cold? We recommend keeping the A side and B side above 60F.  B side is much thicker than A side and if the material is too cold in the drums, the drum transfer pumps can’t effectively push the thicker material over to the reactor / proportioner.
4. Are all the air lines connected to the transfer pumps?
5. Are all the fluid valves open?
6. If the gun was disassembled and put back together, were the check valves installed in the correct direction?
7. Are the foot valves at the base of the transfer pumps sealing properly. If there is trash keeping the bottom check ball from sealing, it can cause a loss of pressure
8. How about the hose heat and primary heaters? Are they still on?  PMC machines have a breaker on the hose heat transformer.  It trips every once in a while and you will lose hose heat and not know it until you start having imbalance issues.  Graco machines that throw an E24 code require the heaters to be turned back on by pushing the panel buttons.  If you forget then you will have pressure imbalance issues at the gun because the material thicknesses / viscosities will never be equalized.
9. Check the wye strainers at the proportioner / reactor. This needs to be part of your weekly / monthly PM.  If you have imbalance issues and other steps do not reveal the issue, disconnect the air lines to the drum pumps, shut the fluid valves off, and remove the plug from beneath the wye strainer.  Have a small pail beneath to catch material; it will not be that much.  When you remove the plug a cylindrical screen will slide out.  If it is clogged with particals this could be the problem.  Clean with a small brush and solvent.
10. This sounds obvious but make sure the valves on the proportioner / reactor are in the same direction. If one is in recirc mode and the other is in spray mode you will surely have an imbalance issue.
11. Are the ¾” bungs on the drums (A and B) venting properly either by being open or via a desiccant cartridge.

If none of this resolves the issue it may be time to call technical support.  They are going to ask you if you have already checked the above listed steps so you might as well save time and check the items first.  Usually you will find the issue. 

A technician will ask you some more questions and perhaps ask you to send a short video clip of the machine gauges as it is pressuring up and as it is trying to spray.  This information is vital to figuring out the problem.  Maybe there is a restriction or blockage mid way through the hose.  Maybe the temperature sensing unit towards the end of the hose is not reading correctly and needs to be checked.  Worse case, maybe there is a restriction or small particles causing the main pump line assembly to lose pressure.

Give one of us here at Alchemy a call and we will try and walk you through some steps.  If we cannot figure it out, we can direct you to our technical experts with PMC and Graco that we work with weekly.

 Want more information on slab lifitng?

Condition the Materials

So how do you fight the cold?

1. Keep the material warm - we consulted with one of our customers on a job in Canada last year and there was a giant void full of approx 45° F (7° C) water right behind a vault we were injecting.  We kept the AP Fill 700 in a hot van and pumped through insulated hoses.  
2. Adjust the Catalyst - on the above project we used the fastest catalyst we have for our AP Fill 700.  With a 10% AP Cat 107 to resin ratio, the material reacted almost immediately and our customer was able to fill the void and push out the water.
3. Inject further away from the leak - sometimes in a buried vault or pit, you may have to grout behind the structure to create a curtain wall effect.  If a joint, crack, or pipe penetration is leaking, and you have slow-reacting resin pushing through, you need to inject further away from the leaking area to give the material more time to react.  These polyurethane foams will find the leak.  Move further away and let the material do the work.
4. Twin streaming - we have twin streamed polyurethane and warm water in some cold weather applications.  This gets the polyurethane reacting as it's being injected, rather than hitting cold water and having a shock to the temperature of the polyurethane.  Click here to read an entire blog article on twin streaming.

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How many times this year have we found ourselves saying "they need to try some 700"?  Too many to count.  Time and time again, the AP Fill 700 has stepped up to the plate when other products could not get the job done.  

AP Fill 700 is a single component polyurethane injection resin that reacts when it comes into contact with water or moisture.  It can be premixed with a catalyst which will make the resin react as a foam to fill voids or shut off leaks.  It can also be injected without a catalyst as a pure permeation resin to stabilize soil.  

I thought it would be a good time to emphasize the versatility of this amazing polyurethane resin by highlighting one of its unique applications:

Void filling and water cutoff around buried culverts.  

Concrete pipes, boxes, and corrugated metal culverts are often used to help small creeks and streams transition underneath roadways and rail lines.  In times of heavy rain or just from years of the erosion process, water will find its way beneath the culverts and around the sides.  This causes undermining of the culvert and also erosion of the soils above.  Dips in rails and roadways can become evident as the undermining process occurs.  AP Fill 700 can fill these voids even in times of high water flow.  When mixed with AP Cat 107, the reaction time is barely seconds.  

Several times this year, pipe relining contractors were struggling with these culverts, trying to stop high water flow and fill voids with products that were too slow.  They reached out to us for help and we recommended the 700 with a 10% Cat 107 to resin ratio.  The results speak for themselves as we have won over many converts with this product.  The additional benefits of it being NSF / ANSI 61 approved and phthalate free only add to the appeal.

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Last year in Florida alone, I gave over 30 lunch and learn presentations on the subject of polyurethane as a method of filling voids and stabilizing soil behind bulkheads and seawalls.  These presentations were done at various engineering firms from the panhandle down to Miami.  Besides serving as an opportunity to feature polyurethane in a specific application, it is also a forum to explore other applications that may arise.  I can’t tell you how many times I would be discussing permeation of soils behind a seawall and an engineer would ask, “Hey could that be used in this other situation that I am dealing with?”  At the very least it is an opportunity to plant seeds for projects down the road. 

A lunch and learn is a training and development event that is scheduled during a lunch hour in a work day. This is a great way to give a presentation to engineers, municipalities, or contractors on the latest advancements in polyurethane technology for geotechnical and infrastructure repair applications.

Our lunch and learn presentations are designed to facilitate conversations about the benefits of using polyurethane technology on geotechnical, structural, and civil projects. We aim to be your go to partner and that includes bridging the gap about what tools to use, how to use them, when to use them, and how to market yourself in your field.

We schedule lunch and learns every month at various engineering firms, contractor offices, and municipalities. These sessions are a great way to meet our technical experts in person, ask questions, and even demo a product. And who can turn down a good lunch? We take care of that as well. 

After most presentations we will have contractors or engineers who show interest in our products. Many times we will have engineering consultants approach our team and ask for a private demo to specify our products for future projects.

Benefits of Attending a Lunch and Learn

• Learn about the latest polyurethane technology and tools available.
• Ask first hand questions and receive immediate feedback.
• Networking opportunity and private demos available.
• Complimentary lunch may be provided.
• Sessions are usually kept under an hour

How Do I Get on the Schedule?

Contact us and we’ll have one of our regional managers reach out to set up an appointment.  Let us know the product line you are interested in, and any additional information about possible projects. We will formulate a presentation tailored to your needs. If a presentation on short notice is required, we can even have pizza delivered and give the presentation remotely via a screen sharing program.

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Part of managing a stormwater or sewer system involves vacuum, inspection and sealing. Municipalities that own these systems either do this work themselves or sub out a portion or all of the process. Here’s an overview of the process:

Assuming that the pipes have been vacuumed, your next step is to inspect them with a remote operated pipe crawler camera (as depicted in the bottom left side of the graphic below). You can use these types of cameras to thoroughly inspect the area.  In particular you’re looking for separated joints and cracks which exhibit water infiltration. The video is monitored from the street level. 

The images coming from the camera’s location in the pipe are compared with existing plans or blueprints for the sewer or stormwater system. When leaks are observed below, the point on the ground directly above is marked for insertion of a grout pipe. You continue this process until all the repair spots are marked on the  ground above.

After all the points are marked, your injection crew begins driving the grout pipe(s). Once the pipe(s) are in position, you inject AP Fill 700 or Spetec H100, while continuing to monitor via video. When the observed water infiltration is cut off, you stop the grouting process. Your choice of product, combined with your specific amount of catalyst or accelerator, depends on the exact conditions you are working with.

The end result is a sealed system where pipe joints and manhole structures are stabilized, sealed and protected from further infiltration. As always, you can rely on Alchemy-Spetec’s expert tech support for answers to any questions regarding this procedure.

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Even though we sell to contractors, we get a lot of calls from property owners or managers with slab issues after their internet searches lead them to our website. Part of my job consists of talking to them to determine if their situation merits forwarding to one of our contractors in their area. What follows are the most common questions I hear from property owners or managers interested in slab lifting, along with the most accurate answers. This is extremely valuable info for any polyurethane slab lifting contractor.

1. How strong is your slab lifting foam?

AP Lift Foam can support up to 14,000 lbs per sq ft. That's in a free rise foam. Underneath a slab it will be many times stronger than that.

2. Have these products been specified?

Yes. In the later 1990s various Departments of Transportation started testing high density foams underneath bridge approach slabs. These polymers have proven to hold up and are now used by just about every DOT In the United States to support highway loads.

3. How long will the installed foam last?

Polyurethanes are made from derivatives of oil and natural gas. Their lifespan is similar to that of plastics. They have high chemical resistivity and should last a hundred years.

4. What if you over lift?

The lifting is done in a very controlled manner, moving the slab millimeters at a time. A trained slab lifter is usually able to get within one eighth of an inch tolerance.

5. Can the foam lift a very thick slab or a slab with a piece of equipment on it?

Yes that is not a problem. If you run the math and apply PSI (pounds per square inch) over square feet you'll realize that it doesn't take very much pressure to lift something heavy.

6. Is the foam safe for the environment?

Our polyurethane foam does not shrink, degrade, or leach anything into the environment. We are one of only two companies that has an NSF certified (approved for contact with drinking water) structural lifting foam.

7. How is the foam used in a warehouse or industrial facility?

In industrial facilities or warehouses, polyurethane foam is used to stabilize rocking slabs, to lift sunken slabs, to fill voids beneath slabs both in and outside the building, and to fill massive voids that occur right behind loading dock walls.

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