Alchatek Blog

Leak Seal & Geotech Products & Procedures

March 14 & 15, 2019 at Alchemy-Spetec HQ in Tucker, GA

Only a few spots left! 

Get ready for a thorough education in Leak Seal, Slab Lifting, Soil Stabilization and the Alchemy-Spetec Deep Lift™ process. You’ll get hands-on training from a technical staff with decades of on-the-job experience.

Thursday - Leak Seal

• Leak Seal Product Line Overview
• Curtain Grouting
• Permeation Grouting
• Leak-Seal Product Mixing
• Pump & Packer Overviews
• Leak-Seal Accessories
• Municipal Applications
• Live Injection Demos
• Open Discussions

Friday - Geotech

• Geotech Product Line Overview
• Soil Stabilization
• Geotech Product Mixing
• Rig & Mobile System Overviews
• Geotechnical Accessories
• Slab Lifting Live Demo
• Deep Lift™ Overview
• Soil Testing with the
• GPR & Penetrometer
• Maintenance Discussions
• Pricing / Estimating / Cost Savings
• Open Discussions

Participants receive a Samsung tablet loaded with training material.

Your Instructors:

Stephen C. Barton (President/CEO), Jim Spiegel (VP Sales & Business Development), Andy Powell (Southeastern Regional Manager), Anthony Sandone (Eastern Regional Manager), and Charlie Lerman (Western Regional Manager). Each instructor is a seasoned professional with at least a decade of experience in the industry.  

Leak Seal & Geotech Products & Procedures

March 14 & 15, 2019 at Alchemy-Spetec HQ in Tucker, GA

Get ready for a thorough education in Leak Seal, Slab Lifting, Soil Stabilization and the Alchemy-Spetec Deep Lift™ process. You’ll get hands-on training from a technical staff with decades of on-the-job experience.

Thursday - Leak Seal

• Leak Seal Product Line Overview
• Curtain Grouting
• Permeation Grouting
• Leak-Seal Product Mixing
• Pump & Packer Overviews
• Leak-Seal Accessories
• Municipal Applications
• Live Injection Demos
• Open Discussions

Friday - Geotech

• Geotech Product Line Overview
• Soil Stabilization
• Geotech Product Mixing
• Rig & Mobile System Overviews
• Geotechnical Accessories
• Slab Lifting Live Demo
• Deep Lift™ Overview
• Soil Testing with the
• GPR & Penetrometer
• Maintenance Discussions
• Pricing / Estimating / Cost Savings
• Open Discussions

Participants receive a Samsung tablet loaded with training material.

Your Instructors:

Stephen C. Barton (President/CEO), Jim Spiegel (VP Sales & Business Development), Andy Powell (Southeastern Regional Manager), Anthony Sandone (Eastern Regional Manager), and Charlie Lerman (Western Regional Manager). Each instructor is a seasoned professional with at least a decade of experience in the industry.  

In this blog post, we will share some tips for stabilizing soil in cold weather. The two main points to remember are – make sure the ground isn’t frozen and condition your material and equipment properly.

Do Not Attempt Soil Stabilization Work When the Ground is Frozen

If you’re considering soil stabilization in cold weather, the first step is to make sure that the water table isn’t frozen. Iced earth is not permeable enough for proper mixing of resin and soil. If you attempt to proceed with frozen soil, you’ll just be wasting your material. Best to wait it out in that case.

Properly Condition Equipment and Materials

For optimal results, it’s best to store any materials and equipment that are to be used in a heated environment over night. It’s best to keep your AP Soil 600 above 60 degrees at all times. This is key because cold material reacts slower and gets thicker. The methods you use to condition your material on the job site will depend on the type of vehicle you’re using.

In Slab Lifting in Cold Weather, we described in detail how to condition materials for cold weather if you’re using a rig…

If you have an insulated rig, it should stay around 40 degrees warmer than outside temperatures. Most foam rigs have built in electric heaters that require an extension cord to a power outlet at the job site or at your facility for overnight storage. Alternately, you could buy an electric radiator heater. Other available heating devices include drum band heaters and heated drum mats (be careful not to scorch the polymers by turning band heaters up too high). For a more DIY approach, you could build a hot box around the material storage area in your rig.

If you’re using pails and a smaller vehicle, we offered tips for that set up in my Polyurethane Leak Seal in Cold Weather article…

Use an enclosed vehicle, like a box truck, enclosed trailer or pickup truck with a camper top or bed cover. Keep as much material and equipment inside the vehicle as possible when working. Use a portable heater to maintain a warm temperature. You can also use electric pail heaters to keep your resin ready for action.

Using a combination of the methods described above, you should be able to keep your materials warm enough. In extreme cases when the material gets a bit too cold and thick, you may want to use AP Cat 600 to speed up the reaction time.

Conclusion

As long as the ground isn’t frozen, you should be able to stabilize soil in cold weather.  Just make sure your materials and equipment are conditioned properly.  If you have any further questions, please contact us at 404-618-0438.

Want in-depth info on soil stabilization products?

As we stated in a previous blog post, Slab Lifting in Cold Weather, there are plenty of jobs that need to be done in the winter. This is just as true for sealing leaks as it is for slab lifting. So let's take a look at those cold weather leak seal markets. We'll also review some special considerations for conditioning leak seal material and equipment. Then we’ll leave you with a few cold temperature leak seal application tips.

Cold Weather Markets

You have a variety of options for seeking jobs that are inside, out of the elements, during the winter months.  Hopefully these ideas will spark more brainstorming on your part. First up we have tunnels, both pedestrian and vehicle. Tunnels often leak, sometimes significantly enough to result in quite a big job. Aquariums are another possibility. As you can imagine, there are infinite potential leak problems in a structure holding that much water. Other possible large jobs could include mines and water treatment plants (which have plenty of interior spaces with potential leak issues). On the smaller side, there are utility vaults, lift stations, manholes and elevator pits.

If you’re still up for working outside during the winter months, you’re in luck because concrete contracts during colder weather. The contraction makes cracks open wider. Wider cracks make leaks more apparent to the property owner and make them easier to repair.

Conditioning Materials and Equipment

One important point to understand is that cold weather requires you to make an extra effort to keep your materials and equipment warm. Cold material reacts slower and gets thicker. Be sure to store your materials and equipment in a heated room the night before the job. When on the jobsite, there are many ways to keep everything warm. Use an enclosed vehicle, like a box truck, enclosed trailer or pickup truck with a camper top or bed cover. Keep as much material and equipment inside the vehicle as possible when working. Use a portable heater to maintain a warm temperature. You can also use electric pail heaters to keep your resin ready for action.

Remember that it won’t do you any good to heat the resin if you’re pumping it through cold equipment. The cold steel inside the pump and the cold hose will literally suck the heat out of the resin before it gets where it needs to be. This will increase the viscosity, making it harder to mix with the water and it will slow down the reaction dramatically. So don’t neglect the equipment side of the equation!

Cold Temperature Application Tips

If you’re using a product with an accelerator, you may need to use a faster accelerator or increase your percentage. Also, bring lots of oakum. You may have to use more if the cold temperature slows down the material or the contracted concrete has made the cracks wider.

If your job requires you to inject into a structure underwater (and the water’s cold), you can use a technique called twin streaming. In this approach, you hook two valves together in parallel fashion – then inject warm water along with the resin to kick start it reacting before hitting the cold water.

Conclusion

I hope this overview has helped spark some ideas on your part for finding leak seal work during the winter months. Just remember to keep your materials and equipment conditioned and you should be fine. Have more questions about polyurethane leak seal in cold weather? Call us at 404-618-0438.

Want more in-depth info on polyurethane leak seal?

Voids beneath concrete slabs can be filled with two component polymer foam designed to work in wet or dry conditions. AP Lift 430 foam can support up to 7,200 lbs per square foot and will cure to 90% full strength in 15 minutes.  (Of the most resilient concrete slab jacking foams, AP Lift 430 is proven to lift concrete slabs under harsh conditions. This two-component, high-strength, high-density, hydro-insensitive structural polyurethane foam is the top slab jacking solution for concrete slab foundation repair, soil stabilization, and compaction grouting. AP Lift 430 weighs 2.75 – 3.25 pounds per cubic foot.)

Polyurethane foam under concrete conforms to void shape more accurately than cement grout, and - unlike cement - it doesn't shrink or sink over time.

The video below depicts a real time example of void fill and slab stabilization. A residential driveway is undermined by a large void. Because an entire bank of soil washed away on one side of the slab, we get an unusually clear view of polyurethane void fill in action. 

Observe the process closely and let us know if you have any follow up questions. We have the most knowledgeable and helpful customer support in the industry, so don't hesitate to call us at 404-618-0438 after you've watched this video! 

Want in-depth info on slab lifting and slab void fill with polyurethane foam?

One of the hidden dangers a warehouse or industrial property owner and their employees can face is an unstable or sunken slab with a large void underneath.  The last thing anyone wants is injury and/or a lawsuit resulting from an un-repaired trip hazard or worse - a complete slab collapse.  Take a good long look at the photo in today's blog graphic.  This occurred when a forklift carrying a heavy piece of equipment crossed a slab with an un-detected void underneath.  Luckily, no one was injured.

This video below depicts (via an inexpensive borescope lowered through a drill hole) a real time example of a warehouse slab with cavernous voids below and heavy equipment resting on top.  Next, you'll see the slab repair process in action as the voids are filled and the slabs are restored to a safe, stable state with AP Lift foams that support between 7,200 - 14,000 pounds per square foot (depending on the product selected). 

Watch the process closely and contact us if you have any questions!

Want in-depth info on warehouse & industrial slab repair with polyurethane?

As we move toward a more clear definition of the Spetec and AP product lines representing our Leak Seal and Geotech product lines respectively, we're making a couple of product branding adjustments effective this week (or as soon as current stock is depleted).

AP Seal 500 will be rebranded as Spetec PUR GT500.  We are also introducing a water-activated semi-rigid polyurethane foam injection resin to the leak seal line which will be known as Spetec PUR H200.  Both of these products feature NSF/ANSI 61-5 approval for contact with drinking water. 

Spetec PUR GT500 is the exact same AP Seal 500 product you know and love, but rebranded to fit in with the Spetec leak seal product line.  This single component, low viscosity, flexible hydrophilic polyurethane injection resin is optimal for sealing hairline cracks, pipe penetrations, and joints in concrete structures.

Spetec PUR H200 is a single component, water activated, hydrophobic, low viscosity, closed cell polyurethane injection resin. Because it expands twice as much and (with the right catalyst) sets up 2.5 times as fast as the Spetec PUR H100, it's an ideal leak seal solution for quickly cutting off high-flow, underground leaks.

Want more information on polyurethane leak seal products and applications?

Are you a property owner/manager looking for a geotech contractor to help you with unstable soil, sinking slabs or structures, etc?  As a leading manufacturer of polyurethane lifting and stabilization products, we sell to contractors all over the United States.  Wherever your property is located, we likely know a contractor in your area who can provide an estimate for repairing your geotech problem. 

For a brief overview of the types of services these contractors may offer, see the video below...

Want more info on Alchemy-Spetec slab lifting products?

A few years ago, we were asked to do a product demonstration for the Utilities division of Orange County, FL (which includes Orlando). Truthfully, I have dealt with Orange County since the mid 1990’s. They have a crew that does infiltration grouting among other things.

We were supposed to demonstrate our product on a fairly slow leak in a manhole. Not by design, but this was the leak they were scheduled to fix in the time frame we had scheduled the demo. Originally, they asked me to bring 5 pails of AP Fill 700. I also brought both our slow and our fast catalyst.

When I showed up in the morning, they told me they found a different leak which was a gusher. They asked if I had about 10 pails. I told them I only brought five. They said, “we’ll try your stuff first, then we'll finish up the leak with the current product we are using.”

We showed up to the jobsite and Tom, who has been doing leak seal for many years, said basically the same thing. “That’s all you brought?” Tom was quite a skeptic - at first.

They popped the lid off of the manhole and revealed a gusher at the bottom – about 12 feet down from the roadway and leaking probably 15 gallons a minute. The county performs what is called “Point Grouting”, which is a process where a pipe is driven from the surface down to the area near the leak. Polyurethane grout is pumped through the pipe to fill up the void and seal the leak. Tom expected to use between five and ten pails of grout.

We catalyzed the resin with a maximum dose of our fast catalyst. Tom started pumping. I had my fingers crossed hoping that he had the injection pipe in the right location. He did. The foam started coming out of the defect in the bottom of the manhole within 30 seconds. By the time he had pumped half of a 5 gallon pail, the leak was completely sealed. Tom went from a skeptic to a believer in less than five minutes. “I want some more of that, boss!” he said to Paul Morrisson – Utilities Supervisor.

Paul summed it up best – “Based on our extensive prior experience, we expected to use five to ten pails to stop this leak. With AP Fill 700 we were able to do the job with 1/10th that amount of material. Alchemy-Spetec product will save our crews a lot of time and labor and save the taxpayers of Orange County a lot of money.”

Want in-depth info on leak seal procedures and products?

Want more info on Alchemy-Spetec products?