Our company has apartment buildings with 2nd floor pre-stressed concrete sidewalks whose rebar is corroding, which in turn is causing concrete spalling problems.
When this spalling occurs pieces of concrete break loose due to the pressure of the expanding rebar.
We are assuming the cause of the rebar corrosion is water reaching the surface of the rebar through absorption of water through the concrete surface.
My questions in order of priority are:
1) If we can completely stop the water penetrating the surface of the concrete, will the rebar continue to expand due to rust simply because it has developed rust before?
2) Or, if we could stop the water penetration by sealing the concrete in some way, will the rust stop because we have stopped the source of water penetration?
(Which in turn would stop the spalling)
3) Can you recommend any products that would give this level of sealing and yet not be so slick as to cause slip and fall accidents? Even if wet?
Many thanks for any advice you can provide about this problem.
When this spalling occurs pieces of concrete break loose due to the pressure of the expanding rebar.
We are assuming the cause of the rebar corrosion is water reaching the surface of the rebar through absorption of water through the concrete surface.
My questions in order of priority are:
1) If we can completely stop the water penetrating the surface of the concrete, will the rebar continue to expand due to rust simply because it has developed rust before?
2) Or, if we could stop the water penetration by sealing the concrete in some way, will the rust stop because we have stopped the source of water penetration?
(Which in turn would stop the spalling)
3) Can you recommend any products that would give this level of sealing and yet not be so slick as to cause slip and fall accidents? Even if wet?
Many thanks for any advice you can provide about this problem.
