I read with interest your article titled “Finishing Lightweight Air-Entrained Concrete” which discussed causes of delamination of lightweight concrete slabs. The theme that seems to be implied in the article (“No problem if you follow standard practice”) and the line in the table of contents (“Be wary of heavy trowels”) seemed to indicate that two questionable conclusions had already been made...
When a major Midwestern food processor wanted to increase the thickness of an existing 4-inch-thick freezer-warehouse floor to at least 5 inches to carry additional storage loads, the concrete contractor opted to use a bonded overlay rather than full-depth floor replacement. The overlay was faster to install and provided the durable, long-term performance that was required at a lower cost.
