10 Tips On How You Can Check Cement Quality For Solid Construction Work

Even though you’ve given the project to a reliable concrete company Sydney, it is necessary to check the cement quality they want to bring to your site. The quality of concrete depends on the quality of cement that is mixed together with gravel and sand. Some concreting companies in Sydney will bring a low rate of glue to make concrete for you if you don’t know how to check it. 

Therefore, this article will help individuals to know if the cement is good for the job or not. Also, it will help concreting companies in Sydney to understand how to order the best quality of cement before going to the field of work.

Although it is impossible to check all the cement for your project one after the other, we believe that one can do some field tests to have a rough idea of the quality of cement. At times, it might not be the fault of the concreting companies you invited for the job, because they will also order cement from the cement factory. So, it would be good if you, as the owner of the project can know if the quality of cement they brought for you is the one that will bring out the exact picture that you have in mind towards your project. So, we will like to start with the meaning of cement. Click here to read about the Benefits of Using A Concrete Mixer In Construction Work.

What is cement?

Cement is the special toughening element (the grey powder) that makes concrete harden. Cement is usually made of sixty per cent lime (limestone), twenty-five per cent silica, five per cent alumina, and ten per cent of other materials, such as gypsum and iron oxide. Also, cement is a powdery material made with calcined lime and clay as main components. More importantly, the clay used provides silica, alumina, and iron oxide, while calcined lime fundamentally provides calcium oxide. No doubt about it concreting companies in Sydney will need a good quality of cement to make good quality of concrete. However, there are different types of cement used by concreting companies in Sydney. Some of them are:

• Ordinary Portland cement
• Portland pozzolana cement
• Rapid hardening cement
• Extra rapid hardening cement
• Low heat cement
• Salfates resisting cement
• Quick setting cement
• Blast furnace slag cement and lots more.

We’ve heard about how a concreting company in Sydney uses the above-listed types of cement to carry out different concrete services. What we are saying, in essence, is that there are special places where all the above-listed types of cement can fit in during a project. For example, there’s the cement that is specifically made for flooring, and there are some that are suitable for walls and some specific places like a driveway. This is a special message for concreting companies in Sydney. We will advise you to research where these types of cement can be best used in work.

Don’t forget that we said earlier that there are field tests one can do to know the quality of cement. The field test is as follows:

1. Date of packing: Our candid advice here will firstly go to concreting companies in Sydney. It is essential to check the date of manufacture on each bag of cement before taking them to the site. It is important because the strength of cement reduces with age.
2. Check the colour: One can randomly pick one bag of cement and check the colour. Concreting companies in Sydney should take note of this. The cement you’ll be taking to the site should be uniform in colour. Generally, the colour of good cement should be grey with a light greenish shade. Also, the colour of cement gives a signal of excess lime and degree of burning. Therefore, it is expedient for you to check the colour.
3. Rubbing: You can do this by taking a pinch of cement between fingers and rub it. Ensure that it feels smooth while rubbing. If you notice that it is rough, that means it has been adulterated with sand. Therefore, such cement is not good for your project. This test will be useful for concreting companies in Sydney and beyond. 
4. Hand insertion: One can also know the cement quality by thrusting one hand into the cement bag to check if it will give a cool feeling. It is suitable for concreting companies in Sydney to maintain the lead position in the concreting business. By hand insertion, it indicates that there is no hydration reaction in the cement.
5. Float test: A man who is the CEO of one concreting company in Sydney told us this crucial information. To know if the cement you are about to use will make good concrete, throw a small quantity of cement in a bucket of water if it sinks in the water, then the cement is good, but if it floats on water, there’s no reason for a further question about its quality.
6. Smell test: You can take a pinch of cement and smell it. A cement must not contain too much-ponded clay and silt as an adulterant. One can detect this by smelling it.
7. Check for the presence of lumps: An experienced concreting company in Sydney will always check for the presence of bubbles in cement. But, first, one should open the bag and see that there are no lumps present in the bag. Of course, this will ensure that no setting has taken place.
8. Shape test: This test can take 100g of cement and make a stiff paste. After doing that, then prepare a cake with sharp edges and put it on the glass plate. Then, submerge this plate in water. Ensure you see that the shape shouldn’t get tampered with while settling. It should be able to set and achieve strength. You might be wondering why you need to do this. It would be best if you did this because cement can be placed beneath the water, which is also called ‘Hydraulic Cement.

CONCLUSION

We will conclude by saying this article is a special guide for concreting companies in Sydney and every individual that want to venture into concreting business. Cement is an essential material in making concrete; there’s no how a concreting company in Sydney and beyond can claim they are successful in delivering a good quality of concrete services without using a good quality of cement. In this article, we briefly discussed the meaning of cement, and we proceed further to show you some types of cement. Then finally, we listed eight solid points in knowing the quality of cement.