[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Gansan

The overhead tank of my apartment block (capacity 10,000 litres) has developed a leak. Water is seeping through the bottom and in to the stairwell. There is also a slight seepage from one side. The ceiling of the tank has also corroded and needs re-plastering.

A mason who came to see the damage wants five days to repair it. Basically plastering has to be chipped off from all sides, bottom and top, after which re-plastering needs to be done with water-proof cement, according to him.

There is no fast method, as the cement has to "cure". You can try contacting Waterproofing contractors and see if they can inject compound to stop leaks.

As a precaution please empty the tank before repairing it.

[carboy]

I have 2 bathrooms in my home. The walls in the inside of the house which surround the bathroom started having paint peeling of & felt moist. Only around bottom 1/2 feet of the walls had the problem. So a guy scrapped the walls, put white cement & then repainted the walls. It was good for a few weeks. The again, the same thing started happening but a little higher. So again did the same job higher (1/2 feet to 1 feet). Things were OK for a month or two. Then same paint peeling & moisture even higher up.

Few reasons I can think of.

1) Some pipes which are inside the walls are leaking.

2) One guy told me that my bathroom walls are not well constructed - i.e. hollow from inside - i.e. builder used less of cement & more of lime & sand to build the walls. He guy even knocked on the walls from inside & said it has a hollow sound. This may mean that the water from inside the bathroom is going into the walls & coming out as moisture from the outer walls.


Either way - what's the solution for this. Who should I call to investigate & fix the issue.

If pipe is leaking, no way one can know this until the walls are broken.

What do I do?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by carboy

I have 2 bathrooms in my home. The walls in the inside of the house which surround the bathroom started having paint peeling of & felt moist. Only around bottom 1/2 feet of the walls had the problem. So a guy scrapped the walls, put white cement & then repainted the walls. It was good for a few weeks. The again, the same thing started happening but a little higher. So again did the same job higher (1/2 feet to 1 feet). Things were OK for a month or two. Then same paint peeling & moisture even higher up.

Few reasons I can think of.

1) Some pipes which are inside the walls are leaking.

2) One guy told me that my bathroom walls are not well constructed - i.e. hollow from inside - i.e. builder used less of cement & more of lime & sand to build the walls. He guy even knocked on the walls from inside & said it has a hollow sound. This may mean that the water from inside the bathroom is going into the walls & coming out as moisture from the outer walls.


Either way - what's the solution for this. Who should I call to investigate & fix the issue.

If pipe is leaking, no way one can know this until the walls are broken.

What do I do?

Well, you have a common problem. The water is leaking, but short of stripping the whole wall it is difficult to find where. Normally this is what is done
. Check if the ground water is high. If so, then the moisture is creeping up the wall
. Check if there is any water pipe leaking in the wall. You scrape the plaster off, and wait for moisture to appear, and then trace the moisture path by breaking the plaster along the moisture line. If the water pipes are more than 30 years old, then they are the most probable culprit. When you replace them, use branded heavy zinc coated pipes, like Tata, they will last at least 50 years, especially if they are coated with water proof compounds and the joints/cuts/threads are also treated similraly.

In case you have moisture traveling ground up, then the most appropriate measure is to inject water proofing chemicals at the base of the wall.

My advise is get either of these two manufacturer's representatives to visit and evaluate the seepage. Please be aware the seepage can originate at one end of the house and exit at the other end. So you may not find the origin that easily.
- SICO CICO -- Built to last
- Dr Fix it DR.FIXIT - Waterproofing Products

EDIT : Another possibility can be the bathroom floor-Wall joint leak. That too would be solved by injecting water proof compound at the joint.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Well, you have a common problem. The water is leaking, but short of stripping the whole wall it is difficult to find where. Normally this is what is done
. Check if the ground water is high. If so, then the moisture is creeping up the wall

I live on the 3rd floor of the building. So can I assume it't not ground water?

. Check if there is any water pipe leaking in the wall. You scrape the plaster off, and wait for moisture to appear, and then trace the moisture path by breaking the plaster along the moisture line. If the water pipes are more than 30 years old, then they are the most probable culprit.

The building is around 5 years old. But looks like the builder took a lot of short cuts - that's visible in walls as I described before.

When you replace them, use branded heavy zinc coated pipes, like Tata, they will last at least 50 years, especially if they are coated with water proof compounds and the joints/cuts/threads are also treated similraly.

In case you have moisture traveling ground up, then the most appropriate measure is to inject water proofing chemicals at the base of the wall.

My advise is get either of these two manufacturer's representatives to visit and evaluate the seepage. Please be aware the seepage can originate at one end of the house and exit at the other end. So you may not find the origin that easily.
- SICO CICO -- Built to last
- Dr Fix it DR.FIXIT - Waterproofing Products

How do contact the manufacturer's representatives?

EDIT : Another possibility can be the bathroom floor-Wall joint leak. That too would be solved by injecting water proof compound at the joint.

What do you mean by bathroom floor wall joint leak?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by carboy

I live on the 3rd floor of the building. So can I assume it't not ground water?

The building is around 5 years old. But looks like the builder took a lot of short cuts - that's visible in walls as I described before.

How do contact the manufacturer's representatives?

What do you mean by bathroom floor wall joint leak?

Fine. Then ground water is ruled out, and poor workmanship/material is the suspect.

. Use contact us or similar link to send a request. They will respond.

. The line where the floor meets the wall. Normally the water does not seep at this line as there is cement behind the tiles and the floor. At times due to age and/or poor workmanship the joint allows water to creep in. This water will then seep up the walls. If you have any one in North America, then get a tube of Silicon Seal and use it to seal up the floor line.

Another area where problems occur is in the drain pipes. If the joints are not properly sealed, then with time they will leak. This is manifested mostly with dripping toilet roof, when the joint in pipes in the story above leak.

[kevinephraim]

Its been a whole year that the waterproofing was carried out for my terrace, and i have to say that it has been a job well done.

The extra brickbat that was used has also reduced the amount of heat passing through the roof into our bedrooms.

The only disadvantage has been the extra height that has been added to the terrace floor due to the brickbat, which has reduced the distance between the door bottom sill and terrace floor, thereby making a very heavy downpour and a slightly blocked drain a disastrous combination where water tends to start leaking under the door into the house.

Only solution to this is to keep the drains always clear of any leaves and rubbish accumulating at them.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by kevinephraim

Only solution to this is to keep the drains always clear of any leaves and rubbish accumulating at them.

You can also put a small barrier at the door sill, so that water does not leak in. This used to be a standard method in olden days, but omitted now a days due to aesthetics.

[SachinVD]

The ceiling of one of my bedroom has started leaking at 2 places. The plaster has started to come apart at these places like wafers. I can see damp patches at these places. My flat is on the 3rd floor and our building is having 7 floors. It looks like the seepage is coming from either the floor above me or from somewhere further above. I am not sure how to solve this problem. Whether a plumber can help? Or does it need a specialised water proofing person? Can somebody give suggestions please?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by SachinVD

The ceiling of one of my bedroom has started leaking at 2 places. The plaster has started to come apart at these places like wafers. I can see damp patches at these places. My flat is on the 3rd floor and our building is having 7 floors. It looks like the seepage is coming from either the floor above me or from somewhere further above. I am not sure how to solve this problem. Whether a plumber can help? Or does it need a specialised water proofing person? Can somebody give suggestions please?

Contact a water proofing specialist - CIICo or Dr Fixit- Go to their site and the contact numbers will be there.

They will come, inspect and then suggest a remedy (None of it is cheap). Most porobably they will inject water sealing compond in a 1m grid. That will solve your problem, by the water may find another path from its source, so tell them to ensure that the whole flat is protected.

[blackstallion76]

Friends - I am looking for terrace water proofing/Bathroom proofing.
Please let me know any inputs.

Seeing lot of -ve Fixit solutions. Contractors suggest Fosroc solutions.
An avg 1000 sqft is charged for 45-50000 for full terrace water proofing.

Local contractor is suggesting brush bond single component application charging 40000.

Please advice. Would be helpful.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by blackstallion76

Friends - I am looking for terrace water proofing/Bathroom proofing.
Please let me know any inputs.

Seeing lot of -ve Fixit solutions. Contractors suggest Fosroc solutions.
An avg 1000 sqft is charged for 45-50000 for full terrace water proofing.

Local contractor is suggesting brush bond single component application charging 40000.

Please advice. Would be helpful.

Water travels through micro cracks in floors and ceilings. Such cracks are unavoidable and are a part of the construction method. Even Dams and other massive concrete structures are prone to them if not treated during pouring.

All successful waterproofing involves
. Waterproofing the floor/ceiling
. Waterproofing the walls

This is done by various methods, some extremely effective and some just last a couple of years.

The only sure shot method of waterproofing a concrete structure permanently (10+ years) is to inject specialized chemicals at 1m grid, both on the floor and the walls

One relatively low cost solution for roof is to
. Rip all the layers from the terrace roof and expose bare concrete
. Lay two layers of tarred felt, at 90 degrees to each other
. Spray a thin layer of tar
. Use a heat gun to soften/melt the surface tar, so that it flows and seals the cracks
. Place a layer of thin bricks (tiles) to cover the tar.
. Cover the bricks with a rich cement mortar, preferably with waterproofing chemicals added

This will last five or more years, depending on the usage of terrace.

For details of water proofing chemicals you can search the net for Dr. Fixit.

[pradkumar]

A colleague said these guys have some excellent water proofing solutions:

http://www.zydexindustries.com/Water...ng-Paints.aspx

http://www.zydexindustries.com/webfi...August2014.pdf

Pradeep

[Thad E Ginathom]

We have a modest-cost water-proof/heat-reflecting coating on the ceiling. Big enough cracks are simply silicon filled. Probably increased now, but when last done (it needs repainting every two or three years) I think it cost us about Rs13/sq.ft --- and everything else I have seen is multiples of that price.

Nov/Dec '15, when water was coming into the house by every other possible route, despite the coating being old now, not a drop came through the terrace!

The guy who built this house never properly finished the terrace, leaving just the concrete surface, with no brick 'gel' or tiles. Previous to coating, we had major drips coming into the house.

[Mortis]

One cheaper option for terrace waterproofing with some cooling that we had success with is the combo of Crack-Ex (Krack?) and Birla Cool and Seal. It was a 3 day job for a single guy one a 1250sq ft terrace + walls
Day 1 : Crack Ex was used to fill and patch all visible big and small cracks upto say an inch around the crack on the floor and walls with special attention given to the border line between the walls and floor and top of the wall

Day 2 : Slurry of Birla Cool n Seal was made and applied by brush in a single direction on floor, inside and outside of walls, extending to aound 5-6ft of neighbours area for safety. Allowed to dry overnight

Day 3 : Cool and seal applied again in single direction across the previous coat.

Done ! Only paid for materials and 3 days 'majoori' for the painter. Didnt cost much at all though I cant remember the exact quanities of materials used.

Stopped all the leaks and did feel a bit cooler. It lasted atleast 3 years after which during painting and repairs the terrace was also redone so cannot comment on how long it will last post 3 years