QUICK-SETTING MORTARS FOR CLADDING 1

The process of cladding comprises two stages. The first stage, which is less visible, concerns surface preparation. The second involves setting the stone tiles or veneer on the prepared surface. Whilst the second phase is all about the visual side, the first phase has a major impact on the quality of the job.

Investors expect fast and high-quality work from their contractor. This is why we like to work with products made by Atlas, a Polish producer offering a wide variety of quality materials made by using modern technologies and suitable for every stage of the contract. The company is offering three types of products: products used to prepare the working surface, products used for isolation, and finally products used for gluing the veneer or tiles to the surface.

Repairs and preparation of surfaces, fastening stone elements: Repair and assembly mortars Atlas Monter T-5 and Atlas Monter T-15

Monter assembly mortars are universal mortars used to prepare the surface and speed up subsequent work.

Atlas Monter T-5 is a universal type of mortar. It can be used to anchor steel or plastic elements, to reprofile the surface, or carry out minor repairs of concrete and reinforced concrete elements, as well as corner modelling. It can be applied on vertical and horizontal surfaces, both in the interior and exterior, and it only takes 5 minutes to solidify. The layer of applied mortar ranges from 1 to 25 mm. This can be increased up to 40 mm by adding silica sand with a grain size up to 2 mm in a 1:1 ratio.

If the mortar is used outdoors at low temperatures when the setting time of conventional mortars is much longer, the strength of Monter T-5 set at 5 °C for 6 hours is over 10 MPA (mortar without added silica sand) and over 9 MPa (without added silica sand).

Atlas Monter T-15 has slightly different properties. When mixed with water, it has a liquid consistency that can fill any mounting hole. It takes 15 minutes to solidify. Atlas Monter T-15 is used to anchor fence posts, balustrades, small architectural elements, machine foundations, grouting, step irons, etc. These are typically construction elements subject to specific technical requirements.

This quick-setting and low-shrinkage assembly mortar with self-levelling properties is ideal to anchor steel elements. High adhesion to the concrete base (> 2 MPa) guarantees perfect anchoring of all types of elements.

Atlas Monter T-15 application layer ranges from 20 to 50 mm. It can be applied in several layers to reach the required thickness. The semi-liquid consistency prevents the formation of air cavities. Monter T-15 can be used to join concrete and reinforced concrete elements or to repair surfaces before cladding. The crushing strength of Monter T-15 is 25 MPa after 6 hours and 35 MPa after 24 hours, which means it is ready to bear loading after a short time, which speeds up subsequent work.

Such an increase in the crushing strength is particularly important when the mortar is used in late autumn or early spring or when the temperature falls below 0 °C at night, but work must continue the following day. In such cases Monter T-15 can replace conventional cement mortars or concrete as it sets after only a few hours, unlike standard mortars which take about 14 days to set.

Table 1   Atlas Monter T-5 and T-15 crushing strength progression

Source: Kurier kamieniarski 
Author: mgr inż. Maciej Rokiel, mgr inż. Krzysztof Szyszko