Basic Acrylic Material Handling & Installation guidelines

Packaging Prior to Ship Upon completion of the source inspection (if required) the panels will be fully packaged and protected for their trip to the site. The panel protection will consist of a thin protective film, chloroplast (shock and impact resistant material) over the major faces, and formed cardboard on the edges (V-Board). These materials are taped onto the panels and then banded with steel banding material. The panels are then wrapped in tarps which are also fastened with steel banding material if the panels are to be transported by ocean freight. Pre-Installation Inspection The concrete will take 28 days to cure after it is poured and may develop small hairline cracks throughout the duration of the cure. The installer should perform an onsite inspection once the concrete has been cured, forms stripped off, and the openings sandblasted. The sandblasting of the openings is suggested to remove the surface laitance from the concrete surface so that the installer can inspect the concrete cracks and disconformities. The installer should inspect the concrete openings for dimensional accuracy and deficiencies that could cause leak problems. The installer should identify cracks that need to injected, spalling, bugholes that need to be patched and any other concrete deficiencies that need to be corrected prior to the epoxy coating being applied. Opening Preparation All cracks (if any) that were identified during the pre-installation inspection should be pressure injected using a high pressure method. All bug holes and concrete deficiencies that are addressed during the pre-installation inspection will need to be patched with Sikadur 31 Hi-Mod Gel Epoxy Patch material per manufacturers specifications or equivalent. The high areas will need to be ground flat after the patching material has cured.

Pressure Injection Method Typical Procedure

#1

#2

#3

1. Diagram #1 a. The identified cracks need to be opened up into a V shape using a grinder. b. Packers are inserted into the crack using intervals of approximately 75mm -100mm. 2. Diagram #2 a. Coat over the crack and around the packers using a two part epoxy. 3. Diagram #3 a. High Pressure Injection

Epoxy Coating Apply two coats of Sikagard 62 epoxy paint per the manufactures instructions (or equivalent) to the acrylic panel openings after the crack injection and patching is completed. Using two separate colors for each coat will help to minimize leak paths and pinholes in the coating. (Example, use a dark color such as red for the first coat and then light color such as light grey for the second coat to make thin or missed areas in the second coat more obvious)

Unloading & Staging the panels.

The panels should be unloaded from the trucks using an appropriately sized crane and banksman or a forklift on smaller projects. The panels should always be lifted at the points to distribute the weight as even as possible. Nylon or Kevlar slings should be used. Chains can damage the acrylic. It is possible that the acrylic will need to be rigged and set on supports such as 4 x 4 beams and then rigged again to move into the opening. Acrylic setting blocks should be set near the point locations in the channel or rebate as required. (Typically two are used). The setting blocks should be located and sized appropriately to level the panel. This is especially important if water runs over the top of the panel. The panel should be set into the rebate opening per the installation details.

Preparation and sealing of the panel The panel is then prepared for the sealing process according to the installation details. If water is going to run over the top of the panel then it is critical that the panel is perfectly level before the grout is applied. The surface of the acrylic and epoxy should be sanded where the sealant is going to be in contact with the acrylic and epoxy. The surfaces should be sanded by hand with 60 grit sand paper so the sealant will adhere properly. Neoprene and/or grout, foam, and backer rod is placed into the opening as required by the installation details. Both the acrylic surface and epoxy coated concrete are cleaned with de-natured alcohol. The panel and concrete surfaces are masked with masking tape to create a straight sealant bead. A bead of sealant is applied to both epoxy and acrylic surfaces which is then pressed with a metal spatula. An additional bead is then applied to the void between the bead on the acrylic and epoxy surfaces creating one solid bead of sealant. The bead is again pressed with the metal spatula to remove all air pockets. The masking tape is now carefully removed leaving a smooth final finish. If the panel has 4 sided support and grout is required per the installation details then backer rod and sealant is initially applied in this way to the head and jambs of the dry-side and to the sill and jambs of the wet-side of the panel. The backer rod and sealant will create dams which will hold the grout in place. Nonshrink grout is poured from the dry-side into the sill and allowed to harden. The grout should be aggregate free. The backer rod and sealant on the dry-side sill are then applied as mentioned above. The jambs and header are filled with non-shrink grout from the wet-side header in lifts and allowed to harden so that the hydro-static pressure from the grout doesnt force its way through soft sealant. The window is now sealed and the sealant must cure per the manufactures specification. The protective coatings should be removed before water is introduced.