Formliners in Practice

The wood or steel surface must be dry, free from dust and oil and lying flat, straight and even.

To establish the dimensions of the textured side, the formliner must first be laid out flat. Now use the RECKLI Formliner Knife to cut the formliner along the cutting bar or use a circular saw with suitable guide bars.

Please observe the information regarding dimensional tolerance.

Tip

It’s a good idea to first glue the formliner to a board before cutting it to size.

Before applying adhesive, the back of the formliner must be scuffed lightly. Excess dust must be blown away using a compressed air hose.

Tip

We recommend using an electronic angle grinder with speed regulation.

Prepare a frame in the required size and secure this to the formwork. Now, the formliners must be positioned as required and joined. If applicable, please observe any order labelling on the backs of the formliners during this step. Texture-related height differences must be compensated.

The formliners must be affixed thoroughly and individually to the formwork. To do so, the formliners are rolled halfway one after the other. Use the RECKLI Serrated Trowel to apply RECKLI formliner adhesive to the accessible formwork area and slowly unfurl the rolled-up formliner onto the adhesive. Repeat this process with the other side.

Important

Never use too much adhesive (consumption: 750 – 1000 g formliner adhesive per square meter of formliner) and observe the processing time (see technical datasheet). 

Formliners can be affixed to steel or wood surfaces. Freshly glued formliners should not be stepped on to avoid deformation. This applies until the adhesive has hardened.

Tip

Corners and formliner joins should be secured after gluing to achieve optimal adhesion. It’s a good idea to affix the formliners to boards as auxiliary forms that can then be secured to the formwork or production table. Formliners can be removed from the table or formwork together with the wooden boarding so they are immediately ready to use for e.g. for smooth exposed concrete. The formliners can be stored or disposed of together with the wooden boards.

Before concrete is poured, the formliner must be prepared using two rounds of RECKLI release agent at an angle of 45 – 60 degrees. Apply sufficient release agent (see technical datasheet) using a suitable spraying device (pump sprayer or airless device), ensuring the best possible result. Ensure that all surfaces are sufficiently covered. Excess release agent must be removed. Where possible, tilt the formwork/table into a vertical position after applying, allowing any excess to run off. Allow the release agent to fully dry and air before pouring the concrete.

Please Note

The formliner must be protected after release agent is applied, so the formliner should be covered with the RECKLI covering sheet.

Further to norm requirements, the formliners do not require any additional measures regarding the type, composition, consistency or standard of fresh concrete. Casting can proceed as usual. 

When using external vibrators, you must take into consideration that the formliners’ elasticity will absorb part of the vibration. This must be compensated for through longer or more intense vibration.

To get the best results, we recommend carrying out a practice cast in advance to ensure compatibility between the concrete recipe and formliner. When using UHPC, RECKLI Stripping Wax TL or TL-SO must be used. TL-W is not suitable in this case.

Please Note

Monitor the temperature of the concrete during casting. Temperatures above 65°C will damage the formliner. Ensure that spacers do not press into the formliner, and that minimum coverage is always measured from the deepest point of the texture.

Separate the concrete element and the mould slowly.

Please Note

The concrete must be removed as soon as possible in compliance with the applicable cement and concrete norms.

If there is any concrete residue or other soiling on the formliner, it must be cleaned with a cloth and RECKLI release wax.

Please Note

Mechanical cleaning may damage the surface of the formliner.