How to distinguish between water-resistant putty and non-water-resistant putty?
Release Time:
2020-08-07
Source:
How to distinguish between water-resistant putty and non-water-resistant putty?
Putty is one of the primary materials used in basic construction, and its quality directly affects the finish of the wall surface. Currently, the market offers both water-resistant and non-water-resistant putties. How can you tell the difference between the two, and how should you choose a water-resistant putty?
1. Environmental friendliness
Water-resistant putty is a high-tech product that integrates advanced fine-chemical technologies. During the raw-material selection process, rigorously conducted geo-mineralogical performance tests ensure low heavy-metal content, resulting in superior environmental quality that meets both European and Japanese environmental standards. The formulation contains no harmful chemical ingredients, achieving an almost “excellent” level of environmental friendliness.
Standard putty is produced in small, informal workshops and requires the addition of harmful substances such as white glue, cooked latex powder, and cellulose before use. The resulting outcome is self-evident: even if an environmentally friendly wall paint is chosen, harmful volatile organic compounds can still pose a health risk to homeowners.
2. Construction Difficulty
After mixing the water-resistant putty, let it stand for 10–15 minutes until it reaches a fully blended consistency; at that point, application is no different from that of ordinary putty. However, it is important to strive for a smooth, even finish with each coat to minimize sanding effort, since water-resistant putty has significantly higher strength than ordinary putty. Consequently, it is more resistant to external forces and harder to work with, demanding greater attention to detail and a higher level of professional skill from the applicator.
After ordinary putty is mixed and applied, its strength is significantly lower than that of water-resistant putty, making it easier to sand. However, this also makes it more prone to delamination, flaking, and cracking.
How to Choose Water-Resistant Putty
1. Touch with your hand
After application, water-resistant putty delivers a smooth, fine surface; when properly troweled to a polished finish, it feels slick and silky to the touch, whereas inferior putty feels slightly rough.
2. Apply and scrape by hand
The water-resistant putty’s exceptional whiteness and density enable it to deliver 25–30% better paint adhesion and coverage per unit area compared with walls finished using conventional putty, while also being easy to apply and sand, with moderate hiding power. In contrast, substandard putty requires much thicker application, resulting in significantly higher material consumption.
3. Scrape the wall surface
The JG/T 298-2010 standard “Putty for Interior Use in Buildings” sets clear requirements for putty strength: the bond strength of ordinary putty under standard conditions must exceed 0.25 MPa, with no specific requirement for strength after immersion in water; in contrast, water-resistant putty is required to achieve a bond strength of at least 0.50 MPa under standard conditions and a bond strength greater than 0.30 MPa after immersion in water. As these standards demonstrate, water-resistant putty exhibits higher strength than ordinary interior wall putty, thereby reducing the likelihood of hollowing and spalling during application. By contrast, substandard putty will show deep scratches even with a light scratch.
