Anyone mix their own Epoxy Mortar? (for concrete repairs/levelling)

[IanR]

In looking for epoxy mortar it seems all the pre-mixed stuff is priced similar to raw epoxy resin price at £60 - £80 per 10kg rather than the kiln dried sand constituent at £20 per 25kg. Which seems a bit high when I'm thinking it will likely be a 1:5 mix or weaker. 

 

So, anyone mix it themselves? if so what ratio? and where did you purchase the Resin?

 

This is to fill a few holes in the slab ie.

   The drop thresholds for full height windows and doors, to fill the internal gap between slab and frame

   To level the base of Mat wells that were cut in after pour.

   To tidy the slope and around the gully of wet room floors, that were also cut in after the pour.

 

Thanks!

[8ball]

I have never mixed epoxy mortar but over the past few years I have ordered resins and various other items from CFS Fibreglass. The guys who work there will give you all the info you need regarding your question about epoxy mortar. They have a big website with lots of products and are generally quite well priced.

 

At present if you also go to the Facebook page of the company they have a 10% code for all purchases.....just got the email today.

 

Bye

[Declan52]

Would some self leveling not be ideal for the 2nd and 3rd option. Might work on the 1st but hard to say without a pic.

[IanR]

Thanks @8ball I'll give them a call and see if they have a view.

 

@Declan52 the back fill of the drop thresholds is up to around 40mm thick, my concern with using a cementitious product is shrinkage and cracking and it coming loose from the main slab. My experience is limited, but I have just that situation on my current house where a self-levelling compound was used to back fill the gap on a retro-fit set of french doors and I'm trying to avoid a repeat performance.

 

I'm sure a self-levelling compound would be OK for the mat wells, however the mat wells join into drop thresholds, so if I can use the same product that would be preferred. 

 

I have actually just trialled one of the shower floors with a self-levelling compound and am waiting for it to fully dry. If this goes OK I may stick with the self levelling compound for the others, it is a lot cheaper than resin based products.

[Onoff]

I had a couple of areas of my bathroom floor slab to repair. A "slot" I rough cut in the slab when I was going to spin the bath through 180deg needed squaring off and then where I knocked out to run the afterthought feeds to the towel rad. Right or wrong I used neat SBR in 4:1mix and it's gone off very "resinous". Not subject to foot traffic but seems super tough:

 

 

 

[Declan52]

40mm is a lot to fill with self leveling.

[PeterW]

If it is not high strength structural concrete you are looking for then using a 1:6 volume ratio of activated resin to kiln dried sand will work fine. Any GP resin will do and you can get it from CFS or East Coast Fibreglass. 

 

The sand has to be dry or it will clump and also cause the resin to set badly. 

[Steptoe]

would 'patch repair' work?

that stuff sets like marble,,,,,,

there are a few varieties of it, depending on how fast it needs to go off etc, some of the stuff I've used can go off in literally minutes, [ <5mins ] or other stuff that takes days almost,

[Jeremy Harris]

As a tip, do as Peter suggests above and use the cheapest epoxy you can get - East Coast are often cheaper then CFS , but there is another place in Cornwall that's cheaper still - I used their stuff on my last boat build, Reactive Resins (here's a link - I have no connection with them other than as a customer: https://reactiveresins.com/epoxy-resins.html )

 

If you want dry sand (and as Peter says it does have to be really dry) then buy play pit sand from someone who keeps it stored inside.  I've used it with epoxy to even up a workshop floor and it worked a treat.  As another tip, play pit sand also works well with a cheap wet sandblaster, the type that's an attachment for a pressure washer, I've found.

 

Finally, again no plug for profit, I can highly recommend the Reactive Resins floor coatings: https://reactiveresins.com/floor-coatings-screeds.html

I used their epoxy floor paint and it was nice to use (no smell, water based) and very, very tough.  It's what's going down in my new workshop, I'm not even going to think about using anything else.

 

I would have reservations about their water-based two pack varnish, though, Synacryl.  I used it on a boat and frankly it was crap, lasted less that a yeatr before it started peeling off badly.

[Onoff]

We used to use this stuff at work:

 

http://www.img-limited.co.uk/product/liquid-granite/

 

(As well as many other IMG products)

 

Came as a powder you mixed with water. The rep cam in, took a cup from the water dispenser and added some water and powder. He then stuck an M16 stainless bolt in and left it for not very long. It got hot then set. I still have the sample he did somewhere.

 

We used it to repair the concrete tiled bearing surfaces for travelling window cleaning rigs. (HSBC York was one from memory). Really incredible stuff.

 

No affiliation either.

[IanR]

@Onoff I assumed SBR was what was mixed into self leveling compound, although weaker than you suggest. Reading up on it, it is a recommended mix just as you have done it, for thicker repairs. I read a few comments though than it can get difficult to work with when used in higher concentrations.

 

@Steptoe the epoxy mortars are sometimes called patch repair, or concrete repair, so this is what I wish to self mix. I've got a few full height windows so I'm needing a fair bit of it. Seems a waste to spend around £400 on pre-mixed, if I can mix it myself for less than £100.

 

@PeterW , @JSHarris , Bingo.... this is what I was hoping for, I thought it was along these lines but didn't have the confidence to order it in without some confirmation.

 

Thanks all!

Edited January 20, 2017 by IanR

[Onoff]

6 minutes ago, IanR said:

@Onoff I assumed SBR was what was mixed into self leveling compound, although weaker that you suggest. Reading up on it you it is a recommended mix just as you have done it, for thicker repairs. I read a few comments though than it can get difficult to work with when used in higher concentrations.

 

Total guess on my part that. I'm an "if in doubt 4:1" type!

[Steptoe]

ah, OK @IanR

I've never actually used it in a building scenario,

but have used it loads in motorbike pure road racing,

never seen stuff like it, its so good,

but, NEVER paid that sort of money for it,

how much do you realistically need?

it may be cheaper to buy it for a different purpose,

as in when you buy flowers, as soon as you mention 'wedding' the price tenfolds.