Silicone sealants and coatings from Dow
Corning are working behind the scenes to help construction engineers combat
and repair weather damage to large, stately building façades in India.<
Silicone sealants and coatings are used to repair failed weatherseals and revitalize
a building’s appearance, ensuring durable, leak-proof structures that
are UV-stable and remain virtually unaffected by the extremes of Indian weather
conditions.
“India has numerous buildings with beautiful façades, but many
of them now have hair-line cracks and failed joints that are further damaged
by high humidity, extreme temperatures and monsoons,” said Rajinder Khanna,
Dow Corning’s Marketing Manager for the construction industry in India,
ASEAN and ANZ. “Silicone sealants are able to protect the region’s
historic buildings and architecture because of their excellent weathering properties
and resistance to sunlight, rain, snow, and temperature extremes,” added
Rajinder. “Silicones can even protect structures that are constantly immersed
in water.”
Dow Corning’s expertise has already been used to protect world famous
landmarks in other parts of the world. Rajinder said the experience built up
over 65 years was now available to help construction and restoration experts
in India.
Projects already benefiting from Dow Corning materials include:
Mount Rushmore – South Dakota, USA
For nearly its first 50 years, Mount Rushmore received annual facelifts from
maintenance personnel who filled cracks of varying sizes with a patching compound
of granite dust, white lead, and linseed oil. But because the cracks returned
as soon as the linseed oil dried out, the National Park Service switched to
high performance Dow Corning silicone sealants in the early 1990s. This was
in part due to their long-lasting performance, watertight bond to granite joints,
as well as its ease of application in temperature extremes.
Statue of Liberty – New York, USA
After enduring punishing, wind-driven salt water for 100 years the penny-thin
copper-skinned Statue of Liberty was not only showing its age, but was leaking.
To restore the landmark and prepare it for future generations, historical architects
selected Dow Corning silicone sealants for its superior adhesion capabilities
to copper, flexibility in extreme weather conditions, long life, and compatibility
with residual coal tar—the original sealant used when the statue was erected
in 1886.
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