Jan 19 2009
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.