Silo Repair Blogs

When to schedule silo restoration depends on more than the condition of your silo. While it is never advisable to postpone necessary silo repairs, the time of year you schedule your silo repair or restoration can impact your bottom line.

 

 

The same weather conditions that can impact the performance and lifespan of your silo, extreme heat or cold, heavy rain, and severe wind, can also affect silo restoration. Work undertaken during extreme temperature conditions can be slower, while heavy rain can make it difficult or impossible to repair concrete or apply waterproof coatings. When the silo roof or other high areas of the silo need to be repaired, high winds can pose safety risks during the restoration process.

 

 

Scheduling routine maintenance during temperate times of the year can help you reduce expenses by catching and addressing problems early and reducing downtime. Temperate times of the year, like the spring and fall, tend to provide better working conditions for a variety of silo repairs. These ideal weather conditions can make a repair or restoration go more quickly – reducing the cost of labor and your downtime.

 

 

Emergent silo issues or a silo that shows signs of new or worsening damage should be inspected as soon as possible. Regularly viewing the silo exterior can help facilities find new or worsening issues that might necessitate earlier or more frequent inspections. For silos that were properly designed and constructed, much of this damage is preventable or can be minimized by regular inspections, silo maintenance and a full understanding of proper procedures.

 

Routine inspections identify minor issues as well as more serious problems that can lead to preventable structural failures like silo collapse. Common problems that cause concrete structure and concrete silo failure include foundation deterioration, roof collapse, unsuitable material filling and unloading procedures, silo wall delamination or deterioration, and silo discharge cone or bin floor issues. Additional important silo maintenance includes airflow unit inspection and regular, professional silo cleaning to avoid material buildup issues. When it comes to steel silos, they often suffer from corrosion and buckling, which can be inspected using wear-measure thickness ultrasonic gauges. Marietta Silos can address these concrete silo issues and any other necessary silo restoration types, regardless of stored material.

 

Repairing silo problems quickly, before they become an emergency, helps save money and can reduce or eliminate safety issues. The long-term savings, reduced liability, and reduction of unplanned downtime that results from professional silo inspections and silo restoration should be seen as an investment as it is far cheaper to address issues early before they lead to silo failure.

 

Plan a Silo Restoration

Silos are unique structures, and waterproofing coatings are not created equal. Silo coatings like floating membranes and roofing tar are some of the cheapest to acquire. However, they are also the most likely to fail during the normal use of a metal or concrete silo. Membranes are easily punctured during routine loading and unloading or even through heavy foot traffic. Roofing tar, on the other hand, cannot tolerate foot traffic. Tar also naturally softens by the sun, allowing stored material to stick into the surface and create buildup that is extremely difficult to remove. In cold weather, tar solidifies and can easily crack and allow moisture to penetrate the silo and jeopardize stored material. Sprayed polyurethane coatings similarly do not tolerate foot traffic, are easily punctured and are sensitive to humidity.

 

The most effective, monolithic barrier against moisture is a rubberized coating that bonds directly to various surfaces to repair cracks and seal penetrations, laps and fasteners. Rubberized coatings have a high elasticity coefficient that moves with silo vibration caused by roof-mounted equipment or loading and unloading.

 

Our rubber coating reduces costly reapplications of surface protectants and can be applied to many surfaces. As a silo roof coating, our rubber coating can fix both metal silo roofs and concrete silo roofs. In addition, our silo roof-top coating has the flexibility to maintain its integrity through the changing seasons, protect against oxidation, humidity and corrosive environments while resisting alkali, salts, abrasions and fumes.

 

 

Our roof-top silo coating method is a proven industrial roof coating system that keeps elements out and stored materials dry. Request a quote from us today.

Proper material flow in silos is important for more than just production schedules. Issues with material flow can cause increased stress on silo walls that may go beyond what the silo was designed to withstand. Not only does this cause cracking, spalling and possible wall separation, it can also lead to structural failure.

 

Silos that were initially designed with internal reinforcement sometimes face cracking or delamination of the concrete. When this is seen on the silo exterior, it is important to schedule a silo inspection as soon as possible. Such damages are often caused by overstressing of the horizontal reinforcing as a result of material flow issues.

 

Tension is a critical component in silo repair. If the silo is still structurally sound, certain damages caused by failing interior steel reinforcement can be repaired by post-tensioning. Post-tensioning silo repair uses high-strength post-tensioning strands that are placed around the exterior of the silo. These tensioned bands essential take over the structural support of the original internal steel by keeping walls sturdy against additional stress caused by asymmetric flow.

 

During this restoration process, a qualified engineer uses factors such as silo size, stored material weight and how the silo is used to determine tension specifications necessary specifications for wall reinforcement. After the strands are properly tensioned through a hydraulic process, steel lock couplers are positioned and tightened. Once completed, the tensioning assures that the silo can be safely used. Once the silo is restored through post-tensioning, it can then be returned to its actual load capacity.

 

Request a silo repair quote by scheduling your inspection today.

 

 

View our video, How Often Should I Have My Silo Inspected, or view our full library of videos on silo inspection, silo maintenance, and silo restoration on