MC-Bauchemie Centricrete
MC-Bauchemie’s ready-mixed cementitious grout for injecting cracks, cavities and honeycombs — a practical, budget-sane alternative to resin injection for basements, brickwork and RCC across Delhi NCR and pan-India sites.
What is it?
A polymer-modified, hydraulically-setting cementitious injection grout supplied as a grey powder — just add water on site, no separate polymer dosing.
Where is it used?
Foundation rafts, basement construction joints, brickwork damp-proof courses, honeycombed RCC, and cracks/cavities in masonry and concrete where water ingress or void-filling is the concern.
Why use it?
It fills and waterproofs cracks 2 mm and wider at a fraction of epoxy or PU resin cost, curing to a rigid, alkaline, non-shrink mass that also helps protect embedded reinforcement.
How is it applied?
Mixed mechanically with 0.45–0.50 parts water per part powder (about 13.5–15 litres per 30 kg bag), then gravity-poured or pump-injected through embedded nozzles or packers within its 30-minute pot life; nozzle holes are later sealed with MC-Fix ST.
About MC-Bauchemie Centricrete
MC-Bauchemie Centricrete is a ready-to-use, polymer-modified cementitious injection grout — a grey powder that becomes a pumpable, hydraulically-setting suspension with nothing more than site water. It fills a gap most contractors know well: an ad-hoc cement slurry mixed on site tends to bleed, shrink and segregate once it’s pumped into a crack or void, while an epoxy or PU resin does the job properly but at several times the cost per litre, which is overkill for a 4 mm crack or a honeycombed column pocket that simply needs filling and sealing. MC-Bauchemie’s own literature is candid about why the product exists — it was developed as an “inexpensive cementitious grout” precisely because liquid-plastic repairs were proving expensive and impractical for this kind of routine cavity and crack work. Careful polymer modification and water-repellent, silicifying fillers give it genuine non-shrink, free-flow behaviour, and its high dispersion means it stays in suspension under pump pressure rather than settling mid-injection — a real failure mode with generic site-mixed grout that leaves a void only half-filled and nobody the wiser until the next monsoon.
On an Indian job site that translates into a fairly wide practical footprint: basement rafts and retaining walls poured with cold construction joints, older brick masonry drawing rising damp, honeycombed RCC that de-shuttered badly, or hairline-to-medium cracks in a podium slab are all candidates for gravity or pressure injection with Centricrete rather than a full membrane strip-out. Because it’s alkaline, it also does something buyers rarely ask about but should — it resists carbonation at the injection point and helps protect embedded steel, instead of leaving an acidic pocket the way some PU foams can. It isn’t a substitute for a proper deck membrane, and it won’t flex with a live expansion joint, but for arresting water at a static crack, sealing a cold joint, or making good a bad pour, it earns its place in the site store.
The technical insight
The detail worth understanding before specifying Centricrete is its 2 mm crack-width threshold. MC-Bauchemie’s own datasheet states the crack, cavity or crevice must be 2 mm or wider for effective filling — below that, a cementitious grout simply can’t penetrate the way a low-viscosity epoxy resin can, so hairline cracks (under roughly 0.3–0.5 mm) genuinely need a resin injection system instead, not a thicker mix of the same grout. The second detail is dispersion stability: the datasheet specifically credits Centricrete’s “high dispersion” for keeping it in suspension “even if pumped under pressure,” which matters because a grout that bleeds or settles under pump pressure leaves lenses of clear water and unfilled pockets exactly where you can’t see them — inside the crack. Practically, this is why it’s mixed mechanically for a full five minutes rather than hand-stirred: dispersion, not just wetting-out, is what’s being engineered for. Note also that this base grade is a single-component, water-activated powder — MC-Bauchemie’s wider international Centricrete range (FB, UF, HCS, EH variants sold in other markets) includes two-component, additive-modified formulations for lower-viscosity or faster-setting jobs, which the India-market base grade does not replicate; treat those as separate products, not interchangeable substitutes.
Where it is used
- Foundation raft and basement retaining-wall construction-joint grouting
- Brickwork injection to create a damp-proof course in rising-damp-affected masonry
- Filling cracks and cavities in load-bearing and non-load-bearing masonry walls
- Sealing and structural filling of cracks in concrete (columns, beams, slabs) 2 mm and wider
- Rectification of honeycombed or poorly compacted concrete after de-shuttering
- Filling voids in roof slabs and at parapet-wall-to-slab junctions
- Crack and joint grouting in bridges, flyovers and underground/subway structures
- General cementitious injection wherever a conventional site-mixed grout is currently specified but underperforms
Key advantages
- Ready-mixed powder — only site water is added, so there’s no separate polymer or latex dosing for the mason to get wrong
- Non-shrink, free-flow behaviour works for both gravity grouting and pressure injection with a grout pump
- High dispersion keeps the mix in suspension under pump pressure instead of settling out and leaving unfilled pockets
- Creates a genuine hydraulic/waterproof barrier at the crack, not just a mechanical plug
- Alkaline chemistry resists carbonation at the injection point and helps protect embedded reinforcement
- Cures to higher compressive and flexural strength than an ad-hoc site-mixed cement grout, stiffening the section it fills
- Material cost per litre sits well below epoxy or PU injection resins, which matters on large-volume honeycomb and cavity work
- 30-minute pot life is workable for a typical single-nozzle job without rushing the crew
Limitations & considerations
- Only effective on cracks, cavities and crevices 2 mm wide or more — hairline cracks need an epoxy/PU resin injection system instead
- Rigid once cured, so it is not suitable for live or moving joints, which need a flexible sealant or waterstop
- 30-minute pot life shortens further in Indian summer ambient heat, so batch size has to match what the crew can actually pump before it thickens
- 6-month shelf life from date of manufacture is shorter than a typical dry-mix mortar, so dealer and site stock rotation matters
- Water dosing (0.45–0.50 parts water to powder) has to be accurate — too much water weakens the cured grout and increases shrinkage risk, too little makes it unpumpable
- It treats the crack or void itself; it is not a surface waterproofing coating or membrane and doesn’t replace one on an exposed deck
Selection & best practice
Confirm crack or void width is genuinely 2 mm or greater before specifying Centricrete — measure with a crack gauge rather than eyeballing it, since anything narrower will not accept the grout and needs a resin system instead. Clean the substrate of loose material, dirt, oil and grease, and if the surface is porous, dry or absorbent, pre-wet it by flushing with water so the substrate is moist (not standing wet) before injection — a dry substrate will pull water out of the grout and shrink it early. Mix mechanically, powder added to water (not the reverse), for a full five minutes to get a lump-free, well-dispersed suspension, and size each batch to what can realistically be pumped within the 30-minute pot life — never thin a thickening batch by adding more water, mix fresh instead. Work only above +5°C ambient, material and substrate temperature. Embed nozzles or packers at the crack or void, inject (gravity or pressure, per site conditions) until total filling is confirmed by grout return or visual check, then cut off the nozzles and seal the holes with MC-Fix ST. Keep unopened bags off the ground, away from rain, direct sun, heat and frost, and rotate stock inside the 6-month shelf life.
Specifications
| Product Type | Polymer-modified, waterproof cementitious injection grout |
| Form / Colour | Powder, grey |
| Bulk Density (after mixing) | 1.70–1.72 g/cm³ |
| Mixing Ratio (water:powder) | 0.45–0.50 by weight (≈13.5–15 L water per 30 kg bag) |
| Pot Life | 30 minutes (ambient-temperature dependent) |
| Minimum Effective Crack/Void Width | ≥ 2 mm |
| Pack Size | 30 kg sacks |
| Shelf Life | 6 months from date of manufacture, unopened, protected from rain, sun, heat and frost |
| Companion Hole-Sealing Compound | MC-Fix ST (for nozzle/packer holes post-injection) |
Industry use cases
Residential & commercial basements
Injecting construction joints and raft cracks in basements and podiums where seepage shows up after the first monsoon, without excavating and re-membraning the whole slab.
Heritage & older masonry buildings
Retrofitting a damp-proof course into brick masonry that’s drawing rising damp, by injecting Centricrete along the wall base.
RCC rectification post-construction
Filling honeycombed concrete in columns, beams and pile caps that de-shuttered with voids, restoring section integrity and cover before finishing.
Infrastructure — bridges, flyovers, subways
Grouting construction joints and cracks in substructure elements exposed to groundwater or monsoon ingress.
Industrial & utility structures
Crack and joint sealing in sewage treatment plants, reservoirs and warehouse floor slabs where a cementitious (not resin) grout is specified for cost or compatibility reasons.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the actual difference between Centricrete and cement grout mixed on site by the mason?
Will Centricrete stop an actively leaking crack, or does the crack need to be dry first?
What crack width does Centricrete actually work for?
How much water do I add per bag?
Can Centricrete be pumped, or is it hand-poured only?
How is Centricrete different from an epoxy injection grout like Fosroc Nitofill LV?
How we position MC-Bauchemie Centricrete
Within MC-Bauchemie’s own India catalogue, Centricrete is best read as the injection-grouting counterpart to the brand’s surface-applied systems already on Space Arc — MC-Dur coatings for exposed protective/waterproof finishes and MC-RocTec repair mortars for hand-applied structural repair — completing a basement-to-facade rehabilitation package under one manufacturer. Internationally, MC-Bauchemie also sells additive-modified Centricrete variants (FB, UF, HCS, EH) built for lower-viscosity or faster-setting injection jobs; the India-market base grade covered here is the single-component, water-activated version, so treat those export variants as separate specifications rather than assuming interchangeability. Where a specifier needs to bond a fine, dormant structural crack (roughly 0.3–9 mm) rather than water-stop or fill a wider cavity, Fosroc’s Nitofill LV epoxy injection resin is a genuine alternative worth comparing on cost versus bond strength — it costs more per litre but delivers substantially higher tensile and compressive bond values than any cementitious grout can. For precision equipment or bearing-plate grouting (a different job entirely), Fosroc’s Conbextra GP range remains the more relevant comparison, not Centricrete.
Fosroc Nitofill LV — A specifier would choose Nitofill LV over Centricrete for fine, dormant structural cracks (roughly 0.3–9 mm) where high-strength epoxy re-bonding matters more than cementitious water-stopping economy.
Related Grouts & Anchors products
Source MC-Bauchemie Centricrete for your project
Authorised distribution, technical advice & professional application across Delhi NCR and Pan-India.