What is grouting in building construction?

What is Grouting?

Grouting in building construction refers to the injection of pumpable materials into a structure to change its physical characteristics. It is one of the effective ways groundwater can be controlled during building construction works.

Generally, grout is a mixture of cement, sand, and water or chemicals used to fill gaps. They are commonly used in the repair of concrete cracks, fill seams and gaps in tiles, seal and fill gaps for waterproofing, as well as for soil stabilization. In addition to this, construction chemical manufacturing companies in the UAE say that grouting is also done to give extra strength to the foundations of load-bearing structures.

In construction projects, grouts are usually classified into the following categories:

Cementitious Non-shrink Grout – This classification of grout is known as hydraulic cement grouting. It is commonly used to seal wide cracks especially in gravity dams, canal linings, foundations, and thick concrete walls. It is also used for enhancing extra strength to machine foundations, base plate or anchor bolts for machines or equipment, and others.

Polyester Based Grout – Polyester grouts are used for the rapid grouting and commissioning of machines and structures where the bed thickness is between 3mm and 25mm. Sections to be grouted may contain areas of concrete to concrete, concrete to steel and steel to steel. This type of grout is suitable to support all equipment subject to heavy loadings and may be used effectively to fill misaligned saw cuts.

Non-Shrink Grout – Non-shrink grouts are used for sealing of cracks where shrinkage cracking is expected. These types of grouts are particularly formulated and feature a special blend of cement, aggregates, and other additives to compensate for possible shrinkage, flowability, and setting time considerations. Non-shrink grouts are also used for connecting precast concrete sections.

Chemical Grout – This grout classification consists of polymers such as acrylic, polyurethane, epoxy, or any other suitable polymer. Chemical grouting requires the injection of specially formulated chemical grouts into finer cracks that cannot be possible by cement grouts. They can be applied in moist environments and can fill very fine cracks.

There are a variety of grouts available for building construction. For general-purpose, cementitious grouts are most commonly used. For more information about grouts and other construction chemicals, visit MCT group of companies at https://www.mctuae.com