Waterproofing Systems
Waterproofing failures cost billions of dollars annually, not to mention millions of man-hours of time lost in attending to these problems. Good waterproofing design will eliminate these problems!
Key Principles of Waterproofing
1. Get the water off the building, fast! The quicker you get the water off the building, the less chance of it pooling and leaking into the structure. You can do this by increasing slopes wherever possible, which increases the speed of the travel of water on the surface of building.
2. 90% of water intrusion occurs at critical junctions, such as the seam between one facade system and another. Today's building systems are complex, and many are proprietary, meaning that the details are worked out by the supplier, not the building designers. In this environment it is essential for the architect or building designers to understand these junctions in great detail to prevent problems.
3. When it is not a design failure, water intrusion occurs mainly due to installation error. These include inadequate surface preparation, improper use of primers, failure to take into account the thermal and wind movements of the structure, or other human errors such as not following the correct installation procedure.
Key Principles of Waterproofing
1. Get the water off the building, fast! The quicker you get the water off the building, the less chance of it pooling and leaking into the structure. You can do this by increasing slopes wherever possible, which increases the speed of the travel of water on the surface of building.
2. 90% of water intrusion occurs at critical junctions, such as the seam between one facade system and another. Today's building systems are complex, and many are proprietary, meaning that the details are worked out by the supplier, not the building designers. In this environment it is essential for the architect or building designers to understand these junctions in great detail to prevent problems.
3. When it is not a design failure, water intrusion occurs mainly due to installation error. These include inadequate surface preparation, improper use of primers, failure to take into account the thermal and wind movements of the structure, or other human errors such as not following the correct installation procedure.