In days past, tradies have had to choose between speed and strength for projects such as fencing, gates and retaining walls. Thanks to Cement Australia, you don’t have to choose one over the other.
As the name suggests, Cement Australia’s PROStrength Rapid Set Concrete combines the best of the brand’s Rapid Set and PROStrength products.
It’s perfect for tradies working on projects that can be done quicker with fast-setting cement, but also require a strong concrete for supporting load-bearing structures.
Carpenter Toby Spicer from Pillar Construction needed just that for his job in Melbourne’s South-East, where he was putting up 40m of fencing with retaining wall as part of an overall outdoor reno.
Test #1: No wait times
With PROStrength Rapid Set, you can pour the cement into the hole and mix it there. Speaking of saving time, Toby was blown away by how quickly the PROStrength Rapid Set hardened.
SEE MORE: Tradie Tough Tests
Toby’s pours hardened within 30 minutes, allowing him and his team to get on with other jobs on-site.
“Other quick-setting cements harden in about 15 minutes, which can be good but also doesn’t give you much wriggle room to work with,” Toby said.
“For my work, 30 minutes is the perfect amount of time to be able to properly pour, mix and pad out evenly.”
Test #2: Hard to stay
Hard in 30 minutes, and load bearing after 24 hours; Toby was super happy with the strength of the PROStrength Rapid Set.
“It was unreal, the concrete has really held up,” he said.
“We’re using 115×115 Cyprus (wood) posts at about 3.6m deep, so we needed something that was gonna hold up.
“Needless to say, it did the job and we were thoroughly impressed with the final product.”
PROStrength Rapid Set Concrete delivers with a strength of 40MPa which is twice as strong as Cement Australia’s standard Rapid Set Concrete.
This makes it suitable for not just fencing, but gates, commercial signs, sporting equipment installations and retaining walls among other general building and home project applications.
For those working on road furniture, PROStrength Rapid Set is also TMR MRTS14 approved.
“We checked it a day or so later on the site and it was holding up fantastically,” Toby said.
“It’d be great addition for all our fencing jobs going forward.”
Setting in
Cement Australia continues to set the bar when it comes to concrete innovation.
With PROStrength Rapid Set Concrete, Toby was stoked to have a product that could harden in a reasonably short time, but also be load-bearing making it ideal for many regular tradie jobs.
“We strive to use the best products at our company, and this cement is definitely up there,” Toby said.
Cement Australia has all the resources you need to get the right product and mixture for your job. Check out here for more information.