In Louisville, Kentucky the Presbyterian church owned two historic buildings with an alley between them. Last century, an addition was added removing the alley and connecting the two buildings. Unfortunately, the addition was not properly waterproofed during construction. This led to water below-grade infiltration and a plethora of very complex leaking cracks and joints in the basements of both buildings and the new connecting structure.

The building is still home to a Presbyterian church. For years, the administrators have been simply dealing with the water by channeling it, as best they could, to sump pumps. Many and various repair attempts have been made over the years, but none of them have been successful in the long term. Recently, the church administration reached out to BJB Restoration for help with this ongoing issue. Due to the complexity of the project, Alchemy-Spetec's Director of Technical Services - Leak Seal Division Charlie "The Grout Geek" Lerman was called in to consult on the job.

Powerful Polymers

The technicians chose Spetec PUR HighFoamer as the repair material for this job because its expansive nature when catalyzed with Spetec GEN ACC Accelerator makes it a very cost-effective curtain grouting polyurethane resin. This one-component, closed-cell, hydrophobic, water-reactive, solvent, and phthalate-free, low-viscosity resin is also ideal for filling any voids created by the water underneath the basement slabs.

Painless Procedures

This particular job was what we like to call exploratory grouting, focused on two trial areas of complex cracking. The crew started injecting in the area of the primary leak. As they injected, water and foam began to bubble up along an adjacent and previously unidentified trench-like defect as well as the cracking being addressed. The initial injection covered the main crack and a surrounding area of about 16 feet (thanks to the expansive nature of Spetec PUR HighFoamer). Outgassing (CO2 produced during polymerization) was visible in numerous defects outside of that radius, requiring additional injections to seal the entire area.

Rapid Results

This one-day exploratory grouting project provided the contractor with a very accurate understanding of the type of problem and soil conditions they were dealing in the basements. The contractor and church administrators subsequently agreed upon a long-term maintenance plan based on the church's budget that calls for periodic curtain grouting over the next few years to address the many remaining basement floor defects in both buildings.

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As more property owners convert basements into living spaces, the demand for residential waterproofing increases. Some standard industry practices include using a sump pump to remove leaking water or applying hydraulic cement to the leaking side of the wall (negative side waterproofing). Neither of these is an ideal solution. Hydraulic cement is very rigid once it cures, and it cracks over time due to structural movement caused by freeze/thaw cycles and expansive surrounding soil. A home is often a family’s biggest investment, so most are looking for a cost-effective, durable, long-term repair.

Polyurethane leak seal grouts are injected into or through the wall to stop the leak at the source (positive side waterproofing). These products remain flexible after they cure, so structural shifts due to freeze/thaw cycles and expansive soils do not cause the cured grout to crack and fail. Polyurethane grouts are strong enough for use on large-scale, industrial structures. Alchemy-Spetec’s leak seal solutions are approved by the Army Corps of Engineers for use on U.S. infrastructure. These products contain no volatile organic compounds (harmful fumes) and are NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 approved for contact with drinking water.

Cartridges vs. Pumps

For small-scale residential applications, using cartridges is more cost-effective than using pails of material with a mechanical pump. The process is also less messy, saves a lot of man-hours, and allows for easy mobilization.

Products Available in Cartridges

• Spetec PUR F400 - Ideal for cracks, joints, and pipe penetrations.
• Spetec PUR HighFoamer - Ideal for void fill and localized curtain grouting.
• Spetec Boom! Seal - Ideal for shutting down gushing leaks.

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This post is part of the Alchemy-Spetec Contractor Lens series, featuring views, news & case studies written by our customers. This article, written by John Knieper of SiteMix Pressure Grouting LLC, provides an overview of a repair job on a detention pond wall footer. If you're an Alchemy-Spetec customer and you'd like to discuss writing content for our blog, please send an email to marketing@alchemy-spetec.com today!

A general contractor working with a homeowners association reached out to SiteMix Pressure Grouting, LLC about a detention pond wall that was leaking along the footer in several places. A detention pond is designed to collect rainwater and then let it drain slowly in a controlled manner. But in this case, water was washing out quickly in an uncontrolled manner in multiple spots under the footing.

Powerful Polymers

To rapidly address the problem the technicians at SiteMix chose AP Fill 720 soil repair material. This single component, closed cell, hydrophobic, water-reactive, solvent and phthalate-free, low viscosity polyurethane foam has a high expansion rate and is ideal for filling voids. In this case, AP Fill 720 was the perfect choice for filling the soil voids underneath the footer created by water erosion.

Painless Procedures

First, the crew injected AP Fill 720 along 150 feet of the wall, installing approximately one gallon underneath the footing every two feet. Next, they installed another 75 gallons spot treating larger voids.

Rapid Results

The job was completed in only 2 days. The detention pond wall was ready for use immediately upon completion of the work. The general contractor and the homeowners association manager were very happy with the results.

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The Crack Injection Process

Crack injection is a precision-focused leak seal approach for smaller cracks or joints. Contractors repair these defects by drilling holes into the wall and inserting injection ports at an angle to intersect the crack inside the wall. Next, they inject polyurethane grout directly into the center of the crack through the ports. The resin rapidly reacts with water to form a flexible watertight seal. 

This process also protects the rebar inside the wall. Water intrusion through the cracks can lead to rebar corrosion and concrete spalling. Rusting rebar can expand six to ten times the original volume of the steel. This creates internal pressure on the concrete. While concrete is very strong in compression, it has a low tensile strength, and the expanding rebar will cause it to crack. When polyurethane resin is injected under pressure, it can encapsulate rebar and slow down the corrosion process.

Crack Injection Case Studies

• Water Treatment Plant Losing Two Million Gallons Per Day Due to Leaks
• Sealing Leaks in a Church Wall to Stop Costly Flooding of Elevator Pit
• Saving a Luxury Penthouse Suite from Costly Water Damage (Just in Time!)
• Leaks in Wastewater Treatment Plant Sealed to Prevent Environmental Contamination
• Contractor Seals Leaks in Quenching Tanks for Aluminum Manufacturer
• Leak Seal in Water Treatment Plant Pump Station Manhole
• Specialty Waterproofing at Hydroelectric Dam
• Sealing Hairline Concrete Cracks with Acrylic Injection Resin

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The Curtain Grouting Process

There are negative-side leak seal solutions, in which contractors apply surface treatments to the face of a wall to stop leaks. However, this is merely a band-aid approach. The water pressure coming through the cracks from behind the wall can still blow this band-aid repair right off. Contractors using positive-side solutions like curtain grouting can stop multiple leaks in a structure at one time.

In this process, holes are drilled through a structure in a diamond pattern. Next, expansive leak seal grout is injected through the structure, sealing leaks and filling soil voids on the other side. The grout quickly reacts with the water and cures to form a curtain wall made of a resin/soil mixture that seals the leak permanently. This is a positive-side waterproofing solution applied from the negative side.

Curtain Grouting Case Studies

• Massive Underground Leak in Aquifer Shut Down
• Protecting Drinking Water from Potential Flood Contamination
• Repairing a Leaky Pipe & Sinkhole on a Residential Property

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Alchemy-Spetec offers one-hour CE/PDH accredited presentations on polyurethane concrete repair. Presentation topics offered include Leak Seal, Geotech, and Seawall Repair. Here is a detailed overview... 

Leak Seal Presentation

The Specialty Waterproofing with Chemical Grouts presentation covers sealing leaks in structures with the use of polyurethane chemical grout injection materials and techniques. 

• Chemical Grouting Primer
  • History
  • Safety
  • Characteristics
• Utilization & Applications
  • Identifying Applications
  • Selecting a Chemical Grout
  • Epoxy & Hydraulic Cement
• Installation Techniques
  • Crack and Joint Injection
  • Curtain Grouting
  • Oakum Soakum
  • Equipment Overview

Alchemy-Spetec's one-hour CE/PDH accredited Leak Seal presentation is perfect for engineers looking for information on innovative and proven leak seal repair methods for sealing leaks in structures, inflow/infiltration mitigation, and more.

Geotech Presentation

The Geotechnical Applications for Polyurethane presentation explains three types of concrete leveling and soil stabilization materials and applications. 

• Single Component Polyurethane Grout Applications
• Two-Component Polyurethane Grout Applications
• Acrylic Grout Applications

Alchemy-Spetec's one-hour CE/PDH accredited Geotech presentation is perfect for engineers looking for information on innovative and proven geotechnical repair methods for lifting concrete, soil stabilization, excavation support, controlling erosion, and more. 

Seawall Repair Network Presentation

The Seawall Stabilization and Preservation through Permeation Presentation explains and demonstrates how Seawall Repair Network contractors use polyurethane injection resin and surface-applied preservation solutions to stabilize and preserve seawalls and bulkheads. (Seawall Repair Network is a division of Alchemy-Spetec.)

• The Causes of Seawall Failure
• Stabilizing a Seawall
• Preserving a Seawall
• Stabilization & Preservation Through Permeation

Alchemy-Spetec's one-hour CE/PDH accredited Seawall Repair Network presentation is ideal for engineers who are interested in designing superior seawall/bulkhead rehabilitation and preservation solutions. This type of environmentally friendly permanent soil stabilization and seawall preservation can be applied to all types of waterfront infrastructure.

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The John Day Dam is located in the state of Oregon on the Columbia River. In 2020 the Army Corps of Engineers put a repair job out to bid to address a variety of situations, including leaks that were occurring in a number of the galleries (openings or passageways within the dam). The general contractor that won the bid brought Spokane, Washington’s Talisman Construction Services in for the leak seal portion of the job.

Powerful Polymers

The Army Corp of Engineers specified a flexible polyurethane for the specialty waterproofing due to the fact that it would be injected into dynamic joints and cracks (joints and cracks that contract and expand with weather conditions).

The technicians from Talisman Construction Services chose Spetec PUR F400 from Alchemy-Spetec. This product features 100% elongation. If you install a rigid product in a dynamic joint or crack is will fail at the first movement. In addition to its flexible nature, Spetec PUR F400 is also hydrophobic. Hydrophobic polyurethanes have excellent chemical resistance and superior longevity. In addition, Spetec F400 features a field adjustable set time (when you have cold water, with varying volumes, this is essential so you can either penetrate small cracks with a slower set time or shut down gushing leaks with a faster set time).

The Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corp of Engineers have approved Spetec PUR F400 for use on their structures. This durable repair material has been successfully installed in many of their dams and locks.

Painless Procedures

One of the classic rules of grouting cracks and joints is to pull off the crack or joint half the thickness of the wall and drill at a 45° angle. However, when you get over 3’ thick it is not necessary to pull off the crack or joint more than 1.5’. The crew followed these guidelines when injecting the resin.

On thicker structures leaking cold water at high volumes, it is imperative to be able to adjust the set times in the field. Gen ACC is the accelerator for Spetec PUR F400 and is added at a ratio of 1% all the way up to 10%. The more you add the quicker the product polymerizes. The crew adjusted the set times according to properties of each leak.

They also soaked AP Oakum in Spetec PUR F400, and packed it into the wider cracks and high volume leaks. Depending on the situation, the oakum is sometimes packed in before the injection or packed in simultaneously as a second crew member fills the void with the first crew member is injecting the resin.

Rapid Results

Within a matter of days, the leaks in the galleries were successfully remediated. The general contractor was then able to move on to other parts of their project, on budget and on schedule.

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This article is an excerpt from Episode 14 of Alchemy-Spetec's podcast The Injection Connection, featuring veteran coatings expert Murray Heywood. (If you'd rather view or listen, an audio/visual version of this excerpt is posted at the bottom of the article.)

Charlie Lerman: When I’m training people that have never done grouting before, the ones that I find that are the easiest, honestly, are people who do coatings. The reason is that they're already handling paint equipment and chemicals. When you talk to some contractors they say, "Oh, my God, I got to buy an airless paint sprayer? Can't I just use a caulk gun or something?" And when you're starting off at that level, you could use cartridges and a caulk gun, but it's like showing up to do brain surgery and you've got a drill, a hammer, and a kitchen knife. It's not the right way to start off.

We did a webinar with about 50 Sherwin-Williams people. We got a number of good opportunities out of that, but one of the best ones was a flooring guy who just happened to be on there. One of your flooring guys. He got one of his coating guys involved, and he is now a regular grout user. And they don't go chasing the jobs, they just do it all internally when they run into situations. They now say, "This is going to be a problem for our coating. We know it, we're going to go ahead and grout that ourselves beforehand." And that to me is wonderful.

Murray Heywood: One of the biggest problems with flooring - flooring's a nightmare. There are a lot of coating failures on floors and a lot of it has to do with moisture. Because where is that moisture traveling from underneath the slab? It's coming through, it's chasing the heat. It's coming up through, and anything you put over the top without addressing that - it's blistering and causing issues. That's one of the things that was top of mind for me. It wasn't my division, it wasn't my responsibility, but I always thought the flooring people needed to know about this. Because water is a big problem for them.

View the video version of this excerpt...

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This post is part of the Alchemy-Spetec Contractor Lens series, featuring views, news & case studies written by our customers. This article, written by John Knieper of SiteMix Pressure Grouting LLC, provides an overview of a retention pond repair job. If you're an Alchemy-Spetec customer and you'd like to discuss writing content for our blog, please send an email to marketing@alchemy-spetec.com today!

A property management company in metro Atlanta contacted SiteMix Pressure Grouting, LLC to address an issue with a neighborhood retention pond that was not holding water at the proper level. The customer reported that the water level was not running through the top of the concrete outlet control structure as designed but water was exiting on the other side of the earthen dam through the concrete outlet pipe. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the pond water was piping along the outside of the concrete outlet pipe and leaking back into the outflow pipe through several bad joints in the concrete pipe.

Powerful Polymers

The SiteMix Pressure Grouting crew choose AP Fill 700, a single component, water-activated, hydrophobic, low viscosity, closed-cell polyurethane injection resin for the repair. Specifically, AP Fill 700 is NSF-approved for contact with drinking water, safe for the environment and allows the crew the ability to adjust the catalyst for set time. The polyurethane material is ideal for permeating soil, filling voids and water cutoff.

Painless Procedures

AP Fill 700 was injected on 18-inch centers around the base of the OCS and outlet pipe in order to inject resin into the flow of the piping water. Specifically, the set time of the resin was reduced so that the piping water would take the resin the length of the pipe to the leaking joints. The goal was to have the AP Fill 700 react from downstream back up to the OCS. Crew members observed the pipe joints until AP Fill 700 presented and all the leaks stopped.

Rapid Results

The job took one day to complete and less than 50 gallons of resin. Within three days the pond was at full pool and the management company and neighborhood residents were very satisfied with the work.

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This article is an excerpt from Episode 14 of Alchemy-Spetec's podcast The Injection Connection, featuring veteran coatings expert Murray Heywood. (If you'd rather view or listen, an audio/visual version of this excerpt is posted at the bottom of the article.)

Charlie Lerman: I’ve been on the services side for close to 18 years now. So I’m a big proponent of training and providing service. I'd like to acknowledge one of the other manufacturers out there that provides great training. Sherwin-Williams seems like a champion of education. They've got a great technical service group. I wanted to get your opinion on the value of bringing contractors to the trough, to drink, to understand, to learn...things like that.

Murray Heywood: Yeah.

Charlie: I don't even know if that was a question, more of a statement.

Murray: Well, that was one of the things that was unique to our group at Sherwin-Williams. Kevin Morris and I saw Sherwin-Williams as a sales organization. They manufacture paint to sell it. They aren't necessarily a technical organization. But I always believed that the more educated the sales reps are, the more they're going to be able to sell. Because if you don't know as much about something as the person you're trying to sell it to, you're going to have very limited results. But if you can at least talk the talk and walk the walk, and understand what you're talking about, then you're going to be more successful. And you're going to be able to help your customers, which builds a sense of loyalty.

If you solve a problem for somebody, they don't readily forget you. That's how I built my whole career as a rep: help people out, solve problems for them, and they will always come back for more...always. It's very rare that you save somebody some money and get them out of a jam and they say, "Well, I’m going to lose his number." That's not the way it works. So I think that Kevin and I decided early on to always ask ourselves, "How can we make it better? How can we make our people smarter and more equipped to sell?" And it's a whole package because you're selling coatings but we know the number one enemy of coatings is water. They sort of go hand in hand.

So I think that, while running these training sessions for contractors was great and everything, I saw that educating our own people is almost more important. That way our people can go out and help these guys. The training sessions we did were very successful. This has been a pet peeve of mine with every sales organization I’ve worked with in the paint world - you can't just find another one. It's not like selling shoes or widgets. There's a technical aspect to coating sales, especially on the industrial side. And the more you educate your salespeople, the better they're going to be. You're also reducing your own risk at the same time by doing things right.

We just talked about the cause of failure being ignorance and indifference. Indifference to quality, ignorance of quality. My old man, for example, thought he did good work. He just thought everybody else was too fussy. His attitude was, "Oh, it'll be fine." And I was a young guy who was saying, "No, I don't think that's right, Dad. I think that's a horrible plan." My dad never used his blinkers while driving and it used to infuriate me. I’d say, "Dad, you've got to use your blinkers, man." He'd reply, "Listen to me, smart guy, I’ve been driving for years and I’ve never had an accident." And I would think, "Yeah, well, you've left a trail of destruction behind you. You just don't know what you don't know."

And that's kind of like contractors who think they're doing well, but they don't realize that what they're missing is creating a whole backlog of problems. So all this training needs to happen with coating manufacturers. I mean, what could you possibly lose by being smarter about your products? Why not? As  sales organizations, and I can speak candidly about this now because I don't work for them anymore, we spent so much time on sending people to this or that random training or some feel-good training. All that kind of stuff that doesn't move the needle at all. It's just so somebody can check off a box and say, "Yep, we accomplished that."

It was always more difficult when we tried to push them through real technical training because you don't do it in one afternoon. We used to run our boot camps if you remember, and they were intense weeks of training. We were getting things in people's hands, getting a grout gun in their hands, and hooking that nozzle up to the zerk and pumping it. That kind of stuff. Hands-on. That's how I learn. I learn by doing, and so I think the more that you can convince these coating manufacturers to accept this kind of training and to invest in it, the better. Because if you think about it, we know that we haven't even scratched the surface of the biggest opportunities in waterproofing and grouting. We're usually dealing with the obvious things. But there's the stuff that's not obvious that it also can fix - and that is the biggest opportunity.

View the video version of this excerpt...

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