About MC-Bauchemie Dichtament DS2

Dichtament DS2 is MC-Bauchemie’s flagship cementitious waterproofing coating for the Indian market, manufactured by MC-Bauchemie (India) Pvt Ltd at its Navi Mumbai facility using the parent German group’s crystallization technology. Unlike a membrane that is glued or welded onto a surface, DS2 is a hydraulically-setting powder, modified with polymers, that is gauged with water on site into a lump-free slurry and brushed, trowelled or sprayed onto concrete, brick or masonry in two coats. Once applied, active compounds in the mix travel into the capillary pore structure of the substrate by osmosis and react with residual moisture and free lime to form insoluble crystalline growth deep inside the concrete. That crystalline growth is what blocks the path of water, including under hydrostatic pressure from the wrong side of a wall or slab, while still letting water vapour breathe outward — which is why MC-Bauchemie markets it as “waterproofing by crystallization” rather than a simple surface coating.

For contractors and specifiers in Delhi NCR and across India, DS2 has become a familiar name mainly because it solves a specific, recurring problem: basements, lift pits, UG tanks and retaining walls that need a waterproofing layer applied after the concrete is already cast, not one that has to be dosed in at the batching plant. Because it forms an integral part of the substrate rather than a separate skin, it tends to survive site abuse — rebar fixing, tile-adhesive scraping, minor abrasion — better than thin-film liquid membranes, and its EN 12390-8 result of nil water penetration at 2 bar gives site engineers a defensible number to quote to clients and consultants. It is not, however, a flexible or crack-bridging system, so on projects where structural movement or wide, live cracks are expected, it is normally specified alongside crack-injection work or paired with a more elastomeric coating rather than used alone.

The technical insight

The distinction worth understanding on site is between “waterproofing by crystallization” and ordinary cementitious coatings that simply rely on a dense, low-permeability film. DS2’s polymer-modified cement chemistry allows crystal growth to continue for as long as there is residual moisture in the substrate to react with, which is why the technical data sheet specifies water curing rather than plastic sheeting alone, and why the coating needs a full 7-day cure before it is loaded with tiles, wood panels or standing water. The mechanical numbers on the data sheet are also worth reading together rather than in isolation: a flexural strength of 9.37 N/mm² (EN 1015-11) and a pull-off adhesion of 1.50 N/mm² (ASTM D 7234) indicate a coating that bonds well and resists impact, but a tensile strength of 1.92 N/mm² (ASTM C 307) confirms it behaves as a rigid, monolithic layer rather than a stretchable membrane — consistent with its intended use on structurally sound, non-moving substrates. Consumption is dictated by dry film thickness, not by area alone: MC-Bauchemie’s own coverage table works out to roughly 2 kg/m² of powder at 0.8 mm DFT and 2.5 kg/m² at 1 mm DFT for two coats, rising to 6-7 kg/m² when the coating has to resist very high water heads at 3-3.5 mm thickness — site teams that under-dose powder to stretch a bag further are the single most common reason a correctly-selected DS2 installation still leaks.

Where it is used

• Waterproofing basement walls and retaining walls against hydrostatic ground-water pressure
• Internal and external coating of underground and overhead water tanks and sumps
• Lift pits, underground shafts and basement car parks prone to seepage
• Roof slabs and terraces as a waterproof base coat before screed or tiling
• Bathroom, kitchen and wet-area resurfacing under tile in sandwiched systems
• Tunnels, sewers and other underground concrete structures
• Foundation walls and footings exposed to ground moisture and salt efflorescence
• Damp-proofing of cellar walls, masonry and cement-rendered facades

Key advantages

• Single-component powder system — just add water, with no second component to meter or ratio-check on site
• Crystallizes into the substrate itself rather than sitting as a separate film, so it keeps protecting even if the visible coat gets scuffed
• Tested to nil water penetration at 2 bar hydrostatic pressure (EN 12390-8), a defensible number for consultant sign-off
• Works on vertical, inclined and overhead surfaces without sagging when mixed to the recommended consistency
• Remains breathable, so trapped vapour behind old masonry doesn’t blister or delaminate the coating
• Chloride-free, non-toxic and resistant to alkalis and UV — commonly used inside potable water tanks
• Manufactured locally in Navi Mumbai, giving consistent stock availability and batch traceability across India
• Workable for over 3 hours at 27°C, giving applicators a realistic window on hot Indian job sites

Limitations & considerations

• Rigid crystalline layer, not an elastomeric membrane — it will not bridge live structural cracks or ongoing movement
• Performance depends entirely on substrate condition; loose plaster, active leaks or unrepaired cracks must be corrected first, or the coating fails at exactly that point
• Needs disciplined water curing and a full 7 days before tiling or water-loading — rushing the cure is the single biggest cause of on-site failures
• Cannot be applied below 5°C or onto frozen surfaces, which narrows the application window on hill and winter-plains projects
• Coverage and hence protection is dose-dependent — under-applying powder to stretch a bag further directly increases leak risk
• As a trowel/brush-applied system, finished quality varies with applicator skill more than with factory-controlled membrane products

Selection & best practice

Specifications

Industry use cases

How we position MC-Bauchemie Dichtament DS2

Within MC-Bauchemie’s own India range, Dichtament DS2 sits alongside Dichtament DM, a chloride-free liquid admixture dosed into fresh concrete at the batching stage to reduce capillary porosity in new pours — the two are complementary, not interchangeable, since DM waterproofs concrete as it is cast while DS2 waterproofs a surface that already exists — and the Roofex range for exposed roof waterproofing, all available through Space Arc Engineering as an authorised MC-Bauchemie distributor and applicator. Where a project genuinely needs crack-bridging flexibility over a substrate expected to move — expansion joints tied into a slab, or terraces with thermal cycling — a specifier might reasonably choose Fosroc Brushbond FLXIII instead, since its two-component polymer-modified system cures into an elastomeric, crack-bridging membrane rather than DS2’s rigid crystalline layer. Space Arc supplies both brands and can advise on which chemistry actually fits the substrate and movement conditions on a given site rather than defaulting to either one.

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