Because of its good characteristics, cement cladding can be categorized as the most applied type of flooring foundations. it is smooth enough, it evenly rests on the construction or mass of the so called floating floor, there are no expressive deformations and it can carry a large number of different flooring types, both thick and those of less thickness. Cement cladding is often successively installed in floor constructions liable to heavy traffic, such as the floors of industrial and commercial buildings, factory workshops, station halls and similar spaces. their wide application is also present in the elements of flooring constructions which carry installations for under floor heating.

Cement cladding of low quality will cause big cost of reconstruction and repair of such a floor as well as stopping of actions in the space. despite modern devices for floor making, we face multiple drawbacks when it comes to the quality of making of cement cladding. Many mistakes start from the choice of materials, mixture production, installing techniques, their dimensioning and installing preparations. Low quality of cement claddings – estrich is especially reflected in contemporary thin layer final flooring which is done above the claddings.

In case of thin floors liable to heavy load, including significant concentrated weights, high local pressures appear in the cladding which the cladding is not always able to sustain. This happens because of working on relatively small surfaces.Cement cladding is placed on a carrying, usually concrete foundation, or over a branching or insulation layers, whereas the cladding can be used as floor or it can be coated with different flooring. Depending on the type of construction, cement cladding has a carrying function or it can be an element for damp protection, heat and sound insulation.

Unfortunately, in civil engineering there is a need for repairing and recovery of floor constructions which are exposed to different types of load as well as other negative influences. because of that they show various forms of damaging and deformations. damages are usually manifested during the exploitation or in some cases right after the production. in most cases damages appear on final layer of flooring right above the cement cladding.Cement cladding is made mixing the component materials on the spot or using ready products which are used according to manufacturer’s manual.

In classic – traditional form, cement cladding is usually made in ratio cement : sand = 1 : 3. Sand is usually the first fraction of the separated river grit where grain is 0/4 mm. The amount of water in such a mix is added individually, while the description says the consistency should be “as wet as earth.” However, today, the equipment for machine mixing and installing of cement cladding is regularly used. The installing is usually done in a traditional way: prepared mix “as wet as earth” is scattered on the foundation using a shovel and after that it is compacted and in the end the surface is aligned using a levelling batten. The last phase of this manual procedure involves the final surfacing using a disc sander.

This kind of procedure does not guarantee structural homogeneity and compactness of the hard mortar composition. in this way, the acceptable structural homogeneity and consistency exists only in the upper, surface zone of the cladding which is thick only 1-2 cm. Going down, the lower zones of the cladding, those which rely on the foundation, are often characterised by defects such as nests, caverns, etc. Based on that, physical-mechanical characteristics of the cladding which are good enough can only be expected when the cladding is ≤3 cm, while thicker claddings do not ensure the needed physical-mechanical characteristics, or the quality of the cladding. Therefore, construction workers usually follow the rule, where the cladding is over 5 cm thick, they always make two layers of proportional thickness.

The traditional way of installing does not always give good quality of the cement cladding. The basic reasons are the defining of the cladding elements in observational relationship and adopting of amount of water to get a consistent mortar mix which can be described as wet as earth. There is also the manual process of making and installing of mortar mix which do not ensure good homogeneity and compactness of the final material.High homogeneity and especially compactness can be achieved by using appropriate vibrators in installing phase or with the usage of modern equipment which is specially intended for cement claddings installing.

Modern trends in civil engineering demand the introduction and development of new technologies aimed at building quality, durable and economic constructions and setting new standards in building. One of the machines whose technologies enables the continual quality, which cannot be achieved in traditional way, is a special Laser Screed machine.During the installing, it enables the material to be levelled and rammed (vibrated) at the same time during which cracks are completely avoided. Simultaneously, a control of evenness is being done in the way where the laser automatically checks the levelling of the installed mortar five times per second. The usage of these machines is especially valid when industrial floors are being made, for example in megastores, logistic centres, high warehouses and of course, factory workshops.

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Tags: Commercial Buildings, elements, Heavy Traffic, Low Quality, Mixture, Thin Layer