Everyone likes to renovate their homes once in a while. This is primarily because of rusty walls or water leakages from roofs and floor cracks.
Technology is developing day by day, and the construction industry has been doing an excellent job by wholeheartedly adopting it. Nowadays, you can design your home through virtual home renovation apps while being at home. You don't have to visit shops to build your dream house.
You have to keep in mind many essential factors when you renovate your home—the quality of the accessories like paint, wood, cement, etc.
One major problem found in most houses is floor cracks, so people prefer using concrete slabs to avoid this. However, you need to use the best quality cement for these slabs with a quality warranty.
So, which cement is the best for the construction of concrete slabs?
The Best Type Of Cement For Concrete Slabs
Different types of cement are used to construct concrete slabs, but the best would be Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC). People use PPC to produce concrete for homes, residential areas, and schools. PPC is made of cement clinker (77%), gypsum (3-5%), and fly-ash (20%). It is helpful for works like waterproofing, tiling, brick handiwork, and plastering. It is predisposed to fewer cracks and less shrinking and has good results and workability. It also removes the framework providing more time. This type of cement allows the slabs to withstand heavy loads without cracking.
Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC)
This cement is often used in underwater construction because it is resistant to sulfate attacks. It is helpful for the construction of dams and bridges as they come in direct contact with water and have a high risk of chemical reactions. PPC is environmentally friendly as it consists of fly ash, a coal oxidation product composed of the granular particles of burned fuel that come out of thermal power plants.
Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)
Another type of cement found very effective for the construction of cement slabs—ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). OPC is mainly used for concrete slabs of buildings like factories and power plants. OPC is the primary type of cement which is the mixture of gypsum ( 5%) and cement clinkers. It gives compressive intensity to the stick firmly at the early stages and has high workability and strength in the first 28 days. It is also helpful for the construction of other construction elements like beams and columns.
Which one is the best: PPC or OPC?
PPC is much cheaper than OPC, but it takes longer to settle, and OPC is preferred in rainy seasons as it becomes hard more quickly
and dries quickly. However, the faster it dries off, the more it can produce heat during a chemical reaction. This process causes the cement to crack, and to avoid it, you have to continuously use water to cure it in less time and take extra care.
But PPC, on the other hand, doesn't need a lot of care, and it only takes longer, but the quality is equal to that of OPC. Hence, PPC is preferred on a larger scale.
The strength of the slab depends on the mixture more than the type of cement you use.
So if you prefer the strength of the cement but can wait longer and want effortless better results, use Pozzolana Portland Cement.
But if you need faster results and have good curing tools, use Ordinary Portland Cement.
Conclusion
Both Ordinary Portland Cement and Pozzolana Portland Cement are suitable cement types you can use to construct concrete slabs. The key is to get the mixture right, i.e., to add the right amount of cement and water. Both Ordinary Portland and Pozzolana Portland cement provide the appropriate strength to concrete slabs to withstand heavy loads.
PPC is beneficial in hostile environments, and it can also help in the construction of the products made with OPC. However, OPC is helpful in the construction of concrete that makes grouts and mortars.
Ordinary Portland Cement is ideal for huge buildings and industrial areas, whereas Pozzolana Portland Cement is ideal for residential areas.
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