Knowledge Articles

Roofers face multiple problems on site today. 80% of failed roofs and leaks are caused by non-roofers. Therefore, it is a main priority to protect the roofer’s craftmanship from traffic on the rooftop during the total building phase, during construction and beyond.

Whether you're an architect, roofing applicator or anyone involved in selecting the right bituminous roofing, it's hard to know where to begin.

Choosing to buy proper amount of tile grout and tile adhesive is important. Lack of understanding to calculate, lead to abundant quantities or shortage than expected. So what are appropriate quantities of tile grout and tile adhesive shall you buy? Difference factors e.g. tile size, tile gap and application area are what you have to concern. The calculator from Sika will bring you a more convenient, just a few clicks.

PU Foam is a polyurethane foam in spray foam type. They can be used for fixing, insulating and filling connection joints around window and door frames, pipe entries, air conditioning vents and roller blind housings and filling large cavities, fill and insulate against noise, cold, and drafts and waterproof, easy to apply with nozzle valve, can be cut, sanded and over painted. The foam texture looks like a mousse and cure in contact with moisture when applied. Therefore, PU foam is widely used in both construction and DIY. Below you can learn more about their properties and preparation and application process.

The motives to replace clinker with supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) are well known. However, granulated blast furnace slag, natural pozzolanes, qualified fly ash and further SCM have a limited availability; the total potential replacement of the global clinker production is less than 30%. Limestone is increasingly being used as a component in Portland-Limestone cements: Sika offers an additive to enhance grinding and performance.

The effect of grinding aids on the comminution of cement is based on the dispersion of fine particles. It is a misunderstanding that grinding aids for vertical roller mills (VRMs) should stabilise the material bed between the rollers and the table by adhesive forces between the particles. Grinding aids reduce the polarity of the cleaved surface and the attraction forces between particles.

Passive fire protection is a vital component of any fire safety strategy for buildings. Built into the structure, it safeguards people’s lives and limit the financial impact of damage to buildings and their contents. Sika provides comprehensive solutions for fire resistant constructions such as tunnels, commercial and residential buildings and steel structures especially. Fire resistant coatings for load bearing structures enable to build secure buildings.

The task of wood floor adhesives is to firmly bond the organic wood floor elements to the generally inorganic screed. The adhesive must hold the wood in place, connect it to the underlying screed and transfer stress originating from the natural expansion and contraction of the wood to the generally rigid screed. The undesired but natural movement of the wood can become visible in cupping, joint formation, or in extreme situations failure of the adhesive or screed.

Sika provides comprehensive solutions where fire resistant construction is required such as commercial, public and residential buildings, steel structures and others. Fire resistant sealants, fillers and backing materials for linear seals as well as solutions for penetration seals enable safer buildings and infrastructure to be built. Passive fire protection applications for compartmentations can be divided into the following three main groups: linear joint seals, cavity barriers, penetration seals.

A functional and purpose-built floor is key to a safe and hygienic production environment in food and beverage facilities. Floors that are hygienic, non-slip, easy to clean, and durable provide a safe and attractive place to work. Choosing and installing the right floor are critical to every work environment. This article looks at getting it right the first time — achieving satisfactory and long-term flooring in a food processing environment.

Concrete repairs can be conducted with different systems and methods. In the European Standard EN 1504 Part 9, Principle 3 defines the application of repair mortars by machine as well as by hand. In this article you will learn about the advantages of machine application for both dry and wet spray processes. We also give an overview of how to select the right method and equipment for each type of application together with the corresponding Sika materials.

Cool roofs are typically covered with white membrane or reflective coating which reflects sunlight. Their energy efficiency can be measured with three main indicators: solar reflectance, thermal emittance and solar reflectance index.

In warehouses and logistics buildings the concrete slab and flooring are critical to the effective functioning of the operations. However, it is often the perception that the concrete floor is one of the most straight forward elements of the project, and many times the overall attention paid to design and construction detail is less than proportional to its ultimate importance in the efficient operation of the facility. The expectation is that these large area floors must be constructed with lowest possible cost and provide problem free service year after year.

Cool roofs are one of the most effective and easiest solutions to increase the thermal comfort of buildings and reduce cooling costs in hot climate countries with high solar radiation and outdoor temperatures. Brunel University London, in cooperation with the European Cool Roofs Council, Sika Services AG and the University of Technology in Kingston, evaluated a project in Jamaica to study how the application of a solar roof can affect the thermal comfort of residential buildings in hot climates.

The facade is the face of buildings. In contemporary architecture, the facade is of special interest expressed by large dimensions, unconventional shapes and high material diversity. Especially with these unique shapes and connections, joint design is demanding and prone to mistakes. For integral joint specification, following some rough guidelines will result in a long-lasting and tight building envelope.

Everyday parking floors are exposed to mechanical stress. Deck coatings in multi-storey car parks and basement garages are among the most heavily stressed of such systems. Therefore, car park surfaces demand robust and highly resistant coatings. In this article you will learn about our Parking Abrasion Test which we have developed to measure wear resistance of floor coatings in parking garages.

Leaks in concrete, masonry and natural stone structures can often be securely sealed and waterproofed by injection. However, to make leaking structures watertight for the long term, it’s essential to select the right injection material. On the basis of our extensive technical and practical experience, we have prepared a guide which will help you choose the optimal injection solution for your project requirements.

There is a great deal of conversation in the media relating to offsite construction, modular buildings and modern methods of construction - the success of this approach is key to the future success of our construction industry. The challenge for component or material suppliers is to be able to transfer their ideas and knowledge to the specifiers and manufacturers.

To increase productivity and improve ergonomics when applying self-leveling sealants for floor joints, Sika helps guide you step by step.

If the screed is even, strong and dry enough, then only mechanical surface preparation such as grinding and cleaning is required, before wood floor bonding is possible. However there are many situations where the existing or even new screeds are not suitable, and additional treatment is necessary before wood flooring can be installed. Sika has developed complete balanced system solutions for all of the different possibilities that may be found in these situations.