When it comes to buildings, routine maintenance is expected on any structure as wear and tear is inevitable. However, the difference between small repairs and a major retrofit or rehabilitation is significant. Referring to De Sitter’s Law of Fives, a major repair can be expected to cost roughly five times what routine maintenance would have cost.
Over the years, this author’s firm has been involved in several cases of water damage problems that turned out to be mismanaged water management. Anyone who has ever walked by a building during or just after a rainstorm knows a person can get more wet from rooftop runoff than the rain itself.
Concrete has many advantages, including formability and durability. The material has high compressive strength, which is defined as the maximum compressive load a body can bear prior to failure. However, concrete is actually quite weak in tensile strength, meaning it is not an ideal material when a structure is subjected to tension.
When waterproofing a walkable roof deck, there are a number of important principles to consider in determining the ultimate performance of not only the decking assembly, but also the waterproofing and the overall building envelope. These can be thought of as the Six Ds.
The focus on sustainability continues to grow within the construction industry. However, one of the greatest global concerns is the uncertainty of natural resources.
With some predictions estimating the global population will reach as high as 11 billion by 2050, it is crucial the design community plans infrastructure with sustainable and innovative practices in mind. As concrete is the most commonly used building material in the world—employed more than all other building materials combined—its ability to perform well has a direct impact on how sustainable the structure it supports is.
While many concrete structures have a design life of 50 to 100 years, not all live up to expectations. Much of the concrete infrastructure currently in service across North America is badly in need of repair or replacement, and this premature deterioration is a large hidden cost to owners. What is causing this lack of durability?
The great advantage of barrier-free showers is they are more functional than their traditional counterparts. They provide easy access for anyone—especially children, the elderly, and those with reduced mobility. Further, the absence of doorsills and corners makes them easier to maintain. Seamless floor transitions also maximize floor space by making the shower look and ‘feel’ bigger. This is particularly true for small bathrooms where glass doors are eliminated to make the space more functional and practical.
For as long as anyone can remember, the construction industry has used the word ‘waterproof’ to describe construction materials. People commonly refer to something as being waterproof if it holds water in or out and does not leak. However, the word waterproof is technically not defined this way. Most dictionaries define it as being impervious to water, that water cannot penetrate it at all. This raises a serious question: Can anything really be completely impervious to water?
Moisture infiltration can cause serious damage within a structure. When water in liquid form is present, the impact can be catastrophic—the structure can become uninhabitable. There are various methods used to address water penetration within a structure, and two of the most common techniques are waterproofing and dampproofing. Both these options can prevent moisture, but waterproofing will resist the passage of water under hydrostatic head pressure. In other words, it stops liquid water penetration when the water is in contact with the waterproofing material. In comparison, dampproofing only resists water in the absence of this hydrostatic pressure.
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