How to seal joints

in concrete structures
By Marilyn Palmer

ACI 504R-90, “Guide to Sealing Joints in Concrete Structures,” provides

a comprehensive guide to joint sealant materials, design, and installation
ften underestimated, joint sealants in
O concrete structures play a vital role in
protecting the structure from premature de-
terioration and interruptions in its effective
service life. Sealants now available and pre-
sent knowledge of joint sealing criteria are
adequate to provide successful joint sealant
installations at least 90% of the time. Since
the cost of providing well-sealed joints usu-
ally is only a small fraction of the total cost
of the structure, there is little justification
for poor sealing practices.
Use of an appropriate type of sealant
and proper sealant installation, however,
are not a guarantee of successful perfor-
mance. The location and design of the
joint itself may be to blame if sealing
problems develop. Also, the shape of the
joint and the amount and type of move-
ment that occur at the joint will affect
sealant behavior. The best way to ensure
that sealing efforts will pay off is to com-
bine the right type of sealant with the ap-
propriate joint detail for the application,
then properly design, specify, install, and
maintain the joint sealant system.
joint. Joint sealants help keep wind and
rain out of buildings and foreign solid mat-
ter, such as dirt and ice, out of joints. They
also keep the contents of tanks, pipes,
canals, and dams in. Sealants can help pre-
vent damage to floor joints from concen-
trated loads, improve thermal and acousti-
cal installations, and dampen vibrations.
Joint types
Determining an appropriate joint
sealant for the job is easier with an under-
standing of typical joint configurations.
The main types of joints are:
Contraction (control) joints—Purpose-
ly made planes of weakness designed to
regulate cracking from contraction of
concrete structural units. These joints
most frequently are used to divide large,
relatively thin units such as floors, pave-
ments, and retaining walls into smaller
units. Contraction joints are only appro-
priate where contraction and expansion
leaves abutting units shorter than when
the concrete was placed.
Expansion (isolation) joints—De-
signed to isolate structural units that be-
have differently, expansion joints prevent
crushing and distortion caused by com-
pressive forces produced by applied
loads, settlement, or volume changes. Ex-
pansion joints are used to isolate walls
from floors or roofs, columns from floors
or cladding, and pavement slabs and
decks from bridge abutments or piers.
Construction joints—Joints created by
interruptions in concrete placement or
from the positioning of precast units. The
locations of construction joints usually are
predetermined as much as possible. They
may be required to function monolithical-
ly with the previous placement through
complete bonding, or as expansion or
contraction joints.
Combined and special purpose
joints—Construction joints also can be
designed to function as contraction or ex-
pansion joints. Hinge joints that permit
rotation are found primarily in pave-
ments. Sliding joints are useful where one

Why sealants are needed

Most concrete structures have joints as
part of their design. Joints accommodate
movements of the concrete units caused
by contraction (from drying, shrinkage,
and creep), expansion (from sulfate attack
and alkali-aggregate reactions), and cycli-
cal volume changes (from exposure to the
environment or the application of loads).
If these movements are restrained, the
concrete can distort, crush, or crack.
Though joints serve a necessary func-
tion in controlling movement of the con-
crete, they also create openings that need to
be sealed to maintain the integrity of the
structure. The primary function of a joint
sealant is to prevent the intrusion of un-
wanted substances into or through the Figure 1. Function of a bond breaker and backup material in field-molded sealants.

Figure 2. Temperature effects on field-molded sealants.
unit of a structure moves in a plane at
right angles to the plane of another unit.
From the viewpoint of how the sealant
functions, the two basic joint configura-
tions are butt joints and lap joints. Butt
joints occur where the structural units
abut each other and movement occurs in
the plane of the cross section of the joint.
In the less common lap joint, the units
slide over each other.
Joint types and their corresponding
sealant requirements can be grouped into
three main structural applications:
• Structures not under fluid pressure
(most buildings, bridges, storage bins,
retaining walls)
• Containers under fluid pressure (dams,
reservoirs, tanks, pipelines)
• Pavements (highways and airports)
Sealant types
Joint sealants fall into two categories:
field-molded and preformed. Field-mold-
ed sealants are applied in liquid or semi-
liquid form and take on their required
shape from the mold provided at the joint
opening. They usually cycle between
compression and tension and change their
shape without changing their volume.
Preformed sealants are preshaped in rela-
tively solid form, usually are in compres-
sion, and change their shape as their
width changes.
Examples of field-molded sealants in-
clude mastics, thermoplastics (hot-applied
and cold-applied), thermosetting chemi-
cally curing, and thermosetting solvent re-
lease. Primers, bond breakers, and backup
materials often are needed with field-
molded sealants to economize on the
sealant and ensure its successful perfor-
mance. Figure 1 shows the function of a
bond breaker and backup material. Pre-
formed sealants include rigid waterstops,
flexible waterstops, gaskets, strip or gland
seals, compression seals, and flexible
foam (impregnated and nonimpregnated).
ACI 504R-90 contains a comprehen-
sive system of tables cross-referencing
sealant material type and properties, com-
pression seal type and uses, and specific
applications for these materials. A series
of specific joint details for most common
structural applications also is provided in
the guide along with information on ex-
posure and service environment and tips
for better performance.
Requirements for satisfactory
performance
Selection of a joint sealant for a partic-
ular application is affected by the limita-
tions of the material, the configuration of
the joint, how the joint is constructed, and
access restrictions for sealant installation.
Generally, for satisfactory performance a
sealant must:
• Be an impermeable material
• Deform to accommodate the move-
ment and rate of movement occurring
at the joint
• Sufficiently retain its original proper-
ties and shape if subjected to cyclical
deformations
• Adhere to concrete without failing in
adhesion
• Not fail in cohesion (internally rupture)
• Resist flow due to gravity, fluid pres-
sures, or softening at higher service
temperatures
• Not harden or become brittle at lower
service temperatures
• Withstand aging, weathering, and other
service factors for a reasonable service
life under the existing environmental
conditions.
Depending on the specific application,
a sealant also may be required to resist in-
trusion of foreign material, wear, indenta-
tion, pickup by traffic, fire, or chemical
attack. Specifications may require the
sealant to be a specific color, to resist col-
or change, and be nonstaining to the sub-
strate. Sealants must not deteriorate under
normal storage conditions, should be easy
to handle and install, and should be free
of substances that may be harmful to the
user, the concrete, or any of the materials
they may contact when installed.

Temperature effects
Differences between the temperature at
installation and the temperatures experi-
enced in service affect sealant behavior.
The magnitude of joint movements and
the rate of temperature change affecting
those movements are equally important.
Sealants generally perform better at high-
er temperatures than at lower tempera-
tures, and when movement at a joint oc-
curs at a slow and uniform rate.
ACI 504R-90 assumes a service range
of temperatures from -20° to +130° F. The
closer the installation temperature is to the
mean of that range (55° F), the less the
strain placed on the sealant. Installation at
the low end of the service temperature
range can cause excessive sealant com-
pression when the temperature rises, and
more sealant is required at installation. In-
stallation at the high end of the service
temperature range causes excessive sealant
extension and a high likelihood of adhe-
sion, cohesion, or peeling failure. Figure 2
shows behavior of the sealant in these situ-
ations. Whenever possible, therefore, ACI
504R-90 recommends an installation tem-
Figure 3. Defects in preformed compression seals are shown at top; methods to
perature range from 40° to 90° F. improve performance for each defect are listed at bottom.
It is important to note that the service
range of temperature affecting the
sealant’s behavior is not the same as the such as concrete. Final cleanup to remove and type of sealant were determined
ambient air temperature range. It is the ac- dust is usually best accomplished with the • The wrong type of sealant for the par-
tual temperature of the units being joined use of oil-free compressed air or a vacu- ticular conditions was selected, often
by the sealant. In massive sections or um cleaner. on the false grounds of economy in
complex structural units it may be neces- first cost
sary to measure internal temperatures to Avoiding defects
• Poor workmanship occurred during
adequately assess joint movement. In any Malfunction of a sealant usually is joint construction and preparation to
case, an attempt should be made to collect caused by cohesive or adhesive failure. receive the sealant or sealant installa-
appropriate temperature information, in- Preformed sealants commonly malfunc- tion
cluding a thermometer reading of ambient tion by failing to generate enough con-
temperature in the shade. Take particular tact pressure with the joint faces in cold Many of these defects can be avoided
care if the units to be joined are not the weather, or by extruding from overcom- by paying attention to the following
same material and have significantly dif- pression in hot weather, as shown in Fig- guidelines:
ferent surface temperatures due to differ- ure 3. Field-molded sealants can fail • Saw or form the joint to the required
ences in their material properties. from repetitive cycles of stress reversal uniform depth, width, and location
and suffer one or more of the defects shown on the plans
Preparation of joint surfaces shown in Figure 4.
Joint surfaces must be clean, dry, and Other defects caused by improper joint • Align the joint with any connecting
free of defects, such as loose aggregate, construction and the possible causes of joints to avoid blockage to free
embedded foreign material, and spalls, that these defects are shown in Figure 5. Rea- movement
could impair the sealant bond. Debris from sons for joint sealant failures include: • Correctly position dowels and other
sawing, wire brushing, routing, and sand- joint hardware, fillers, waterstops, and
blasting should be washed out thoroughly. • Design of the joint geometry was in- bulkheads, and rigidly support them to
Solvents are useful in cleaning non- sufficient to accommodate movement avoid displacement during concreting
porous surfaces such as glass or metal • Unanticipated service conditions re- • Remove any temporary material or
frames, but can carry the contaminants sulted in greater joint movements than filler used to form the sealant reservoir
further into the pores of porous surfaces those allowed for when the joint design

Figure 4. Defects with elastic behavior in field-molded sealants are shown at top;
methods to improve performance for each defect are listed at bottom.
Figure 5. Random cracks in joint construction and possible causes. A, B, and C
are cross-sectional views; D, E, F, and G are plan views. Note that movement will
occur at the crack, not the “intended” joint, so if the joint is not repaired, it is the
crack that should be sealed.
by raking out or rotary-cutting to the
specified depth
• Keep curing compound from contami-
nating joint faces, and apply supple-
mental curing where the original cur-
ing is broken by construction
operations before the joint edges and
faces have fully cured
Typical difficulties with field-molded
sealants often can be avoided with prop-
er use of a bond breaker or backup ma-
terial. Select a bond breaker that doesn’t
adhere to the sealant so the sealant is
free to change shape to suit conditions.
A bond breaker isn’t necessary where
the backup materials don’t adhere to the
sealant. In those cases, backup materials
can be used alone to help support the
sealant, control sealant shape (depth to
width ratio), and allow the sealant to
achieve maximum extension without
peeling at the edges.
Maintenance
Few exposed sealants will last as long
as the structure whose joints they are seal-
ing. Most field-molded or preformed
sealants will eventually require renewal to
maintain an effective seal and prevent de-
terioration of the structure. Exactly when
renewal becomes necessary depends on
service conditions, the type of material
used, and whether any defects were built
in at the time of the original sealing. Re-
sealing often is postponed beyond the
time when it truly is needed due to a lack
of knowledge that it is needed or failure to
budget ahead.
The industry still needs to improve
the working life of joint sealants. The
performance of sealants is continually
compromised by the need to store, ap-
ply, and use them in less than optimal
circumstances. The result of this is an
expected life of 1 to 5 years for most
current products. Designers looking to
minimize maintenance would like to see
high-performance sealants with life cy-
cles of 10 to 20 years.
Reference
“Guide to Sealing Joints in Concrete
Structures,” (ACI 504R-90), ACI Manu-
al of Concrete Practice, 1992, Ameri-
can Concrete Institute, Detroit.
Marilyn Palmer is a contributing editor
and registered professional engineer. She
holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engi-
neering and has been an engineering edi-
tor with the American Concrete Institute.
PUBLICATION #C920799
Copyright © 1992, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved