Jacek Bienkowski Where to Place Contraction Joints in an Industrial Floor Contraction joints - sometimes called control joints - are the most widespread way to control cracking in industrial floors. As concrete hardens it loses volume, and that very often cracks the slab. C... 5 Nov 2020
Jacek Bienkowski Moss and Mould on External Walls? One Coat Sorts It Spring cleaning extends outdoors, and the garden wall usually reveals moss and mould in the most unlikely places - unsightly, and worse, holding moisture against the masonry. Preventing or removing it... 12 Oct 2020
Jacek Bienkowski Microcement: Promoted from Substitute to Star Player Practical solution or a choice of value? It has been a few years since microcement - or cementitious coating - graduated from a fix for industrial floors into a deliberate design choice, in commercial... 11 Aug 2020
Jacek Bienkowski Curing Concrete Properly: What EN 13670 Asks For, and the Easiest Way to Do It The importance of properly curing concrete cannot be overstated. Appropriate, effective and practical curing ensures higher quality and durability. Today we can design concrete to last centuries - the... 14 Nov 2018
Jacek Bienkowski Decorative Concrete Floors: What to Consider Before You Commit "Concrete" has grown steadily more popular in interior design, residential and commercial. It pays to be clear about both the aesthetic expectations and the correct procedures - too often neglected in... 24 Oct 2018
Jacek Bienkowski Restoring Historic Timber: Science, Conscience and Knowledge "It is the only man-made object that receives a baptism: when you launch a boat you call the priest, have it blessed and give it a name. That is why boats have a soul, a story to tell and a future to ... 27 May 2017
Jacek Bienkowski Dusting Concrete? The Fix in One Move Ever wondered why concrete dusts with age? How to prevent it - and what to do once it has started? The causes In a fresh pour, dusting comes from excessive segregation of the mix: heavy particles sett... 4 Aug 2015
Jacek Bienkowski Protecting Reinforcement in One Simple Move Ever seen concrete so deteriorated that the reinforcement shows through, inevitably rusty? Look at the barriers dividing motorway carriageways, at structures near the sea, or anywhere with heavy pollu... 21 Jul 2015
Jacek Bienkowski The Strange Case of Screeds The screed has always been seen as the poorest element of a building, and has always received scant attention to its technical details. To be precise: a screed is the non-structural horizontal layer t... 2 Jun 2015
Jacek Bienkowski Simple, Fast and Effective? Choosing a Cleaner That Does Not Eat Your Floor Imagine a concrete or microcement floor at home or in the office. Now imagine you have stained it and need to clean it without a trace. Finally, imagine choosing the cleaner. That is where the dilemma... 23 May 2015
Jacek Bienkowski How to Prevent Drying Shrinkage Cracks in Concrete How many times have we faced walls or floors with annoying cracks - and wished for an immediate solution? "Too many" is the unanimous answer. So let us start at the heart of it: the importance of curi... 18 May 2015
Jacek Bienkowski Cracks and Crazing in Seamless Floor Finishes: Where They Really Come From Floor finishes fall into two families: those laid or glued on top (floating floors, tiles, timber, some rubber and linoleum) and those in full adhesion with the substrate (resins, trowelled cementitio... 13 Apr 2015
