White cement is a novelty in the domestic construction market, although in the world it accounts for about 15% of all cement produced. Like gray, it is made from clinker, only special - slightly iron. Also, the composition includes gypsum, diatomite and other additives that give whiteness to this building material. Due to its color, white cement is a universal material for construction and finishing works.
Material selection
White cement is produced in several grades: M300, M400, M500 and M600, the quality of which differs as well as that of conventional cement. Depending on the degree of whiteness, it is divided into 3 varieties:
- I grade whiteness above 80%,
- II grade - above 75%
- III grade - above 70%.
Large producers produce ultra-white cement, whiteness is more than 90%.
For the preparation of mixtures based on white cement, instead of the usual sand and crushed stone, white marble chips and sand with reduced iron content without clay and silt are used. When preparing concrete water, take no more than 40% -50% of the weight of the dry mixture, carefully monitoring its cleanliness.
The price of white cement is higher, this determines its use, mainly in finishing works. The best quality is known for Danish material, followed by materials from Slovakia, Turkey and India. Russian manufacturers are only beginning to produce white cement, so the quality is not always stable, but the price is noticeably lower than imported analogues.
Features
European and North American builders have long enjoyed its advantages. Among them:
- high strength and durability, as the clinker, from which this cement is made, is harder,
- rapid solidification due to the impurity of gypsum, hardens 65% within 15 hours,
- resistance to corrosion and weathering due to low alkali content,
- frost resistance,
- high level of anesthesia with other building materials,
- possibility of coloring in various colors, including bright and pastel, high aesthetic qualities of the material.
Blends with white cement give more shrinkage than with conventional ones.
Application of
With white cement, you can create non-trivial architectural compositions and decorate existing ones. The scope of this material is great:
- production of dry mixes for the preparation of mortars for finishing works, plastering and grouting intertile seams,
- making mixtures for decorative finishing of buildings with increased strength, they are used where conventional plastering is guaranteed to give cracks,
- production of white concrete for constructionand prefabricated reinforced concrete structures( balconies, stairs, fences),
- casting curbs and sidewalk tiles, including color,
- manufacturing of artificialstone and facade tiles,
- production of white facing bricks,
- sculptural compositions and interior details( bas-reliefs, columns, fountains).
The fineness of the work of
- All tools and tools for working with white cement and the preparation of concrete from it must be absolutely clean, without any rust, otherwise there will be dirty stains on the fresh surface.
- The entire reinforcement is covered with a concrete layer of about 3 cm so that it is not damaged by corrosion, since rusty stains are strongly absorbed into the surface of the white concrete. The protruding parts should be well insulated from moisture.
White cement costs more, and working with it requires more accuracy, but its advantages as a building material and wide decorative possibilities overlap with these shortcomings.
