Today is our last day exhibiting at the No-Dig Show!  Visit us at booth #146!

 

Watch this video to preview a couple Alchemy-Spetec product demos!

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We are proud to announce that we are currently exhibiting at the No-Dig Show in Palm Springs, CA. Visit us in Booth #146!

"NASTT’s No-Dig Show is the largest trenchless technology conference in North America, where professionals attend to learn new techniques that will save money and improve infrastructure. This show offers six tracks and 160 peer-reviewed, non-commercial presentations, including case studies detailing environmentally friendly trenchless solutions and cost-saving opportunities for municipalities and utilities. With over 190 exhibiting companies and multiple networking events, spend quality time with current colleagues/customers and grow your connections. Whether you’re a newcomer or a show veteran, NASTT’s No-Dig Show is the must-attend conference for underground infrastructure professionals."

Click here to read more about the No-Dig Show.

Reps Attending: Jim Spiegel, Thad Brown
Polyurethane Solutions Demonstrated: Seal Leaks, Stabilize Soil, Lift Slabs
Booth Number: 146
Address: Palm Springs Convention Center 277 N. Avenida Caballeros, Palm Springs, CA 92262 

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The Deep Lift™ process is different from common slab lifting in that it requires polyurethane foam to be injected deep into the soil beneath the structure. Deep Lift™ is often appropriate for certain larger structures and more flexible pavements that may not be ideal candidates for conventional slab lifting. It can also be used in conjunction with conventional slab lifting. In this post, I'll provide a quick overview of the Deep Lift™ process and its many applications.

The Process:

1. Complete a thorough site evaluation including – soil borings, DCP testing, and GPR as necessary
2. Address any potential binding with saw cutting, clearing of joints, and removal of old grout
3. Based upon soils data, calculate grid spacing and injection depths
4. Drive injection tubes to the correct depths and locations
5. Inject the appropriate AP Lift series polymer(s) in the predetermined sequence while monitoring for lift
6. Follow the grout plan, adjusting the injection depths and locations as the structure raises into place

The Applications:

• Bridge abutments
• Highway approach slabs
• Rigid and flexible pavements
• Ports and airports
• Settled buildings
• Soil densification and encapsulation
• Lift stations
• Pipe and tunnel segments
• Equipment pads

Want more info on the Deep Lift™ process?

Poor compaction, water erosion, broken pipes, and organic material in the soil can all lead to settling of a foundation or a roadway. Traditional slab lifting can bring concrete and structures back into place but it doesn’t necessarily address the underlying issue or guarantee a long term fix. Other methods of addressing deep soil issues require heavy equipment, extended down time, and collateral property damage. These situations create problems for property owners as well as opportunities for the elite contractors that know how to fix them.

Introducing the Deep Lift™ process! Alchemy-Spetec offers a unique combination of high quality structural lifting foams along with the equipment and training needed to address deep soil issues. Now you can achieve soil densification and lifting on large projects with the smallest footprint and least amount of heavy equipment required. The Deep Lift™ process is powerful, painless, and rapid. Deep Lift™ gets to the root of the problems in the soil, it brings the structure back to level, and accomplishes this with minimal imposition or downtime to the property owner.

Want more info on the Deep Lift™ process?

The Alchemy-Spetec PolyBadger lifting system is tough and compact. This system is an affordable entry-level slab lifting option for new contractors, as well as an extremely portable addition to the experienced contractor’s arsenal. The PolyBadger is a lot less expensive than your standard 20 foot trailer rig. The set up is simple and requires minimal equipment. The entire system can easily fit in the back of a pickup truck!

The genius of the PolyBadger is the auto calibrator. It keeps the flow of A-side and B-side slab lifting material on ratio, eliminating the possibility of crossover clogging in the gun or the whip hose. The two low-pressure transfer pumps and auto calibrator are literally the only moving parts in the whole system. That means less downtime, less maintenance, and more productivity on the job. This system is easier to use and a more affordable than many options on the market.

Want more photos and a detailed breakdown vs. other systems?

“If you don’t love something, you’re not going to go the extra mile, work the extra weekend, challenge the status quo as much.” – Steve Jobs

Who is Colt Hullander? Even if you're an experienced concrete repair industry professional, you still may not know this man by name. He started his grouting career on the contractor side directly out of high school. For the next several years, he developed key skills in the chemical grouting space with countless hours in the field lifting slabs and stabilizing soils. During these years, Colt gained priceless experience in an extremely technical process: mixing and pumping single and dual component polymer grouts through expensive multi-component proportioning equipment at high volumes to stabilize and lift very large structures in both the public and private sector. Some would say these are some of the most important skills one could have in our industry. But his commitment to his team is far more impressive.

Fast forward to Christmas weekend, 2017. Over the next four weeks, including all weekends, a typical week for Colt involved servicing field technical support, welding several custom made structures up to 10’ tall (some in aluminum!), building custom-made wood demo models with masonry block faces, designing and fabricating a custom cart for a several hundred-pound piece of equipment, and much more. Most of us would see this is a lot of work. However, the job had yet to begin.

Two weeks ago, on a Wednesday afternoon, Colt loaded up an F-350 with a 20’ trailer full of all of the above-mentioned items, and more, and left Atlanta, GA. He drove for 4 days until he reached Las Vegas on Saturday. Once there, Colt worked the entire weekend assembling an entire show display prepared for the 70,000 people that were about to come through the doors. As the Sales and Management team poured into company meetings on Monday, Colt excused himself only to return to the lot for last-minute setup well into the night-time hours. On Tuesday morning, Colt assumed his position in the booth as a live demo operator conducting live applications every 2 hours, all week long. On Friday of last week, Colt packed up all of the remaining gear and set out from Las Vegas, making the drive back to Atlanta. Three days later, Colt would be back in Atlanta, coming to work the very next day. I spoke to Colt today, and to little surprise, he was on a job-site. Colt Hullander is an Alchemy-Spetec Technical Field Services Representative, and we are very proud to have him on our team.

It’s appropriate to thank our entire team for all of their work last week at World of Concrete. Colt is certainly not the only one on our team who deserves a blog notice. And undoubtedly, many of you reading this have those teammates who went the extra mile as well. But true to the format of this People section, it was an easy choice to share the story of Colt Hullander. Well done Colt! And well done to all of those who make World of Concrete such a productive week for all attendees.

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We have launched our new application!

Finally, a polyurethane estimating calculator for slab lifting and void fill jobs.

This app is a simple, fast, and reliable way to take the guesswork out of estimating Alchemy-Spetec polyurethane slab lifting and void filling materials while prepping for a job.

Follow these steps to download and operate this app:

1. Download App
Search Alchemy-Spetec in your Apple App Store or Google Play Store to install the Poly Estimating App.

 

2. Create an Account for the App
After installing the app, create an account by clicking "Sign Up" at the bottom and following the prompts.

3. Click the Slab Lifting Material Estimator or Void Filling Material Estimator button at the bottom.

4. Select Your Product: 430, 440 or 475
Watch for the expansion rate to appear at the bottom once you've selected the product.

       

5. Input Data
Enter the square footage of the slab and number of inches the slab has settled, then press enter.

6. End Result
The final screen displays the amount of resin needed for your specific job. You will see options for slabs in which 1 side is settled, 2 sides are settled, and all sides are settled. 

Want more information on Alchemy-Spetec products?

If you're not familiar with polyurethane soil stabilization, here's a basic overview excerpted from the brochure you can download at the bottom of this blog post:

Unstable soil can be defined as soil that will not stay in place on its own, and therefore requires extra support. It should be noted that unstable soil can threaten the stability, security, and safety of infrastructure and can damage, degrade, and even destroy a number of structures, such as buildings, bridges, and roads. There are a variety of factors that can cause unstable soil including erosion, poor compaction, freeze/thaw cycles and decomposition.

Soil can be stabilized with AP Soil 600, Spetec PUR H40, Spetec AG100 and Spetec AG200. Once the bearing capacity of the soil has been increased with this process, then the structure can be lifted if necessary.

For a detailed explanation of the process in a variety of settings, watch the animated video below...

Want more informaton on Alchemy-Spetec soil stabilization products?

Alchemy-Spetec….We've Got Your Back!

Announcing the MixMaster Pro Stand Up Attachment

On our website, catalogs, and marketing materials we use a catch phrase “We've got your back”.  We try to live that every day and that focus has helped us become known for consistent product performance backed by superior support.

For the 2018 World of Concrete show, we want our slab lifting contractors and prospects to know that we not only have their backs, but that we also want to help their backs.  This year we are introducing our patent pending MixMaster Pro Stand Up Attachment.  No longer do you need to be on your hands and knees in order to level concrete with AP Lift polyurethanes.

The MixMaster Pro is already the fastest slab lifting production gun on the market, with the lowest operating cost.  But we just had to take it to the next level by designing an ergonomically friendly, back pain reducing standup system to go with it.  Sorry Advil and Aleve, we are going to be cutting into some of your business with this development.

For the most part slab lifting is not a physically demanding business.  Many of our customers are amazed at how easy it is and how rapidly you can achieve results by letting the equipment and the AP Lift 430 or AP Lift 475 do all the heavy lifting.  There has, however, always been that issue of having to squat down and standup so many times on the job.  If it’s a big warehouse job, that can be particularly grueling.

The MixMaster Standup Attachment takes that out of the equation.  Certainly there will be times when you cannot substitute getting down on a knee and having a close look at a crack or a joint.  But there’s no reason to do that on every injection.  Made of lightweight forged aluminum, the standup system operates the MixMaster while the operator stands comfortably.  For a stabilization job, like in a warehouse; you can rapidly inject points without wasting time kneeling and standing back up.  And when the job is complete, there’s no longer that aching lower back issue.

Come see us at our World of Concrete booth (Silver Lot #O40551) and have a look at the MixMaster Pro Standup Attachment.  You’ll see that We've Got Your Back in more ways than one.  You also won’t have to worry about being on a knee if someone happens to play the national anthem while you’re working.  Now the MixMaster Pro is also the most patriotic slab lifting gun on the market. 

Want more information on the MixMaster Pro & Stand Up Attachment?

Easy to Clean and Easy on the Wallet

Today’s blog is part 3 of a 4 part series on the MixMaster Pro Slab Lifting Gun.  The big news is coming on Friday when Part 4 arrives just in time for the 2018 World of Concrete.  But that’s Friday so you have to wait.

In Part 1 and Part 2 we covered the advantages of the Mixmaster as it pertains to job safety and production maximization.  In part 3 I want to address the “Painless Procedures” part of maintaining the MixMaster Pro. 

When I first started in this business, I worked with a lot of contractors that used traditional spray foam guns that had been adapted to slab lifting.  We had the MixMaster gun at the time but we still had to penetrate the market with it.  My first contractors were skeptical of our system; a gun designed just for slab lifting.  But I remember watching them struggle with cleaning guns, dealing with crossovers, and ordering long lists of parts.

Now 5 years later, the MixMaster Pro is even more refined and we have well over a hundred out in the market.  Slab lifting contractors rave about how it takes less than 10 minutes to clean at the end of the day.  Getting the hang of operating it is very easy and it’s nice that clean up procedures are just as smooth. 

How about the spare parts?  Those of you who own all of the other types of slab lifting guns out there may not want to hear this; it’s going to hurt.  I have seen the orders that you guys are placing for gun parts.  It’s thousands of dollars per year.  I have one contractor who says they averaged from $1000 - 2000 per month on gun parts, to maintain one rig with two guns.  That is nuts.  They have been converted to MixMasters for about 4 months now and they just finally called to order a few spare parts.  It wasn’t because they needed them either; they just wanted to have a few things on hand just in case.

In my capacity I deal with a majority of the slab lifting customers we have.  In 2017 I would guess we have sold less than $5000 total in spare parts…for all of the MixMaster guns that we have in the field.  It’s time to stop beating your head against the wall with the other slab lifting guns. 

The MixMaster Pro has what you need:

• Lowest new gun price on the market at $1495.00
• Port travels with the gun – no tripping over ports, no wasting a port on every hole
• 10 Minutes to clean at the end of the day
• Lowest operating cost – It’s not even close
• Easily adaptable to Deep Lift accessories

On Friday we are going to roll out something really cool.  Make sure not to miss part 4 of the series.