Abbotsford Residential Workshop

Background

Out in British Columbia (BC), Canada, a resident living in the City of Abbotsford sought a way to create his own personal workshop. With 232 m² (2,500 ft²) of space, it would have room enough to combine both the qualities of a workshop and a garage into one area close to the resident’s home. That way, he could shelter all of his personal vehicles and equipment from the elements in an easily accessible location.

However, he had one concern about constructing this shelter, and that revolved around its longevity. The Abbotsford resident wanted a workshop that would last a long time. But having multiple vehicles and a number of movable pieces of equipment in there meant there was a higher risk for the workshop’s concrete floor to wear away. The Abbotsford resident knew that if he wanted his workshop to remain standing for years to come, he’d need a highly durable concrete slab that could resist abrasive and erosive forces.

While some may have considered using surface-applied concrete hardeners to get this result, the resident wanted a different solution. He knew that surface-applied concrete hardeners came with a tricky application process that could cause damage if done incorrectly. However, he also knew that there was another solution out there that could deal with his concern.

Solution

Having sold it before and seen the results of the product himself, the Abbotsford resident knew that Kryton’s integral hardening admixture, Hard-Cem, would be able to eliminate his concern. So he had the ready-mix company Rempel Bros. Concrete add the admixture to his project’s concrete mix. That allowed him to increase the concrete’s resistance to abrasion and erosion with no concern for application errors. That’s because as an integral hardener, Hard-Cem only needs to enter the concrete mix. Once in the mix, it spreads throughout, hardening the concrete paste and mitigating how much exposure the fine and coarse aggregate experience. In return, the concrete’s service life is doubled, and its resistance to wear and tear increases.

All of which was evident after the work was done. The newly poured concrete flooring looked flawless and cured within five days, providing the resident with a durable floor for his new workshop. In response to this work, he noted that:

I was looking to build a shop that could accommodate and stand up to the wear and tear of heavy vehicles and the equipment that I use to maintain them. The concrete shop floor is ground zero for wear and tear. I wanted the concrete to look as good in 20 years as it did on day one. When I was looking at designing my floor, Hard-Cem was absolutely a product I needed for my new shop. I have sold Hard-Cem since it was first introduced into the market many years ago and have seen the results of this product for years, and each customer was extremely happy with their final product. In the end, I was happy with how my floor turned out.

With this construction success, the resident was both satisfied and confident that his flooring would not receive any damage from the workshop’s surrounding vehicles and equipment.