TECHNIQUES TO REPAIR BUILDING CRACKS / DEFECTS

SELECTION OF SUITABLE METHOD OF CONCRETE

REPAIR
Suitable method to be selected based on
evaluation of the crack in structure for its causes.
Recognise the main symptoms of crack
Distinguish between major /minor
effect and active / dormant crack
Diagnose the actual reason for crack
Example1:
Cracking due to drying shrinkage, is
likely that after a period of time, the
cracks then stabilize.
Example 2:
Repairing cracks due to a continuing
foundation settlement, repair will be
of no use until the settlement problem
is corrected

Prescribe the appropriate methods of

repair
METHODS (GENERALLY ADOPTED)
1. Epoxy Injection / sealing with epoxies
2. Routing and sealing
3. Stitching
4. Drilling and plugging
5. External Stressing
6. Overlays
7. Grouting
8. Autogenous Healing
9. Gunting and shortcreting
10. Jacketing
1. EPOXY INJECTION
▪ Injecting epoxy bonding compound in high
pressure in cracks
▪ Cracks as narrow as 0.002 in. (0.05 mm)
can be bonded by the injection of epoxy.
PROCEDURE

Flush out cracks by

Drill into the cracks Dry the surface
injecting water / other
solvents

Removing surface seal Epoxy injection into

Curing of epoxy
by grinding holes
2. ROUTING AND SEALING
▪ Simplest, most common, inexpensive ▪ Most used for floors and pavements
method
▪ In road pavements hot tar used as sealant
▪ For both fine and larger isolated cracks
▪ Side effects:
▪ This method involves enlarging the crack a) Chemical attack; b) Corrosion of rebars; c) Swelling
along its exposed face and sealing it with
a suitable joint sealant
 3. STITCHING
▪ Stitching may be used when
tensile strength must be
reestablished across major
cracks
▪ Stitching involves
— Drilling holes on both sides of the
crack
— Cleaning the holes
— Grouting (with non-shrink grout /
epoxy resin) in U-shaped metal
units with short legs called stapes
or stitching dogs
 4. DRILLING & PLUGGING
▪ Drilling and plugging a
crack consists of drilling
down the length of the
crack and grouting it to
form a key.
▪ This technique is only
applicable when cracks
run in reasonable
straight lines and are
accessible at one end.
▪ This method is most often
used to repair vertical
cracks in retaining
walls.
5. EXTERNAL STRESSING
▪ The development of cracking is due to the
tensile stress, thus can be arrested by
suppressing this stress
▪ Cracks can be closed by inducing a
compression force to over come the tensile
stresses
▪ The compressive force is applied by
1. Pre-stressing wires or rods
2. Wedging – by opening the cracks and filling
with expanding mortar, by jacking and
grouting or by actual driving wedges

6A. OVERLAYS
Used to seal when large no of
cracks, treating each crack is
expensive
Active cracks – overlays done
with materials which are
extensible but not flexible. eg:
Polymeric membrane with top
coat of tar
BEFORE
Dormant cracks – any type of
overlays may be used. eg:
polymer modified portland
cement mortar or concrete, or
by silica fume concrete
AFTER
6B. SURFACE TREATMENTS
▪ Low solids and low-viscosity resin-based for very fine
cracks.
▪ Suited for surfaces not subject to significant wear.
▪ Bridge decks and parking structure slabs, as well as other
interior slabs may be coated effectively after cracks are
treated by injecting with epoxy or by routing and sealing.
(Add on treatment)
▪ Materials such as urethanes, epoxies, polyesters, and acrylics
have been applied in thickness of 0.04 to 2.0 in. (1 to 50
mm), depending on the material and purpose of the
treatment.
▪ Skid-resistant aggregates are often mixed into the material
or broadcast onto the surface to improve traction.
7. GROUTING
Grouting is the process of placing a material into cavities / cracks in
rockmass, soil, concrete or masonry structure for the purpose of increasing
the load bearing capacity of a structure
Grout is a mixture of water, cement and optional material like sand,
water reducing admixtures, expansion agents and pozzolans.

▪ Similar to epoxy injection ▪ Drill out the length of crack

▪ Epoxy cannot be used for fire ▪ Grout it to form a key

resistance and in cold weather
▪ This method is effective in
▪ Grouting is effective alternative stopping water leaks
Two Types:
▪ When the crack is straight line ▪ Grouting to be done with i. Portland Cements Grouting
higher grade of concrete ii. Dry Packing
I) PORTLAND CEMENTS GROUTING
In the case of gravity dam and concrete wall large-sized cracks formed. They can be repaired by filling with
Portland cement grout.
Effective in stopping water leaks, but it will not structurally bond cracked sections.
PROCEDURE
1. Cleaning the concrete along
the crack.
2. Installing built-up seats (grout
mesh) at suitable intervals (to
provide a pressure-tight
connection with the injection
apparatus).
3. Sealing the crack between the
seats with cement paint,
sealant, or grout
4. Flushing the crack to clean it
and test the seal; and then
grouting the whole area.
5. Mixtures of grout may
contain cement and water or
cement plus sand and water,
depending on the width of
the crack.
6. Water to cement ratio to be
kept low to minimize
shrinkage and to maximize
strength. Other admixtures or
water reducers may be used to 7.Manual injection gun for small volume crack
improve the properties of the filling and Pump for larger volumes, to be used.
grout. 8.Good pressure to be maintained for several
minutes after grout filling to ensure good
penetration.
II) DRY PACKING
▪ For small-sized inactive cracks
▪ It is hand placement of a low
water content mortar
▪ Followed by tamping or
ramming of the mortar into
place
▪ Also helps in producing intimate
contact between the mortar
and the existing concrete
▪ Low water-cement ratio for
grout mix, may lead to little
shrinkage
▪ Mortar should rest 30 min after
mixing water to minimize
chances of shrinkage and then
should be remixed before use.
▪ Mortar should be placed in
layers about 3/8 in. (10 mm)
thick.
▪ Each layer should properly be
compacted by a blunt stick or
hammer, and the old layer
should be scratched to facilitate
bonding with the next layer.
▪ The repaired surface should be
cured by using either water or a
curing compound.
8. AUTOGENOUS HEALING
▪ It is a natural process of crack
repair that occurs in the presence of
moisture for cracks with maximum
widths between 0.004 in. and
0.008 in.
▪ The repair is by a combination of
mechanical blocking by particles
carried into the crack with the water
and the deposition of calcium
carbonate from the cementitious
material
▪ A 0.004-in. wide crack can heal
after several days and a 0.008-in.
crack may heal in several weeks.
▪ Healing will not occur if cracks are
subjected to fast-flowing water and
movements.
Mechanism
▪ Autogenous healing occurs by the
carbonation of calcium oxide and
calcium hydroxide present in the
cement by CO2 present in the air
and water
▪ The resulting CaCO3 and Ca(OH)2
crystals precipitate accumulate
and grow through and out from
cracks
▪ Develop a mechanical and
chemical bonding between crystals
and between surface and crystal
9A. SHOTCRETING
Application of mortar of less thickness.
It is also a concrete repair method that is used to repair various damages in concrete
structures. Shotcreting works on the same principle of greeting for achieving greater
thickness with a small coarse aggregate.
Step by step procedure of shotcreting are as follows:
1. Shotcreting is a concrete repair method. The first one removes the Plaster and
finishes all around the distressed concrete surface.
2. Remove concrete all around the reinforcement in order to get an average 25mm air
gap.
3. Put the additional reinforcement wherever the reinforcement diameter has been
reduced by more than 15 to 20%.
4. Fix shear key bars of appropriate diameter at a specified spacing in both directions
over the surface to be covered with repair materials.
5. Apply appropriate passivating and bonding agent over the reinforcement and
prepare RCC surface.
6. Shotcreting should be done with a 6mm thick finishing coat. It is also necessary to do
wet curing over the finished surface of the shotcrete for a minimum period of 7 days.
9B. GUNITING (DRY SHORTCRETING)
Guniting is the concrete repair Method in
which the mortar is conveyed through a
hose pneumatically to protect at a high
velocity onto a surface.
This technique has been developed by
introducing a small-size coarse
aggregate into the mix. This process is
made economical by reducing the
cement content. The force of Jet impact
on the surface compact the material.
GRAVITY POLYURETHANE POLYMER
FILLING INJECTION IMPREGNATION
▪ Low viscosity monomers and ▪ Polyurethane resins to seal wet and ▪ Monomer systems can be used for
resins can be used to seal cracks leaking cracks as narrow as 0.002” effective repair of some cracks.
with surface widths of 0.001 to
0.08 in. (0.03 to 2 mm) by gravity ▪ Primarily used to stop water leaks ▪ Liquid consisting of monomers which
filling. will polymerize into a solid.
▪ Injecting a reactive resin into cracks
▪ High-molecular-weight to combine with water forming an ▪ Methyl methacrylate is commonly
methacrylate, urethanes, and some expanding gel that chokes off the used
low viscosity epoxies have been leak, sealing the crack
used successfully. ▪ Resins chase the water to penetrate
▪ The lower the viscosity, the finer into tight micro-cracks and concrete
the cracks that can be filled. pores – bonding with wet concrete.

▪ Wet surfaces should be permitted ▪ Cured polyurethanes are flexible -

to dry several days to obtain the will tolerate future cracks scenes.
best crack filling ▪ Permanent repair and works with
either active or dormant cracks.
 SUMMARY OF CRACK REPAIR OPTIONS
Repair Method Active Cracks Dormant Cracks Structural Repair Crack Sealing
live cracks which expand in induced by thermal Structural failure cracks, hot sealant is applied to
dimensions over time. effects, autogenous such as foundation working cracks to
formed due to overloading shrinkage, or drying movement, deflection, prevent water intrusion
and thermal expansion (ex. shrinkage. etc.
due to freeze-thaw) Not very serious
Clean and Fill
Routing and Sealing/Filling
Epoxy Injection
Polyurethane Injection
Autogenous Healing
10. JACKETING
4. Jacketing.pptx
THANK YOU