An idea that began as an admixture for latex paints quickly evolved into the industry’s leading solution for concrete waterproofing and corrosion protection. Hycrete: more than 25 years in the making.
Learn more about the invention of Hycrete below.
A Novel Approach to Concrete Corrosion Prevention
The Hycrete story goes all the way back to 1999 when Philip Rhodes and Dr. Eugene Humphrey began brainstorming novel ways of engineering corrosion agents for latex paints. As their ideas and approaches began to evolve, they realized a new opportunity in the market: an urgent need to extend the structural and cosmetic life of concrete.
The inventors’ joint R&D efforts were entirely refocused on developing a new anti-corrosion agent and water-proofing admixture for concrete. After two years of continuous work and testing, several candidates were developed.
Proof of Concept and Testing for Commercial Applications
Mr. Rhodes and Dr. Humprhey were both new to this industry, with little knowledge of the highly specific testing protocols in place. So they turned to Washington – the Federal Highways Administration, where they learned a corrosion prevention testing grant had been given to the University of Connecticut. They quickly got in touch with the lead professor and contacted him to see if Hycrete could be included in this testing.
Two and a half years later it was the fall of 2001. The Hycrete team received a phone call from the professor saying that his work was completed and the two submitted products had tested #1 and #2 in terms of performance. Meeting with the professor that November, we learned that our products not only performed better than all 24 competing products (and combinations thereof), but they performed orders of magnitude better.
With this first report in hand, Hycrete decided to commercialize the product with less odor and without any harmful constituents. And thus Hycrete was born – with the “Hy” coincidently short for both hydro (water) and Humphrey.
Further Testing and Finally Hitting the Market
Subsequently, we began to meet with architects and engineers and quickly learned that much more testing was needed by independent government agencies, universities, and laboratories. Additionally, field testing and 10-year field results would be necessary.
Now, more than two decades and eight USA patents later, we are proud to say all the above has been performed repeatedly. All the testing results are the same: Hycrete outperforms all other admixtures in both water absorption reduction and rebar corrosion protection.
With thousands of successful projects now completed globally, as well as an award from the World Economic Forum for being a major advance in sustainable concrete, Hycrete is getting the attention it deserves. For many, it has become the Gold Standard in long-term concrete protection.
Engineering a More Effective Concrete Protection Strategy
Hycrete has become the first name in chemically-advanced hydrophobic concrete protection. Our admixtures are rigorously tested and scientifically proven to achieve better longevity, better sustainability, and a better ROI in new construction.
