Water leakage or seepage is one of the most common causes of any building defect and it reduces life of building structure significantly. Ignoring terrace waterproofing needs in new construction or using temporarily solutions in exiting seepage problems can create immediate or long-term problems. Generally, there are some specific locations of building that cause water leakage problems. Terrace is one of the most critical areas where perfect waterproofing is required. Temperature variations, intense rain falls and structural moments develop numerous cracks and rainwater leaks through these cracks. In addition to these natural causes, negligence in workmanship such as inaccurate leveling and inappropriate gaps filling between concrete and drain pipes are another reasons of water leakage through terrace.
Brick Bat Coba (BBC) is believed to be a waterproofing and insulation solutions in buildings. But unfortunately, Brick Bat Coba cannot provide solution for any of it. Due to lack of awareness of available waterproofing chemicals, BBC and other traditional methods like Mud Fuska or lime terracing are still being used to protect terrace from water. However, with emergence of innovative and developed chemicals, industry has seen reduction in usage of these conventional methods.
Why BBC on terrace is not an ideal solution for terrace Waterproofing?
Here are some limitations of Brick Back Coba:
Unnecessary load: BBC’s thickness is maintained at 125mm to 150 mm, which accumulate unnecessary weight on terrace. A thick surface is neither a solution of waterproofing nor of heat insulation. On the contrary, if water seeps through BBC, this thick surface works as a water reservoir and does not allow water to evaporate easily.
Impossible to repair: If water travels below BBC, it exits wherever it finds a path and we cannot anticipate the source cracks on BBC that need to be repaired. Normally in such cases, we do patch work which hardly provides any solutions.
Removing BBC: Removing BBC from entire terrace is time consuming and requires lot of labor efforts. Some part of BBC fixed with mother surface so well that if we make an attempt to dismantle it, surface gets damaged.
Rigidness in BBC surface: Generally, cracks appear in BBC due to climatic variations. Building surfaces that are exposed to temperature variations require flexibility. Even if, we do patch work or grouting in cracks, it may prevent leakages for a while but reappears after few months.
Poor Workmanship: In areas where external factors such as climate variations and heavy rainfall are not exist, BBC can provide satisfactory work but only if it is applied properly. In these days, there is lack of skilled manpower and poor supervision further increases possibility of poor applications which leads to a failure. Even the basis requirements such as leveling, grouting etc. are not maintained properly.
BBC as a Water Reservoir: Once uneven leveling or lack of grouting or cracks is there on Brick Bat Coba, water seeps into it, BBC works as a water reservoir on terrace and gradually water infiltrate inside home.
Substitute of Brick Bat Coba: Liquid waterproofing system for terrace waterproofing
Innovative & advanced chemicals provide far better results and can also be applied easily without much hassle. Membrane based chemicals, crystalline waterproofing, PU coatings and acrylic polymer-based cementitious coatings are some of popular ways in waterproofing industry. For crucial surfaces like terrace and for complex surfaces with multiple joints, liquid waterproofing systems are recommended. Liquid waterproofing system which forms a highly elastic and flexible membrane on applied area is perfect solution for terrace waterproofing.
Waterproofers.in tested and used many liquid waterproofing systems and found Teroflex, a product developed by Roxxell, most efficient for terrace waterproofing, swimming pools, water-tanks and basements. Teroflex is a highly flexible, membrane based waterproofing solution that is available in ready to use package and can be applied by simple brush or roller. Unlike a 125-150mm thickness in Brick Bat Coba, it needs only 1-1.5mm thickness. All the flaws in BBC; Unnecessary load, Rigidity, cost and efforts required in BBC, and results due to poor workmanship can be either solved or avoided easily by using Teroflex. The best feature in TEROFLEX is that it can be applied without removing BBC and all efforts and cost for removing BBC can be avoided.