White cement: features and scope

In this article, our site of advice decided to tell you about such an interesting building and finishing material as white cement. It differs from its usual “brother” not only in color. Let’s figure out where you can use white cement, what features it differs.

White cement is produced from clinker with a minimum iron content. Additional ingredients are kaolin, crushed lime, gypsum powder, chloric salts. The composition is fired at a temperature of + 1200 ° C, and then rapidly cooled to + 200 ° C. This allows you to achieve high strength of the finished solution. Firing is carried out only on gaseous and liquid fuels, without soot and ash in order to maintain a light shade.

Clinker crushing in special mills allows for a fine grinding. This indicator for white cement is 4500 cm²/ g, while for gray – 3500 cm²/ r.

Thanks to this manufacturing technique and the components used, white cement has the following advantages:

• The material is very durable, the likelihood of cracks and chips is lower than when using gray cement;
• The view is very attractive and decorative. White cement is often used, for example, for the manufacture of garden sculptures, MAFs, stucco, columns, balustrades, and so on;
• After 15 hours, the white cement hardens by 50–70%, which significantly reduces the waiting time, speeds up the process of construction and finishing;
• Environmentally friendly material;
• Not afraid of moisture and chemical solutions;
• Does not fade, retains a light shade;
• A versatile material that has a very wide range of applications.

White cement is used for the following purposes:

• Making grout for joints, the choice of which the portal wrote in detail;
• Making decorative and ordinary plaster, putty;
• Production of tiles, decorative stone, bricks, floor slabs;
• Mortars for brickwork, stone and blocks;
• Manufacturing of various architectural forms, including sections of fences, balconies, stairs, fountains, columns, moldings;
• As part of mixtures for self-leveling floors;
• Road marking.

Important! If a white cement mortar is used for masonry with reinforcement, it is necessary to deepen the metal parts by at least 3 centimeters, otherwise rust spots may appear on the white surface.

There are four grades of white cement:

• M400. The least durable option, shrinks and has a low sulfate resistance;
• M500. Low deformation, frost-resistant, durable material;
• M600. Almost does not shrink, hardens faster than anyone, is not afraid of frost;
• M700. The most modern, innovative, decorative option that meets the highest European standards.

Most often, the M500 and M600 brands are used in decoration and construction..

According to the reflection coefficient, white cement is also divided into three types:

• First grade – reflectivity exceeds 80%;
• Second grade – no more than 75%;
• And the third grade with an indicator of 68%.

It is the reflection coefficient that is responsible for the whiteness of the material, so that the first grade will be the whitest.

Important! To make a high-quality solution from white cement, you need to use only the finest sand, also white. And clean water, no impurities. In addition, all containers and tools must also be clean and free of rust. Only in this case will you preserve the snow-white shade of the mixture..

To enhance the decorative effect, for example, when pouring a floor or a garden path, making a grout for joints, dyes can be added to white cement, as well as marble chips.

The most popular white cement producers in our country are the Turkish companies Adana and Cimsa, the Danish brand Aalborg White, Shchurovsky Cement, as well as enterprises from Egypt and Iran. Turkish white cement is most widely used in Russia, domestic material is often characterized by a greenish tint, which reduces the scope of its application.

The only drawback of white cement is its high price. If a bag of ordinary gray cement weighing 25 kilograms can be bought for 150 rubles, then the same volume of white cement of the lowest quality will cost from 300 rubles. And for the “Super White” grade M700 you will have to pay about 800 rubles. So just for a solution, for example, for the purpose of pouring a foundation, white cement, of course, is not used, it is too expensive. Rather, it is a decorative, architectural version of the material that is used to give structures and finishes not only strength, but also aesthetics..