About the newsletter
Built by Chemistry
The independent newsletter on construction chemistry. One topic per week. Verified sources. No brand relationships.
What this is
Built by Chemistry is a weekly newsletter covering the chemistry behind construction materials: tile adhesives, waterproofing systems, thermal insulation, mortars, concrete admixtures. The kind of knowledge that lives in technical datasheets and EN/IS standards — useful to project managers and contractors making specification decisions, and almost never communicated clearly by the brands selling the products.
Each edition covers one topic. It explains what the chemistry does, what the relevant standards say, and what field conditions determine whether a system works or fails. It does not recommend specific brands. It does not have sponsor relationships. It does not receive products or compensation from manufacturers.
Why it exists
The construction industry generates enormous amounts of technical literature — datasheets, application guides, certifications. Most of it is written by brands, for brands. The information is real but it is selected and framed to support a purchase decision, not to help a project manager understand the chemistry well enough to hold a contractor accountable.
The result is a consistent pattern: projects specify the right product, then install it wrong, on the wrong substrate, with the wrong preparation, and the system fails. The brand gets blamed. The contractor blames the brand. Nobody talks about the substrate, the primer, the open time in hot weather, or the curing time the spec never mentioned.
BBC exists to fill that gap. One topic, done properly, backed by sources you can verify.
Editorial rules
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01
No invented data. Every quantitative claim links to a published standard, peer-reviewed paper, or verifiable field measurement. If it can't be sourced, it doesn't go in.
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02
No brand promotion. Products may be mentioned for context, never recommended. BBC has no commercial relationships with any construction chemicals manufacturer.
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03
English only. The newsletter publishes in English. Technical terminology is used precisely, not simplified to the point of inaccuracy.
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04
Field first. Laboratory chemistry is explained in terms of what it means on site. Theory serves practice, not the other way around.
Who it is for
Project managers who need to understand a specification well enough to ask the right questions. Contractors who want to understand why something failed, not just how to apply the next coat. Specifiers who want to know what a standard actually requires, not what a brand summary says it requires.
BBC does not target formulators or R&D professionals — the chemistry covered here is application chemistry, not synthesis chemistry.
