VeroTouch is far more than just a builder or construction firm; we’re a construction technology platform company, developing the hardware, software, advanced materials, and processes that are changing the way we build, and proving each one in our own concrete, our own buildings, and our own production before we ever bring it to yours.
To that end, we’ve recently spun up a new VeroTouch Science division to advance a number of important breakthroughs in the advanced materials realm, using the same evidence-based methods we apply across the rest of the business, with implications far beyond just 3D-printed concrete construction.
Why is that important?
Concrete has been a construction material for thousands of years, but the concrete being poured today is not the same material that went into structures a generation ago. The chemistry has changed, the inputs have changed, and the performance demands have intensified. The result is that getting concrete right has become more technically complex — and more consequential — than most people outside the industry realize.
For builders working with concrete at any scale, understanding what drives durability at the material level is no longer optional. It is foundational to delivering structures that perform the way they are supposed to over the long run.
How Concrete Chemistry Has Shifted
Several changes have accumulated over the past few decades that affect how modern concrete behaves. Aggregate quality has become more variable as higher-quality sources are depleted. Cement composition has shifted, with greater use of supplementary cementitious materials like fly ash, slag and limestone. Water quality varies meaningfully across production regions. And curing schedules have accelerated under pressure to move projects faster.
Each of these changes, individually, is manageable. Together, they create a different operating environment than the one concrete mix designs were originally calibrated for. Structures that should last decades are sometimes showing premature deterioration in weeks or months. That gap between expected and actual performance is a materials science problem — and it starts in the mix.
What Actually Determines Concrete Durability
Concrete durability is not primarily a function of compressive strength, though strength matters. It is a function of microstructure: how completely the cement hydrates, how densely the paste-aggregate interface forms, and how well the finished matrix resists the movement of water and dissolved salts through its internal pathways.
The paste-aggregate interface — the zone where cement paste meets aggregate particles — is the most vulnerable part of any concrete structure. It is where cracking initiates, where water infiltrates, and where freeze-thaw damage begins. A concrete mix that strengthens this interface, reduces internal voids, and minimizes connected capillary pathways will outperform one that does not, even if the two mixes appear similar by conventional measures.
The Role of Admixtures
Admixtures are chemical additions to the concrete mix that modify its properties during hydration and curing. They have been used in construction for decades, but the science behind them has advanced significantly. The most effective modern admixtures do not simply accelerate or slow setting time — they actively improve the internal structure of the concrete as it cures. At VeroTouch Science, every admixture is tested and used in our own concrete production before it is ever sold, an evidence-based standard most admixture companies don't apply to their own chemistry. It's also the first product line in a broader materials ecosystem: rebar coatings and concrete coatings are already in development, extending the same systems-level approach beyond the mix itself.
Why Permeability Is the Right Metric
Compressive strength gets most of the attention in concrete specification, but permeability is often a more useful indicator of long-term durability. A low-permeability concrete resists the intrusion of water, deicing chemicals, and chlorides that corrode reinforcing steel and initiate freeze-thaw damage. In climates like Colorado's, where freeze-thaw cycling is severe and deicing chemicals are routinely applied to infrastructure, permeability is the durability variable that matters most.
This is why mix design that reduces capillary pathways — rather than simply maximizing early-age strength — produces structures that hold up over time. The concrete that looks strong at 28 days is not necessarily the concrete that performs well at 20 years.
Long-Term Performance and the Curing Window
One often-overlooked factor in concrete durability is what happens after placement. Cement hydration is not instantaneous — it continues for weeks and months after the concrete is poured, as long as moisture is available. Concrete that retains internal moisture during this extended curing window develops more completely, with less shrinkage, fewer microcracks, and better long-term strength.
Admixtures that support internal moisture availability extend the effective curing period even when external curing conditions are imperfect. In field conditions — where curing blankets are removed early, temperatures fluctuate, and schedules press — that internal support for continued hydration is a meaningful performance advantage.
What This Means for Modern Construction
Whether the application is a highway bridge deck, a poured foundation, or a 3D-printed concrete wall, the underlying chemistry is the same. Concrete that is mixed carefully, with attention to hydration efficiency and microstructure, outperforms concrete that is not. The gap in performance is not visible at installation — it shows up years later, in maintenance costs, structural repairs, and premature replacement.
VeroTouch's work across admixture technology, 3D-printed construction, and the rest of our materials ecosystem reflects the same core conviction: that getting the material right is not a detail. It is the foundation everything else is built on. That's also why our mission isn't to sell as much product as possible, it's to fix America's infrastructure, backed by free initial testing, ongoing scientist support, and quality systems built to catch problems in-process instead of after the pour. In an industry under pressure to build faster and cheaper, the builders who refuse to cut corners on mix design are the ones whose structures will still be standing when it matters.
