Technical notes
Technical notes on fiber dosage, mix design, standards and site practice for concrete — from the Polyguard engineers who answer the phone.
Why fibers show on a fiber-reinforced slab, the finishing sequence that keeps them down, and how coating and polishing crews deal with the ones that remain.
Read the note: Fibers Sticking Out of Concrete? Causes and Fixes
How to check concrete fiber before you buy: float, burn, ruler and dispersion tests, the lab results that matter, and the red flags in a quotation.
Read the note: Virgin Polypropylene Fiber: 6 Checks Before You Buy
How to run a trial mix with a fiber sample, from the control batch and the washout check to the beams, and what to ask your supplier afterwards.
Read the note: Fiber Reinforced Concrete Trial Mix: A Buyer's Test Plan
How to turn a price per kilogram of fiber into a cost per cubic metre of concrete, and what to compare it against before you sign the order.
Read the note: Concrete Fiber Cost per Cubic Metre: How to Work It Out
Decorative mortar is a thin cementitious or polymer-modified finish applied to walls, floors and facades where the surface itself is the architectural product....
Read the note: Decorative Mortar: Types and Applications
In a precast yard the reinforcement question is not the one a structural engineer usually asks. The precast concrete rejection rate is set by units that were ne...
Read the note: Fiber Reinforced Precast Concrete: Quality and Rejection Rates
Thermal fiber mesh is the term used for reinforcement placed in layers that move because of temperature rather than load: underfloor heating screeds, insulation...
Read the note: What Is Thermal Fiber Mesh Used For?
Fiber mesh concrete is a confusing term, because it is used for two different things: concrete containing dispersed fibers that take the place of a mesh layer,...
Read the note: What Is Fiber Mesh Concrete?
Fiberglass mesh for concrete is an open woven grid of glass filament, usually coated, embedded in a surface layer such as render, screed, repair mortar or an ex...
Read the note: Fiberglass Mesh for Concrete Strength
Glass fiber reinforced concrete — GFRC or GRC — is a distinct material rather than ordinary concrete with glass added. It is used to make thin, light, sharply d...
Read the note: Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete: Types and Uses
Synthetic fibers are not one product with one behaviour. Micro fibers are dosed to control early-age cracking and, in the right grade and dosage, can help reduc...
Read the note: Synthetic Fiber in Concrete: Where It Is Used
Polypropylene is the most widely used polymer in concrete reinforcement, and the reason is narrow: it is chemically inert in the cement pore solution, it is lig...
Read the note: Applications of Polypropylene Fiber in Concrete