Monday, February 13, 2012

Thin-joint mortar for building with Porotherm from zero degrees:

An innovative thin-joint mortar has been launched by Wienerberger just ahead of the winter cold snap. The ZeroPlusTM thin-joint mortar is specially formulated for the Porotherm construction system, enabling it to be laid at zero degrees Celsius and above.

Developed in direct response to customer requests following last year’s bad weather, ZeroPlusTM has been validated for use at zerooc by the UK testing house CERAM. The innovative mixture has been designed to provide the same performance at between zero and 3oc as existing thin-joint and traditional mortar, which can only be used at temperatures of 3oc and rising.

The innovation should reduce downtime and extend build programmes longer through the winter months than ever before, according to Wienerberger’s Porotherm sales director Darren White. It is estimated this could extend working time overall by up to two weeks in a typical winter, helping to maintain build programmes and secure employment for bricklayers over the period.

He said: “Last winter was particularly harsh and we took many calls from builders using Porotherm asking if it could be used at close to zero degrees so they could start work earlier in the day. While the blocks themselves would be fine, the mortar suffers the same fate as traditional types when it gets close to freezing. Faster construction speed is one of the main benefits of using Porotherm but it became clear to us that the industry was experiencing a huge loss of time thanks to the prolonged cold weather. It follows, therefore, that development of products with higher frost resistance and faster drying times will offer great potential as winters continue to get colder and last longer.

“It is already widely understood that thin-joint mortar offers benefits as a quick drying technique, but the challenge of near freezing temperatures was one we had not yet tackled. Although the 3 degree celcius is the cut-off point for most mortar products, we asked the question if it was possible to find a solution which would also maintain performance and quality.

“Now, in just under 12 months, we have developed, tested and launched a solution which offers all the existing benefits of our thin-joint mortar, and also performs at lower temperatures than ever before. In simple terms, specifying Porotherm for internal and cavity walls can significantly reduce the time wasted onsite. With ZeroPlusTM , builders can continue to work with Porotherm in temperatures from zerooc and rising, with confidence.”

Exclusive to Wienerberger for use with the Porotherm system, the specially formulated ZeroPlusTM mortar was commissioned from adhesive specialists Nicholls and Clarke, based in Stoke on Trent.

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