Swapnil Deshmukh, Manager-Marketing, Chembond Chemicals, shares solutions to prevent ingress of water in a building during the monsoons.
Today, water infiltration through the building walls and roofs are a common problem, this issue being often faced during the monsoons. Such problems occur due to the poor quality of construction. The common sources of water ingress are surface cracks, porosity in mortar and concrete surfaces. Porosity is developed due to poor workmanship, lack of supervising, excess water in mix and improper compaction, poor quality of materials, shrinkage, sulphate and chloride attack, movement and thermal expansion. These develop surface cracks.
Advanced techniques
To stop water ingress, several advanced techniques are available in the market. Among these, elastomeric coatings, which are acrylic and PU based, are the most reliable. Before the application of coatings, it is necessary to do a surface preparation, followed by sealing all the visible cracks and small damages by using polymer-modified crack filler or mortar. Once the surface is prepared, primer is applied, followed by two to three coats of elastomeric coatings. These can be applied by brush, roller or sprayer.
The superior choice
Coatings have many advantages in comparison to traditional methods. They have good elongation and tensile strength, excellent water resistant, good breathing properties, crack bridging ability, and hence, coatings are always superior to other sources of waterproofing.
After proper application, it stops water ingress through the building roofs and walls, making the building completely waterproof.
At times, people prefer membrane sheets, which is also a popular technique. Generally, these methods are used on roofs. Four common types of membranes are easily available in the market - Bitumen-based, HDPE-based, SBS-based and TPO-based. Membranes are either torch on membrane or self adhesive. These can be easily installed on ready surfaces. Due to its better water resistant properties, it helps stop water ingress through the roofs of building.
