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Alla Linetsky
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Alla Linetsky's Discussions
Super Plastisizer in GFRC countertop mix
Replied 7 hours ago
styrofoam sink form
Replied 1 day ago
Alla Linetsky
Latest Activity
Gorilla glue - and with this stuff, less is more. First, wipe the steel with acetone to remove all traces of oil. Mist the plywood with water. Put snaking beads throughout the surface, and a very thin perimeter bead so that water doesn't get betwe...
I don't bother coating the foam; just sand it to 320 or 600 to make it super-smooth. We still need to grind (or gring, or whatever). And make sure it's extruded polystyrene, not expanded (the crappy white stuff). We hot-glue the foam to the table;...
Actually, it's HDPE plastic, gloss surface. Very tough, you can tie it in knots and it won't break. I get it custom-cut by a local plastics supplier, and it's available in all kinds of thicknesses, from 1/16" to 1.5". I do curves with 3/16" or 1/4...
Hi Alla,
Care to share how you supported the sink. I have one coming up using the same app. I have an idea, but looking for input too! Thanks.
I've wondered about lawn signs as well, but not cheap plastic ones. Some high-end cabinet shops get very nice signs made, out of weather-resistant mdf or other materials, and put in solid-looking signs with professionally done graphics. Has anyone...
I cast on stainless steel-covered tables, and I've done a wet-cast gfrc double sink. Photo attached.
I find that CSA mixes incorporate curing water very quickly. When we polish, we always finish dry, and that removes moisture from the surface. I've had no issues with EAP, even when applied on the same day as we polished wet. I still wait 4-5 hour...
OK, Jon, let's just leave it at that.
I'd like to get back to the original topic of this post - people seem to be confusing Liquidz and the traditional gfrc polymers, Forton and Polyplex. As far as I'm concerned, LZ makes an excellent gfrc polyme...
Jon, it's not the chemistry of wollastonite that causes problems, it's the size and shape of the fibres. They stop the flow of concrete in its tracks. As soon as I added them to my mix, I had to triple my super-p dosage and increase water by at le...
Jon, please stop pushing Nyad G to people who don't use your exact mixing methods and recipes. These microscopic fibres do not help concrete with even the finest sand aggregate. All they will do is screw up the rheology and greatly increase water ...
Dave, I use LZ as my polymer, nothing else. For a little while, when we ran out of it, we made a few pieces without it. The first was a table for our shop, and it turned out OK. Still, I really like what LZ does for my concrete, so I'm using it in...
The gifts are gone. I pay Ning a fee each month to keep their crap off this forum and I didn't appreciate them adding that feature without my knowledge.
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- Alla Linetsky
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GFRC destruction pt 2
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GFRC destruction pt 1
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Comment Wall (22 comments)
- At 9:37am on September 27, 2009,
element concrete said… - Thanks Alla, let the experiments begin
- At 10:57pm on September 24, 2009,
element concrete said…
- Hi Alla, thanks for the reply I really appreciate your time and info. No you have not replied to me before but I bet I am not the first to ask you for some info on mix design. The cheng mix is not a typo but does say to use 72lbs natural sand or 40lbs light weight sand? not sure what that is as the sand I use has been graded for use in concrete. If you don't mind what add mixtures do you use if you do not like polyplex? Thanks again Patrick.
- At 1:18pm on September 23, 2009,
element concrete said…
- Hi Alla, my name is Patrick and I live in BC. I am new to the forum and so far have been amazed at the wealth of knowledge on this site especially your input. I have two questions I was hoping you could help out with. 1) Is there anywhere in Canada I can order admixtures ie: polyplex, vcas 160 etc for my counter mix? This is so I can avoid the duty and less shipping charges. 2) I have been using chengs recipe for my concrete mix. It seems a bit heavy on the sand. (cement 22.5lbs sand 72lbs 37lbs gravel). Is there a better recipe you can recommend? I have a small flatwork company and am very familiar with concrete slabs and walls but counters are fairly new to me. I was thinking of posting this on the forum but wanted specific info from you. If you have the time thanks for any help you can offer. Patrick
- At 2:50am on September 13, 2009,
Kasper Naef said… - I am using the HPC cement from Quickcrete http://concreterepair.com/HPCSpecSheets/HPC.4.4Cement.pdf
I have the white 40 minute one. First I was using it straight, but it was just too hot. Now I came up with the mix I am using now, 50:50 with Portland and it works great. I have poured at 34 degrees C a few weeks back and I used a bit of delay then. I had to hustle, but still got about 30 minutes. Now when it is around 25 degrees, I have about 45 minutes to an hour working time. That is without any delay in it.
I demold everything after 12-15 hours and polish right away.After 24 hours it becomes virtually impossible to polish. Just too hard. I don't do any curing regiment at all. Have not had any problems. I just use regular sand and VCAS. I used SIKA Viscocrete 6100 as a super P.
I have not have had any luck polishing anything where I had the fibers in it, they show right away, so that is why I came up with the method I am using now.
I don't know if the Eclipse helped with the pinholes. I really don't have any at all, other than on the edges and where I do seeded "rivers" with large glass and pebbles. I think it had more to do with going away from Polyplex, which was horrible. I went to Liquid Z, which was much better, but now I am using Mapei Planicrete AC at 5%. That has really eliminated the pinholes. I polish to 200 and the can go directly to the first coat of EAP. Then a slurry coat and one more EAP.
Planicrete is only $80 canadian for 20 liters. I think with the CSA, using acrylic is kind of overkill anyway.
- At 4:22pm on September 12, 2009,
Kasper Naef said…
- Hi Alla,
I know what you mean about the other forum. After all it is Blue concrete's forum.... Don't mention the letters E A P over there..... LOL
I have been using the Grace Eclipse floor and it has worked great. Now all my pieces are perfectly straight everytime.
I am using 50:50 HPC and portland cement. All poured GFRC using regular sand. I pour a thin layer of without fibers first and then add the backer coat.
99% of my pieces are exposed aggregate. I stick a 1/2" strip styrofam along the exposed edges, fill the back coat and then pull the styro out while pouring in some more of the face coat without the fibers. The same for undermount sinks. Works great, exposed agg with poured GFRC, the way to go...
Kasper
- At 8:35pm on September 10, 2009,
James Catabia said… - Hello Alla,
Are you still using Poraver in your mix? I am currently GFRC all the way and I have started using Poraver over the last few months. I like the results. I only use it in the backer portion of my mix. I am at a 25% sub at this time. My concrete at 1 1/2" thick is 15 lbs. per square foot. What are your results like. I am using the 1mm-2mm size.
- At 7:47am on August 21, 2009,
Marty St.Clair said… - You produce some nice peices, Alla.
- At 9:25pm on August 20, 2009,
Will Jenkins said… - Alla,
First off you are awesomely talented, but you knew that already I'm sure. I am doing a curved double sink and double drain board similar to the one in your pics. Although mine won't wrap around as tight as yours. So I had 2 questions. How did you make the slots for the drain board? Also, unrelated, do you cast on plexiglass? It sort of looks like it in the mold photo. Thanks so much,
Will Jenkins
- At 12:02pm on August 10, 2009,
Mark Celebuski said… - I’ve been working with CeraTech for the last 6 months to develop a precast / countertop / GFRC / Portland free / cement. I’ll be the manufacturer’s rep for the new product; it will be sold through distributors.
It started as a search for a green alternative for countertops and hopefully will end up with people creating 98% recycled content building systems, countertops etc.
It can be sprayed with GFRC equipment, it will make almost self consolidating GFRC (may require a little vibration / compaction).
We will see how it goes.
Mark
- At 5:45am on August 10, 2009,
Mark Celebuski said…
- Alla,
I think it’s great that you are making your own alkali activated cement. I believe this is a big step in curbing world CO2 emissions.
I’m forbidden from discussing CeraTech’s processes or chemistry beyond saying that their patent pending cements work very differently from ordinary alkali activated cements.
So far I’ve been very impressed with the results.
Good luck, Mark
- At 1:45am on July 20, 2009,
Becky Thompson said… - Alla, I understand there are a lot of people out there that expect everything to be ready-made for them, including concrete mixes. I want to work on developing my own mixes, tailored to my needs, so therefore I know I need more information to build my knowledge base and experiment. I have read about deformers, superplasticizers, polymers,retarders, ect to no end on the internet but i would like something in hardcover. Is that too much to ask for? Suggestions for reference materials? I WANT to know the chemistry of concrete. As much of it as my brain will absorb.
Over the last few moths of browsing this forum (even before I joined) I have noticed you have a chemistry background which i believe puts you a step ahead of many others out there. You cannot tell me you learned all about concrete overnight and neither can I. I must find resources to work with that aren't based on brand names of products and start there.
Also, I took Tommy and Mike Cook's GFRC course and we did cover mix designs and basic admixtures, I just want to know more. I am not looking for a "magic bullet" of any kind. I hope know you will understand what I am looking for from my post. I also edited the original post to prevent others for thinking along the lines you did. Thank you for that. Now hopefully I will get some useful suggestions. Cheers
Becky Thompson
- At 11:23am on June 16, 2009,
Loren said… - Hi Alla just wondering where you purchase your liquidz from...... I'm from Calgary and shipping costs are brutal. I'm looking for acrylic polymer alternatives.
Thanks
Loren
- At 8:24pm on April 6, 2009,
david said… - Hey Alla, We met in Orlando. I'm the one who asked if you were from Austarlia at the party. We have been mixing a wet GFRC. Have you done this with exposed aggregate. If so what result. I remember you had a chemistry back ground. What is the best additive to encompass aggregate, especially large.
- At 12:09am on December 9, 2008,
Ron - Natural Choice said… - Alla - any chance of posting a photo of the wet polishing set up you mentioned a few weeks back? I am sure a few of us figuring out how to deal with winter conditions would appreciate it. Thanks
Ron
- At 4:37pm on November 8, 2008,
Derek Mackenzie said… - Alla,
I am a hobbiest at best. I am in love with concrete and all of it's forms, basiscally a huge concrete geek.I have been a fan of your work for some time now and have been awaiting the day I finally got to meet you. I will be glad to help, I can take care of this floor and make your client love you again.
I am doing my kitchen countertops as we speak, I popped the forms today. Not bad, had a seam issue due to it being too big to fit on a 4x8 sheet. I am hoping some slurry and fancy polishing will do the trick.
Would love to meet.
How is your week?
- At 5:51am on September 12, 2008,
Boom Bechkowiak said… - Alla,
So, having the 1st year students must be positive??
- At 7:02pm on September 4, 2008,
Alla Linetsky said…
- Hi Robert,
This lounge chair was custom-fitted to one person's back ( it was my first try, so I used one of my work term students as a model). Some people find it incredibly comfortable, and others not at all. I'm in the latter group, but it looks very cool.
The ladder wire was bent and zip-tied by another work-term student. Some of these kids have great talent. It took him about 2 hours to make the reinforcement cage, and it slid inside that 2-inch gap in the formwork. We mixed a very liquid mix and poured it right over the ladder wire. This was before I started using PVA fibres, but I did use glass. The chair used a little more than one 3.2 cu. ft. batch of concrete, so it was done in more or less a single pour. We mixed 0.1 cu. ft. by hand in a bucket to top it up.
- At 8:30am on September 4, 2008,
Robert Winckler said… - I have seen the lounge before but yours looks a little more comfortable than most. It looks ergonomic measured to fit like custom orthotics. How did you get all that laddur to stay put? Do you just place it as you pour in lifts?
- At 5:12pm on August 28, 2008,
Boom Bechkowiak said…
- Alla,
I am struggling with Jon's Counter Hard and First Seal as well as CSA cement. I have a whole pallet of white here in Cleveland.
- At 7:39am on August 27, 2008,
Alla Linetsky said…
- I got Jon's updated instructions as well. He could have fit them on one page. I think the biggest reason for our confusion is his inability to condense his thoughts into only the most important steps in the procedure. Another thing I found very helpful is the way Jeff Girard explained it - it's a two-component sealing system, with the CG as part A and the concrete itself as part B. The CH can be thought of as a pre-treatment, or a primer.
Having played with CSA, I don't think it's worth the trouble. It's an unstable product that can 'go off' with the slightest change in ambient or mix conditions. My reason for trying it was to see if I could substantially increase slag cement content in my concrete and still end up with a good-quality product. So far, the indication is no. And it's not available in Canada, so I would have to bring it by the pallet-load from Kansas, where it's made. I still have about 15 lbs from the 88-lb sample that Wally sent me (I met him at the conference, btw), so I may try using it in some simpler mixes.
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