News / sustainable building

• Apr 24, 2014

  Grand Designs: Kevin McCloud revisits a house with efflorescence

  Grand Designs often follows incredibly interesting building projects. A story following a house built in the Kent countryside in 2008 was no exception. The architect and owner constructed an experimental, unreinforced, terracotta arched building supporting an earth roof with tiles manufactured from clay onsite. The building was risky but has proved a great success and extremely energy efficient, even providing an income for the owners! Unfortunately two years later during Kevin's revisit, efflorescence has left it's mark:    Kevins face says it.....should have used Efflock! ....Of course Efflock didn't even exist at the time this house was built, but perhaps...

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• Oct 30, 2013

  Green Star rating - Efflock passes with flying colours!

  The Green Star sustainability rating system was established by the Green Building Council of Australia in 2003.  Green Star ratings assesses buildings at all stages of their construction and their life cycle. This of course includes the products used in a building's construction. Efflock dramatically increases the service life of buildings through increasing concrete durability, preventing efflorescence, preventing salt, frost and water damage.  Our maximum concentrate formula also means less transport emissions, and reduced packaging. We also encourage refilling of containers. VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) Testing: Importantly, Efflock is also extremely low VOC and falls well below the Green Star...

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• Mar 21, 2013

  New Stockist! Tilers Online in Caringbah

  Tilers Online in Caringbah are the latest trade supplier to now stock Efflock. Tilers Online already have an impressive range of quality brands of grout, adhesive, sealant and many other tiling products and equipment. They are a leading store in the Sutherland Shire and greater Sydney area, so we are very excited they have come onboard to stock Efflock for their customers!  Be sure to drop into their store at 2/14 Parraweena Road, Caringbah. Check out their link on our 'Stockists' page, or for other links to stores that are local to you!

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• Mar 04, 2013

  Efflock is a sustainable product choice

      Efflock is 100% VOC free. Being water based and solvent free, also means Efflock is not flammable and has no offensive or dangerous odour. Efflock's maximum concentrate formula also means minimal plastic packaging waste and minimal fossil fuel consumption through transport. Sustainability Through Longevity: Production of masonry products like tiles, bricks and cement by nature, demand a carbon hungry manufacturing process. Each of these materials however, are some of the most versatile and useful building materials we have, and can be very long lasting when installed with diligence. Increasing the 'service life' of each of these building materials...

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• Mar 01, 2013

  Efflock to prevent rising damp and salt attack in buildings

  Photograph showing rising damp and subsequent salt attack below DPC level. Rising damp is destructive for buildings. It is well understood that damp very quickly will create rot in structural timbers such as bearers and joists, and therefore a DPC (damp proof course) is provided to prevent rising damp. A modern DPC is typically a black embossed polythene roll that is laid out directly beneath ant-capping, or just below finished ground floor level. Polyethelene underlay (black or orange plastic) serves the same purpose for slab on ground construction. What is not usually considered, is that rising damp can also have destructive consequences...

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• Feb 22, 2013

  Some basic facts about everyday building materials you may not know.

  It was pointed out to me yesterday, that to date, my blogs are written in a way that assumes some prior technical knowledge about building. Considerable interest about Efflock is coming from home owners, 'Do-It-Yourselfers', or from people who are interested in including Efflock in their building project, but aren't quite sure how to recommend its use or exactly what it does to the tradesmen they are engaging. So here goes.... Firstly, many people may assume that concrete is waterproof: It makes sense right? You see concrete on bridges, footpaths, driveways and balconies everywhere, so surely water doesn't affect it?? ...

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• Jan 14, 2013

  Efflock is now available in 5 litres

  We have now launched a 5 litre container of Efflock. 5 litres makes up to 505 litres of gauging water to prevent efflorescence and repel damp in all cement based materials. Ideal for larger jobs such as balconies, and for professional tilers requiring larger quantities. Please see our 'Where to Buy' page or click the 'Buy Online' if we don't yet have a stockist near you, and we can send it out.  

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• Jan 07, 2013

  Efflorescence can be avoided

  Before Efflock, methods to control efflorescence required much complexity and have been flawed in one way or another. In fact, Chapter 9 of 2009 edition of the "Master Builders Association Guide to External Waterproofing" lists the the well adopted methods and highlights each of their disadvantages. In summation it concludes "there really is no way to completely prevent efflorescence"- which is incorrect. Efflorescence is something that is not widely thought about, until it begins to deface a building and starts costing money. It has until very recently been considered a maintenance issue, but that is no longer the case. Builders and tilers are being held liable,...

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• Jan 05, 2013

  BAM! Harsh cleaning chemicals are gone!

  MOULD PREVENTION Mould reduction in tiled showers is one of the best selling points the next time you're tiling a new bathroom for a customer. 'Off the shelf' tile grouts with hydrophobic claims have proved porous with submersion testing. This means grout becomes saturated deep into the grout joint with mould chasing the moisture source. Mould then becomes ingrained beyond the reach of bleach or cleaning chemicals. Tile grout mixed with Efflock keeps the core of grout dry, so that only surface mould will occur, and can generally be removed using water and a few strokes of a stiff brush.  A SUSTAINABLE CHOICE Efflock is water based, maximum...

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• Dec 03, 2012

  Mould in shower grout

  Hate cleaning? Using Efflock in tile grout is an easy way to reduce mould.  Modern cement based tile grouts claim to have mould inhibitors in their formula, but still remain porous, failing to prevent ingrained mould for very long. Efflock however, can make a dramatic difference.  We made two test blobs of grout about 20mm thick. One was a control sample with plain water, and the other used 1 part Efflock to 100 parts water. Once the grout had cured and dried out, we submerged the grout samples into a 10 litre bucket of water. Both were broken in half using a...

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