Howard Kanare Speaks Out On Moisture Emission Tests

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Permalink Reply by Stephen on April 15, 2009 at 7:22pm

If I would like? Are you kidding I would love it. I still have that last email you sent me from the old flooringinstaller days. It's pretty hard to grasp that ph/ alkalinity thing. I still have a hard time even with my pool water.

You can blog all you want, I will feature it so it won't get buried.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Higgins on April 16, 2009 at 1:52pm

Oh Boy...Melvin, there is an assumption that anything coming out of the concrete is alkali..that actually sounds like you have a sulfate condition, which is a NASTY problem! What I call the 'poor-man's chemical analysis'..it to take a lighter or match to that "cotton candy", if it retreats from the flame (it may also exhibit a 'sweet' odor), it is likely sulfate...there is no good way to "repair" it..and unfortunately, most, if not all codes do not require a vapor barrier, which would have kept this out of the concrete in the first place.

Another indicator is that this likely didn't become any sort of problem for at least 5-7 years..that is about how long the process is for this maerial to work its way from the soil, through the concrete.

Capping or sealing the surface will only accelerate the damage..I wish I could give you better news on that problem..but that is a tear out..and tell them to install a vapor barrier next time...no matter WHAT the code says!

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Permalink Reply by Stephen on April 16, 2009 at 3:32pm

Thats would really suck.

So Bob, you would not recommend pouring a new slab over the old even if you covered the old one with 8 mil plastic in this situation?

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Permalink Reply by Bob Higgins on April 16, 2009 at 4:03pm

If the bottom slab is restricted on all 4 sides, I see no problem placing another slab over the top if there is a plastic membrane between them, but with another 4 inches of concrete, there would be problems with doors, etc.

Alkali actually means a whole lotta things..even limestone is considered an alkaline, even though it is only about 9 on the pH scale, baking soda is an alkali...so the broadness of the term itself can be confusing..it was the description of the salts more than anything is what made me think of sulfates, and being at a lake bottom, VERY likely culprit

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Permalink Reply by Stephen on June 13, 2009 at 10:56am

I invited a couple reps and technical guys I met at a grand opening here in Tucson. One is the Stauf tech director. We had an interesting discussion about moisture testing. The guy knows his stauf. lol

He pretty much agreed with Bob and apparently they will not be specifying any Rh testing for their product. Only CaCl.

Hopefully he will join us here and comment.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen on September 21, 2009 at 1:58pm

Well they chickened out. Typical of reps. lol

So here is the Wagner Rapid Rh forum link if anyone wants to present a question to the moderator. And we all recognize that guy don't we?

http://www.wagnermeters.com/concreteforum/moisture-measurement-in-c...

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