Product Problems

When you call a manufacturers rep to look at a concrete repair product that has obviously failed, what is their most common response? I bet that it is that you added too much water or too little water. In plain English it is something you did with water. That IS the most common answer and the most likely reason also. They can almost give you that answer without looking at the job itself. The next most common is probably poor surface preparation. I find that very rarely you will find a manufacturer problem. The reason it happens so infrequently is that they test all their products before, during and after production. They test the materials before they are mixed. They make sure that the process stays exactly the same during manufacturing. When the product is complete a sample of the batch is tested. Everything is controlled. The last thing that the manufacturer wants is a bad product out there that could hurt their sales. It is worth their time to ensure everything is right.

Things that could happen, which is still out of their control, is maybe the wrong product for the job you are doing. The product may be recommended by someone that had success with it in a different application. You can think of many reasons why it could be wrong.

Think of their process of ensuring that you have something to work with. The crews using the material on the job site have many tasks / jobs to do and are not necessarily doing the same thing day after day. Your "manufacturing" process is not nearly as refined. They must also contend with the elements and even awkward working conditions. Whenever getting a new product and maybe even one you are familiar with, try getting someone to show how it is used to the ones using it. Once they have been trained successfully, the product will look and act better. Most of the time, the training only takes a few minutes.