How do Salt Crystals Form?

One way that salt crystals form is from salt that has been dissolved in water forming a solution, a typical saltwater pool.  When water begins evaporating from the solution, at some point there is simply not enough water left to keep the sodium and chlorine ions from joining together, so salt crystals begin to form.  Rock fracture and cracking occurs as salt crystals grow and exert pressure.

Crystal growth is affected by four naturally occurring factors.  It's important to understand what causes crystal growth in order to have an effective solution for preventing it.  Here are the four basic reasons in order of significance:

Evaporation Time

• If the water evaporates very slowly from the solution, over many weeks, relatively few crystals will get started, but these crystals will have time to grow larger before the water is gone. 
• Conversely if water evaporates from the solution more quickly, more crystals get started, but they don’t have time to grow as large.

Amount of dissolved salt

• The greater the amount of dissolved salt, the greater will be the effect on growth.  Larger crystals will normally result from more salt being available.

Temperature

• The greater the drop in cooling the greater the effect on the size of the crystal.   Thus, the greater the drop in temperature, the larger will be the resulting crystals.

Amount of space

• Crystal size is also determined by the amount of space available for growth.  When crystals run out of space and run into one another, they join. 

In a saltwater pool situation the salt crystal growth rate has an important influence on the pattern and intensity of rock damage.  The growth rate is heavily determined by evaporation.

The RockSteel Solution

The rockSteel process will stabilize or eliminate the rock fracturing, cracking and breaking (“decay”) being caused by the growth of existing salt crystals in the stone.  In most situations, rockSteel will:

• dramatically slow the decay process
• eliminate new decay
• minimize future existing decay or
• eliminate existing decay

RockSteel forms a barrier on the stone, it molecularly forms a bond with the stone; the barrier prevents further saltwater or air from reaching into or touching the rock surface…the surface is sealed.    

Existing rock erosion can be in many stages; from extensive to just beginning.  Damage is normally greater where the rock is very porous (weak) or has received more saltwater. 

The steps in the Process are as follows:

1. Remove Loose And Decaying Particles. The entire surface area needs to be pressure washed.  ALL loose particles of rock and pieces of rock about to separate need to be removed so that the surface has the appearance of being hard.  The more effective the pressure washing is at removing loose and breaking pieces, the better will be the result.
2. Let The Rock – Area - thoroughly Dry.  12 - 24 hours is recommended.
3. Apply RockSteel.  Once the area has dried, apply rockSteel.  Apply a good saturated coating.

What's Going On Beneath The Barrier?

Once the surface has been sealed, no additional saltwater can seep into the stone.  Remaining, trapped underneath the barrier’s surface, is some volume of saltwater and salt crystals in various sizes and stages of growth.  Crystal size will vary from small to large.

The barrier will dramatically minimize evaporation, slowing, delaying, and often eliminating immediate crystal growth.  The barrier cannot eliminate evaporation. However, the evaporation process is now greatly impeded.

Evaporation

Evaporation is the key process in the formation and growth of salt crystals.  It is the process by which water is converted into a vapor creating the formation of salt crystals. Impeding or eliminating evaporation reduces or eliminates salt crystal formulation and growth. Remembering our science class, water like all liquids, is held together by intermolecular forces. As the temperature is raised, the molecules in the water move more vigorously, and in increasingly high proportion have sufficient energy to escape from their neighbors. Evaporation is therefore slow at low temperatures but faster at higher temperatures. In an open area like a pool, the molecules escape from the vicinity of the water, and there is an on-going, positive flow of molecules from the water into the atmosphere. Water is turned into a vapor with the result being less water in the pool.  In an area such as the interior of a rock evaporation also continues in the same manner.

The effect of rockSteel on evaporation

The barrier formed by rockSteel is similar to placing a cover on a pool.  As we all know, the pool cover greatly reduces and minimizes evaporation. This same affect is created by rockSteel’s barrier – we have placed a cover over the rock.

Some growth can continue

Growth can continue, albeit much, much slower and then only for a period of time. It is important to realize that in some areas, the added growth will be “the straw that broke the camel’s back”, just enough to cause the rupture of a piece of stone.  When this happens, the specific area needs to be cleaned, preferably pressure washed again, and rockSteel reapplied. This is most likely to occur where the erosion is extensive but can occur where the crystal growth has reached the size where its next increment of growth creates enough added pressure to break a piece of the stone.

Limited growth of crystals can continue after application of the barrier, however, crystal growth will dramatically be minimized and at some early point, stop because the level of energy needed for evaporation to continue will be too diminished to support evaporation.

Stabilized

With salt crystal growth minimized and/or eliminated, and no new saltwater entering the rock, the decay and erosion of the rock will have been stabilized.