How to ensure the quality of white cement?

White cement is one of the important raw materials used for construction of your house. It has high degree of whiteness and is mainly used for architectural beauty, interior and exterior decorations. To make sure the quality of white cement you can apply the following tips.

• Check fineness of white cement: After sieving, the cement on IS test Sieve No.9 (B.S. Sieve No 170) should not exceed 10% in case of Ordinary Portland Cement. The specific surface by Air Permeability method should not be less than 2150 sq. cm/ kg in case of Ordinary Portland Cement.
• Ensure the soundness: Alternatively autoclave expansion should not be more than 0.5% when tested according to IS 269 of 1989.
• Check setting time: Setting time of any type or any grade of cement when tested by VICAT apparatus method described in IS: 4031 should confirm following requirement.

a) Initial setting time: Not less than 30 minutes

b )Final setting time: Not more than 600 minutes i.e. 10 hours

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Making cost effective construction

Due to increasing cost of construction/building, cost effective construction techniques are required. Such techniques provide strong, environment friendly, ecological, energy efficient construction. Initially you can construct using R - trap bond which is economical, strong and aesthetic. This bond saves 25% of total number of bricks and 40% of mortar. Funicular shells over edge beams provide an attractive alternative to RCC construction for small to medium spans and are cost effective since required quantity of steel and cement is much less and saves on costly shuttering.

Fly ash gypsum stabilized mud blocks with less water absorption capacity are much stronger and cheaper than cement stabilized blocks. Using 5 to 10% fly ash G in construction, 30% saving in cement can be achieved in addition to utilization of waste product like fly ash. Pre cast concrete blocks having similar dimension of stone blocks without large size stone pieces have excellent properties in comparison to additional masonry blocks which are cheaper and facilitate speedy construction.



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Material purchasing guidelines from Gharexpert.com

Do you know homeowners can be charged of more money while purchasing raw materials and during execution construction works? You can save lots of money on your home construction projects following ‘Raw Material Purchasing Guidelines’ from www. GharExpert.com

• Buy quality cement and bricks: The strength of a building depends on the quality of cement which should be from a reputed manufacturer bearing his trade mark and its grade. The cement of inferior quality can cause cracks in building. Also ensure that first class bricks are used for foundation and strong construction.
• Purchase good steel bars: Steel bars should be sound, free from cracks, surface flaws, laminations, jagged and imperfect edges. They are free from dust, loose rust, and coats of paints, oil or other coatings which reduce the strength of bond. The steel bar is bent accurately to the size and shape as shown in drawings.
• Ensure the quality of marble and granite: Marble stone should be hard, sound, dense, and homogeneous in texture. It should be uniform in color, veining and be free from stains, cracks, decay and weathering etc. Granite is becoming popular as it is hard and available a variety of colors. Check patches, discoloration, hairlines, cracks, deep pin holes on the surface.

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Uses of Cement Paint

Cement paint is most suitable for worse environments and is specially designed for better brushing ability. It’s applied on external walls/surfaces of the house. It gives the best results on newly concrete surface. The surface should be cleaned of all mortar dropping, dirt, dust, grease and other foreign matter before the application of the paint.

A coat of waterproof cement paint should be applied over patches after wetting the surface completely. The paint should be used within an hour after mixing otherwise the mixture would be set and thicken which affect the flow and finishing. The cement or concrete surface should be wet thoroughly to provide moisture to aid in proper curing of the paint before the application. Here more aspects to know about the paint.

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Cement Mortar

MORTAR
Mortar is a mixture that is used to bind smaller elements like brick, stone etc to each other. It can thus be seen as a binding material that bonds bricks, stones to make a wall or for cladding purpose. Normally cement mortar is used in brickwork in present day construction though lime mortar can also be used but it requires superior craftsmanship and is hence infrequently used.

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CEMENT MORTAR
Cement mortar is a mixture of cement and sand with water. The cement is binding material but requires sand as a filler material. This homogeneous mixture in a wet state is plastic and binds two materials when it dries. Mortar is generally defined as 1:2 or 1:3 or 1:7 etc. This means that one part of cement is to be mixed with 2, 3 or 7 parts of sand.

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Purchasing Guidelines for Cement

PRECAUTIONS WHILE PURCHASING CEMENT

Cement is the most important raw material used in a building. You should ensure the quality of ‘Cement’ using the following guidelines.
1. The cement should be factory manufactured instead of plant manufactured.
2. The cement should be packed in the bags of synthetic jute or polypropylene bags.
3. The cement bags should not be hand stitched.
4. The cement bag should bear manufacturer's name or his trade mark on it if any.
5. The cement bag should bear the grade and type of cement.
6. The cement bag consignment must have identification mark on package.
7. The cement bag should indicate the date of manufacturing.
8. One cement bag should have 50 Kg. weight.
9. The cement bags should not be older than six weeks from the date of manufacturing.
10. Do not purchase cement bags which are partially set due to moisture. Do not purchase if there are small lumps in the bags.
11. Do not purchase cement bags which are pressed or have lumps due to high pressure of stack having more than 10 to 12 bags.
12. Do not take cement bags which are torn by side and stitched in later.

PRECAUTIONS WHILE TRANSPORTING THE CEMENT BAGS
1. Care should be taken to carry the bags in a clean vehicle which is not dustier or on earth etc. It will reduce the strength of the cement.
2. During monsoon season the cement should be carried under covered Polythene or ‘Tarpaulin’.
3. Care should be taken that the labor should not tear the bags while loading and unloading the cement bags.
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Purchasing guidelines for Cement and Brick

A good home construction starts with good raw material procurement. GharExpert.com has started a series of articles where we would provide guidelines for raw material procurement.

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