| Author | Message |
Darian Brown 
Posts: 712
Since: 2/5/2008
|  4/13/2008 11:56:02 PM 
I was talking to a floor preparation guy the other day and we started talking about how floor prep dries fast some days and other days it was so slow. This guy told me if you want it to dry fast all you have to do is add a little coke-cola. I said do what, lol !!! He said just use a little coke-cola in your floor prep.
I said how does that dry floor prep? He said something about the sugar making it dry out quicker.
Have anyone ever heard this before?
Edited by Admin 4/14/2008
1:20:52 PM
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Ray Darrah
Posts: 1411
Since: 2/18/2008
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Dan Wachtel
Posts: 72
Since: 3/17/2008
| 4/14/2008 3:59:17 PM
adding anything outside the manufacturer's instructions is a recipe for failure and opens yourself up for a lawsuit depending on the degree of failure it may cause. charge t+m for prep and you are covered no matter how long the dry time is
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Darian Brown
Posts: 712
Since: 2/5/2008
| 4/14/2008 9:57:24 PM
No !!! Ray now you caught me of guard. That is not the response that I had expected from you.
Dan, I always price my jobs fairly.
Dan can you prove that floor prep has been altered in some way? What kind of test do you conduct in this kind of investigation? How many times have you found this in your investigation?
I was talking to my helper today and he said his old boss had them use sprite in their floor prep. He said it had something to do with the carbon.
Edited by Admin 4/14/2008
10:24:41 PM
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David Kern
Posts: 518
Since: 2/20/2008
| 4/14/2008 10:22:37 PM
Darian,
The risk of using anything unconventional outweighs any possible (imagined) benefit. The integrity of the job is only guaranteed by using manufacturer approved materials throughout.
The manufacturer knows the chemical make-up of it's products and if called into a claim will certainly test to see if any foreign substance was added.
Besides, if you were asked if anything (extra) was added, wouldn't you be morally obligated to tell the truth and say sprite?
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Roland Thompson
Posts: 281
Since: 2/27/2008
| 4/14/2008 10:59:08 PM
No I have not heard of putting soda in floor patch ether. Now saying that and we are talking about following what the manufactor says I have seen and know of people that will put fans on the patch to make it dry faster and that makes the patch dry leaving undry patch under the dry patch and then they go over it. This is a no no also but people think nothing wrong with it. They also do it to glue and it cause's failure.to do it right you need to have the fan just move the air above the patch. I would think any of this would be hard to prove so it comes down to you as an installer doing the right thing.
FD
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Darian Brown
Posts: 712
Since: 2/5/2008
| 4/14/2008 11:15:56 PM
You and I know this, however, there are many installers out in the field who do not look at it like this. They are told it speeds it up and so they add it. Yes, “I” would be morally obligated to tell the truth in a court of law, however, if the installer is using this to begin with, do you think he has morals?
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David Kern
Posts: 518
Since: 2/20/2008
| 4/14/2008 11:17:57 PM
There is something that could hasten dry-time with patch and that is adding a small amount of Quick Set thinset. Once mixed, it has to be used quickly for it sets up very rapidly.
At least here you are using tile-specific materials (not Coca Cola products) that have been manufactured to speed up the drying time.
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Roger Gerber
Posts: 327
Since: 3/17/2008
| 4/15/2008 12:16:32 AM
I have no first hand experience of using Coke, but I can tell you what works. Use hot water, Ardex and most cementitious patches dry like concrete, they have a chemical reaction that forms heat. Using hot water speeds it up.
Back in the day when we all used gypsum patch, if you went to the lumberyard you could buy a small paper bag of calcium formate, used in drywall mud to speed up the patch. Speed patch, accelerator, kicker, guys had lots of names for it.
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Ray Darrah
Posts: 1411
Since: 2/18/2008
| 4/15/2008 8:30:56 PM
Soda gives the cement patching materials GAS !! LOL 
last thing we need is the sub-floor passing gas..
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Darian Brown
Posts: 712
Since: 2/5/2008
| 4/15/2008 8:31:01 PM
I'm sorry for the confusion here I thought by saying lol!! That you would under stand that means funny. I thought the use of coke-cola was funny however did think there would be some kind of test for this that's why I asked. My thoughts on this is charge for it I always see the job before quoting a price.
Again I'm sorry for the confusion.
Thank you all for the tips on how to speed up the drying process.
Last Edited 4/15/2008
8:32:18 PM
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Ray Darrah
Posts: 1411
Since: 2/18/2008
| 4/15/2008 9:57:30 PM
If I remember Correctly: Sugar slows hydration of cement. Bags of sugar are kept on cement trucks. They add the sugar when they fear losing the load to protect the Drums....
They can dump the concrete without it getting hard in the Drum as the sugar keeps if from hardening..
But I don't trust my memory enough to say the above is true !!
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Darian Brown
Posts: 712
Since: 2/5/2008
| 4/15/2008 10:43:06 PM
Ray your right on target here http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/120/13/BC+99+001.pdf
Last Edited 4/15/2008
10:43:28 PM
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David Kern
Posts: 518
Since: 2/20/2008
| 4/15/2008 11:16:30 PM
quote:
I'm sorry for the confusion here I thought by saying lol!! That you would under stand that means funny. I thought the use of coke-cola was funny however did think there would be some kind of test for this that's why I asked. My thoughts on this is charge for it I always see the job before quoting a price.
Again I'm sorry for the confusion.
Thank you all for the tips on how to speed up the drying process.
Keep in mind Darian, that this is an instructional forum as well. You brought up an interesting topic that perhaps touched a nerve with those professionals that posted responses.
When others view this thread, there is now enough information for the average person to draw the proper conclusion and avoid making a serious mistake adding a non-approved product to assist in speeding up the drying time of patch.
There is absolutely no need to apologize. This is a good thread.
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Ray Darrah
Posts: 1411
Since: 2/18/2008
| 4/16/2008 10:18:07 AM
Hey Darian,
Go ahead and feel badly... I know how you can make it up to me !! When I'm in that area;; you can buy lunch then we'll both feel better?? LOL
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