Morris, IL (PRWEB) July 25, 2014

Colloidal silica is a densifier for concrete. It makes concrete surfaces harder and when it comes to concrete polishing, harder is better. Harder concrete generally polishes better and polishing concrete is a rapidly growing green trend. Densifiers have been used for treating concrete for decades. It is rather boring and complicated chemistry to describe exactly how they work but it can be explained this way. Making concrete is actually a chemical reaction involving cement, sand, water and often times some additional additives to tailor certain properties. As a chemical reaction, the making of the concrete is not very efficient and often has some leftover components after it is cured that just sit dormant in the slab, never reaching the final concrete state. Within the concrete paste is the main leftover – calcium hydroxide – and the densifiers seek out this out and turn that into more very dense concrete paste. This fills the microscopic pores and voids within the existing paste thereby “densifying” the concrete. Early densifiers were sodium and potassium silicates. They are still used today but lose favor in the decorative arena due to their tendency to cause efflorescence (hard white deposits) due to the presence of metallic salts and that efflorescence can be tiresome to remove. Lithium silicate came into favor nearly a decade ago as a faster and cleaner improvement over traditional silicates and was the reigning king until colloidal silicate was introduced. What makes colloidal silica different? Size. Colloidal silica consists of particulate many times smaller than traditional densifiers. These silica particles are so small they don’t even settle in the liquid. They are a thousand times smaller than even a particle of Portland cement which is basically impossible to see with your naked eye. This small size coupled with the fact that this is a very pure product make is very fast and very effective for concrete polishing.

As with most “best choice” products on the market, there comes a price. Old school silicates can be had at little cost so they still get their fair share of the market since this market may demand a contractor treat thousands and thousands of square feet of concrete. Colloidal silica prices are five times more than the economy choices. Until now. Walttools has introduced a colloidal silica, Colloidal Tru Hard, at prices less than most Lithium silicates, and half of what the most common colloidal silicates retail for. What this does is make the best product available a true first choice for polishing contractors because price is no longer an issue.

Colloidal Tru Hard exhibits the following properties:

Meets all VOC regulations including California
Helps block the penetration of many liquids, chemicals and oils.
Helps minimize rubber tire marks in warehouse applications
Low viscosity and blended particle matrix provides superior reactivity within the slab
Never peels over time
Almost eliminates rubber tire marks
Eliminates concrete dusting
Can be used as a trowel aid by reducing bleed water
Will not leave a white cast on floor if over used or not removed
Reduces operating costs by increased ease of maintenance and cleaning

Colloidal Tru Hard is also an excellent choice as a trowel aid and a finishing treatment for newly placed and trowelled concrete. The same properties that make it a great polishing solution help it improve plain concrete. All of these properties are equal to or superior to previous types of densifiers and now they can be had a prices of “old school” thanks to Walttools.







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