3M Colorquartz™ Garage Floor Coating

Portland cement is manufactured by grinding, then blending various ingredients (limestone, iron ore, clay, etc.) together, heating them in a kiln at 2500 to 3000 degrees Fahrenheit and chemically changing them into a clinker. This cement clinker is then blended with gypsum and ground into portland cement.

Portland cements are hydraulic cements that chemically react with water. This reaction is called hydration. The basic concept is that when water is blended with Portland cement it forms a paste that is used as an adhesive to bind various sized aggregates together to produce mortars and concrete.

The hydration begins as soon as water is introduced. Each cement particle begins to form crystals that gradually spread out to connect with crystals from other particles and they adhere to adjacent sands and aggregates. This growth gradually stiffens and eventually it becomes rock hard. The water evaporates leaving behind millions of little holes known as pores.

Proper amounts of water must be present, when the internal relative humidity of concrete drops below 80 percent virtually all hydration stops.

The products of hydration, however, do do not form a solid mass. Rather, their physical appearance is more like a mix of steel wool and a sponge with a lot of empty space between the crystals and sands.