Is cobwebs (cracks) on the rough screed the norm?
Hello! Help advice. The situation is as follows: a team of workers is working for me, recently they made me a rough screed made of expanded clay concrete 8 cm high. After 5 days, as soon as it began to dry, cracks appeared on it like cobwebs, somewhere in 2-3 mm. Workers respond to my complaints that this is the norm, but I’m not sure that I’m dealing with a screed for the first time in my life. Tell me, is it possible to accept such work or force to redo it. In general, I plan to continue to make a cement-sand screed under the laminate up to 4 cm thick.
Hello! Do not worry so much. In your case, there is no technology violation. Your workers poured the screed, the water was gradually absorbed and as a result, the screed shrinked. A very important role in whether cracks appear or not, plays the base on which expanded clay concrete mortar is poured. But one way or another, nothing terrible happened. That's why it is a rough screed, and it is intended primarily for shrinkage. Now the most important thing is to properly finish the screed.
Note! To make the self-leveling finish screed perfect in the solution, it is necessary to add fiber. And remember, when pouring the final screed you can not use any reinforcing nets, the fiber will do all the work.
Polypropylene fiber in the screed is the simplest, taking the minimum time resource, and most importantly, an inexpensive way to reinforce the screed. This component is very easy to use and at times increases the strength parameters of the solution. Without exaggeration, the entire reinforcement of the screed fits in a small package, which is not possible when using a traditional mesh.
Fiber has many advantages, but the key ones are:
- makes it possible to reduce the thickness of the screed;
- minimizes the likelihood of cracks during shrinkage of the screed;
- gives the coating wear resistance and strength;
- makes reinforcing mesh unnecessary;
- significantly reduces the execution time.
