Introducing SLAB-TECT™ commercial floor slab protection!

BRENDAN: Well, g’day and welcome, everybody, it’s great to have you listening to MARKHAM’s Invisible Strength podcasts; and we’re excited to be focusing on a new brand name for one of our oldest product offerings!

I’m Brendan Stead, Marketing Coordinator, based in the Bundaberg office; and joining me virtually is Hayden Prestidge, Sales and Marketing Manager in the head office, Napier, New Zealand. Hayden, can you introduce yourself?

HAYDEN: Cheers, Brendo! Yes, thanks for having me on; and it’s another good topic for a podcast session. An exciting topic! Being able to come up with systems that are fit for the industry.

So yes, as Brendan said, I look after sales and marketing, but that’s in the Design and Delivery team. So everything through projects. That’s from specifying and designing concrete treatment systems for project, right through to their delivery. So yes, look forward to going through this one. Thanks Brendo!

BRENDAN: Very good.

OK, so as mentioned, today’s session is about a new brand name for an old offering, and we’re talking about SLAB-TECT™! SLAB-TECT™ is all about protecting exposed commercial floors, such as warehouses, data centres, factories, and so on.

But before we dive in there, Hayden, can you give us a little bit of history of MARKHAM’s experience in that space?

HAYDEN: Yes, absolutely. I guess this takes a long time back, so MARKHAM’s a very old company, now 25 years’ experience. It’s built off Adding Life to Concrete. So everything we do is adding life to concrete, extra durability, extra service life, and getting the maximum out of your slabs. So taking that in mind; and then utilising spray treatments, colloidal silicas, to achieve that, we were, you know, building off that platform of curing slabs right, getting them right from day one and then… so that transfers through. And it has the good performance, the right performance that’s needed right through to extend that service life. So that’s what these systems are built off; that early knowledge, experience of, understanding of concrete; understanding what’s needed on a commercial slab; and understanding what they’ll be used for; and then maximising that service life; if that makes sense.

BRENDAN: Yes, that’s good, and we’ve done a number of projects – well, many projects over the years, haven’t we? In the warehouse zone, and exposed retail floors and so on.

HAYDEN: Yes, well, commercial floors has been predominantly where we have been able to assist the market and it’s been the area that we are strongly … I guess it’s our uniqueness, of being the supply and application model, that’s helped this industry as well. There’s a lot of systems out there that are just a supply, like, a product, and then anyone can put it on. But that is flawed with weaknesses.

And MARKHAM, holding that supply and application, that quality, that control, getting the right coverage rates, getting the right product into the slab, reading the slabs, understanding slabs, yes, that’s led to, as you said, many, many commercial slabs. And we say commercial because it covers warehousing, manufacturing, and even, like, food processing; those type of areas. But then through into retail environments, where you’ve got exposed concrete slabs, looking for a nice finish. Things like that. So yes, absolutely dating right back. Some of the older, bigger ones I remember … EziBuy in Palmerston North, probably 15 years [since construction], off the top of my head. And if you go there today, a really, really good looking slab. So those sort of environments.

BRENDAN: Yes, it’s good. Yes, we had a rep visit Pakenham Produce, I think, just recently; about 15 years also; and they were impressed with the excellent condition that the slab was still in.

HAYDEN: Yes, it’s good feedback.

BRENDAN: Touches on, I guess, what this podcast series is all about, the Invisible Strength that goes into it.

Tell us about exactly what SLAB-TECT™ offers. There are three options available, is that correct?

HAYDEN: Yes, so SLAB-TECT™ is taking… I mean, we’ve always done the three options, in that respect. But it’s combining that into one package. One easy package to be able to talk about; one easy package to be able to specify and design with. And for an end-user or a developer or a contractor, it’s easy to just put up the finger and say, We want SLAB-TECT™ here. You don’t have to think about individual product names. So that’s been the whole purpose of those; wrapping it into one system. So predominantly SLAB-TECT™ is about curing and sealing your slab for maximum protection, and it’s a systematic approach to make sure your slab gets the best from day one, and right through to its full performance life.

So it’s not a system that needs to, you know, maintenance every 12 months or … you know, to keep it in a good form; and that’s something… no one wants to spend a lot of money on maintenance; no one wants to spend a lot of time on maintenance. Everyone wants a nice clean sheen. Nice, easy, clean floor. You know, these sort of things that come into durability, cracking reduction and things like that.

So basically we’ve got SLAB-TECT™ 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0; so the base level [SLAB-TECT™ 1.0] is just the cure and seal. I shouldn’t say ‘just’, but if you compare it to other ones, that’s the core of it. We’re coming on soon after the pour, about 24 hours, spray applying a colloidal silica hydrogel that has a moisture retention of over 90% efficiency there, so you know, AS3799 compliant.

And then following that, before hand over, we come in with a polish system for sealing. So it’s called CretePolish; and that gives it a really nice sheen, a perfect look for hand over; and really a protective film across the surface and nice easy clean surface.

Then we go to SLAB-TECT™ 2.0 and that’s taking the curing to the next level. So we still use our spray-applied cure, but then we combo it with our curing blanket. The reason for that is, as everyone knows in the commercial build, the slab really is the big part of the building. It’s the high-value item; it’s the big-ticket item. And it’s the one you want to get right, or you need to get it right. You know, you’ve got pallet racking, you got an exposed floor; you want a nice sheen. You want a good finish. It is often your presenter, you know, in the showroom or something, you need a good image.

So using the blanket not only aids in moisture retention, but more so, it takes away that difference between air temperature and concrete temperature. So it’s a film over it. It lasts for seven days, and it gives you the quality result of a slab there. And we’re doing a lot of this currently on exposed floors with really, really good finish; and the concrete teams and contractors are, like, really chuffed with the results there. And then again at the back end of the project, we’ll be polishing with CRETEPOLISH, just to lift that sheen.

And then SLAB-TECT™ 3.0 is the retro system. So you might have an existing slab and we can treat that as well. You know, if you want to rejuvenate or just increase the sheen, get some more presentation into your slab, increase the durability. And again we can come on, clean the slab and treat it with anti-dusting hardener, and then polish over the top. So, in essence, that’s the three parts. Sorry I might have rambled a bit there, Brendo! Does that make sense?

BRENDAN: And we had the 2.0 system at OJI Warehouse in Christchurch recently, didn’t we. That came up very nicely.

HAYDEN: Yes, that would be one of the most recent ones, I guess; and another really good one, again in Christchurch that you mentioned, was TopmaQ, which are distrubutors for… oh, a lot of things there. But you know, it’s a really good finish and it’s something that we’re proud of, but also the client’s very proud of, you know, offering it to their client. So that’s the sort of thing that can be achieved.

BRENDAN: Very good.

Now I wanted to touch on a couple of things that you mentioned there and go into a little bit more depth. You mentioned curing; and it mightn’t be obvious, perhaps, to everybody that there’s a connection between the curing that happens in the early stage, and the long term durability of the slab. Can you say something about the science behind that?

HAYDEN: Yes, curing is hugely important, hugely important; and a big topic on these types of projects, these types of slabs. I mean, obviously, as I said, a lot of money gets spent, a lot of design input gets… You know, you’ve got to think about your loading, your racking. What’s going on this slab? And then often it can get to the point where… OK, we’ve designed it all and put the slab down, and it almost gets forgotten. You know what? The quality part, and getting the max out of your concrete.

So curing is all about moisture retention; holding moisture in the concrete so it can feed the cement, grow more calcium silicate hydrate, and densify the concrete; and make it stronger to last longer, basically. And if you don’t get that process right, what can happen is there’s more cracking than expected, which ultimately leads to little inlets where contaminants can get in and affect the durability cycle, and it can lead to premature deterioration.

That’s why curing is very, very important, to get it right, and to give the slab its best chance from day one. If you don’t get that moisture retention right, you will get some issues. You will get some long term problems; which ultimately could result in replacing the floor prematurely, which is a huge cost.

Is that sort of what you’re thinking about curing?

BRENDAN: Yes, I think it’s important to emphasise that point because it’s not always obvious in everybody’s mind that something that’s done at the outset is going to have long term effects.

HAYDEN: Yes, yes, absolutely. You know… and for any listeners on today, take note of that, there’s one thing is, cure your floors. Cure your concrete. Do it right, because that is a key part of what you’re doing.

A lot of times you’ll see, you know… put the hose on it or put the sprinklers on it; those sort of things; and it’s not giving … if it’s not across the whole slab, there’s variation and you’ll end up with different eras drying out to different parts. You get different densities of concrete, things like that; cracks forming in areas. And that’s why curing is hugely important, so that’s a key topic. But yes, thanks for bringing it up.

BRENDAN: That’s good. And finally, I guess just the other thing was, circling back to what you spoke about, how easy the system is to specify, because it’s part of our new approach to repackaging existing offerings, and I’m thinking about the recent launch of our BASE-TECT™ basement waterproofing brand. And hen a couple of other things which are under wraps right there, but we’re getting quite excited about! So can you tell us again, just over that territory about how the system approach makes things easier for the architects and engineers specifying, all through the whole process.

HAYDEN: Yes, 100%. I mean, there’s technical specification sheets available for every system we do. So as Brendo mentioned there’s BASE-TECT™, which is the basement waterproofing system. And now there’s SLAB-TECT™. And it’s all about, like you said, protection of the concrete. But just going back to your points on specifying right through from the start – it’s so much easier. Just say slab to contain SLAB-TECT™ system by MARKHAM.

And the ‘by MARKHAM’ is important because there’s a lot of systems, like I said earlier, you can buy off the shelf, so to speak, and anyone can put them on. Where this makes it easy for a specifier is, they say the SLAB-TECT™ system. SLAB-TECT™ 3.0, or whatever it is, what level we’re doing, and then they know, the specifier knows and has confidence that MARKHAM will deliver that consistency. They’ve seen the finish, they know what happens, they have the confidence, they know the process and they know the result they’ll get, so that’s where it becomes really easy. You don’t just say a product name and then hope for the best.

There’s a consistent approach because of MARKHAM’s supply and application. So that goes right through from a consultant that’s designing; a developer that’s looking for consistency across all their builds or their communities, things like that; a contractor that’s really wanting to deliver consistency and getting the good quality finish for their clients; and then concreters and, you know, those type of trades as well, looking to get that consistency and a supply and apply.

It really comes down to the performance warranty. SLAB-TECT™ is one system, and MARKHAM take it from design right through to installation and a performance warranty, and there’s just one company involved; rather than the installer, a product supplier, and a builder, that type of environment which can result in differences.

So that’s the main reason we’re bringing these systems to the market, is control, consistency. Make it easy for you guys specifying, you guys requesting, and then ultimately provide that full performance warranty with what works.

Anything to add to that?

BRENDAN: No, that’s excellent. Always like the opportunity to emphasise our end-to-end service. We’re not just about, as you say, not just about supplying product and forget about you after that. It’s a matter of the assurance of that performance warranty.

HAYDEN: Yes, 100%. And we’re getting a lot more feedback in the market, both New Zealand and Australia, now, you know; people are looking for the suppliers that can provide that. They’re moving away… You know, like, I was listening to listening to some seniors talk in the industry last week. And they were saying, really, a lot of builders now are just buying and selling, or trading, in risk. And you’re taking on, you’re really taking on more risk if you just buying a product and getting someone else to apply it. No one’s responsible, and you just taking on more risk.

Where we can help, where MARKHAM is helping, is taking on that whole area and sticking our necks out, so to speak; and saying, We’ll give you what you need and here’s your performance warranty. It’s really reducing that risk for the main contractor; reducing that risk for the end-user, the clients; and just giving that good result. So no, it’s good, it’s good, and I’m excited that these systems are coming to the market.

BRENDAN: Absolutely! And great to have you on board, Hayden, I do appreciate you downing tools to talk about this today. Sorry about the short notice at all, hopefully in the near future we’ll be able to have some of these sessions face to face.

HAYDEN: Yes, yes, I can’t wait for that. Be able to get across to Queensland at some point when everything falls in line, looking forward to it.

And to anyone that’s on this listening that wants more information feel free to just come back to us on the site, or come back to MARKHAM via the website, or email us, which will state you’re coming through. But our project history is really good, and if you want case studies and see where it’s been used before, some photos, examples, things like that, I would recommend to do that, make that step, and then we can … MARKHAM is very project-specific, so that starts a conversation, basically, work out what you need and then take it from there.

BRENDAN: Very good. So we’ve got the project gallery on markhamglobal.com/projects. Be free to have a look around; and then reach out to us, via the contact form or Percy the chatbot! And keep listening for our next Invisible Strength episode!

HAYDEN: Yes, cheers!