Sustainable Protection in Buildings: Waterproofing

The 1999 earthquake that struck the Marmara region demonstrated that Turkey's construction technology required further development. In this context, updated regulations established minimum standards for materials to be used in new construction projects. Since that time, construction quality in newly built structures has been improving steadily. However, paying attention to the use of correct materials only during the construction phase is insufficient for the existence of sustainable healthy buildings. Just as care must be taken with materials used during construction, the building must be absolutely protected to ensure long-term performance. Otherwise, serious problems can arise in structures due to external factors. For this reason, buildings must be protected from external factors. Among external factors, the one that causes the greatest damage to buildings is the effect of water and moisture. This type of impact causes the load-bearing concrete of the building to corrode over time and lose its load-bearing capacity. In particular, the effect of water and moisture weakens the building's structural integrity, and the seepage of moisture into the building can lead to comfort and health problems, reducing the quality of life. Water leakage problems occurring in wet areas inside buildings may not have a direct negative effect on building physics, but can lead to certain financial and comfort-related issues. For example, a water leakage problem caused by a bathroom in an apartment where waterproofing has not been applied creates a financial burden for the homeowners and also causes them to sacrifice their comfort during the necessary bathroom renovation period. To avoid all these possible problems, protection must be foreseen while the building is still in the design phase and must be included in the plan in accordance with both architectural and structural design. Before construction of the building begins, waterproofing should be designed in all necessary areas with the correct materials and systems. In this direction, the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization is preparing new regulations on waterproofing. In this regulation, superstructures are primarily evaluated, and the subject of how proper waterproofing should be applied in areas such as foundation-wall, wet spaces, terraces and roof waterproofing is addressed. With the regulation being developed, the goal is to make correct material recommendations based on existing material or application standards for areas requiring waterproofing. On the other hand, for solution proposals, direction is given to application standards to ensure that the correctly selected material is applied with the correct method. In addition to correct application and correct material, other factors effective in the success of waterproofing are proper surface preparation before application and compliance with specified application conditions. In this direction, the suitability of surface conditions for material application must be checked. For example, before applying waterproofing implemented with bitumen-based brush-applied thick coatings on foundation-wall surfaces, the answers to the following questions must be investigated: Waterproofing applied with incomplete surface preparation is likely to cause various problems in the future. For sustainable waterproofing, proper surface preparation, compliance with application conditions, and correct detail application must be performed.

Points to Consider for Surface Preparation

• Have protrusions that may reduce adhesion, loose fillings, paint, mold oil, grease, curing materials, salt efflorescence and similar layers been removed from the surface? • Is the application surface sound and even? Is the surface suitable for the material to be applied to have uniform thickness? • If application is wall waterproofing, have necessary surface repairs or plaster application on wall concrete been performed with suitable materials? • If application is foundation waterproofing, has the lean concrete surface been properly finished with a float? • If application is brick wall, has the surface been leveled with suitable material? • Has chamfering been applied with suitable repair material at corners formed on the wall? • Have external sharp corners formed on the wall been rounded by mechanical means? • After surface preparation work, has the primer recommended by the manufacturer/supplier been applied? • Have suitable solution details recommended by the manufacturer/supplier been applied in expansion joints and cold joints to ensure sustained waterproofing? Points to Consider for Application Conditions • Are suitable conditions available such as ambient temperature between +5°C and +35°C or rain-free weather for material application? • After material application, are measures such as shading and covering being taken to avoid weather conditions that expose the surface to direct sunlight and/or strong winds that can cause rapid water loss?

Application Detail on Wall Concrete and Lean Concrete

Description: 1. Wall concrete, 2. Polymer-modified bitumen-based thick-coating waterproofing material, 3. Thermal insulation board, 4. Drainage board, 5. Chamfer, 6. Natural soil, 7. Gravel – filter material, 8. Drainage pipe, 9. Lean concrete, 10. Polymer-modified bitumen-based thick-coating waterproofing material, 11. Polyethylene film, 12. Protection screed, 13. Foundation concrete, 14. Joint tape, 15. Backfill. Abdülkadir Akhan - Technical Products Product Manager / Saint-Gobain Weber Türkiye