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Discussion Forum

waterproofing a terrasse

| Posted in General Discussion on October 14, 2000 06:30am

*
I bought a 20 years old house on the french riviera. This house has been built on a hill and, therefore, the contractor had to dig the hill in order to build the house. To avoid humidity through the garage wall, he decided to build a small room between the hill and the garage but the first owner decided to use it as a workshop. The problem comes from the fact that over this room there is a terrasse. The contractor did use silicon glue as a jointer between the house wall and the terrasse. I had to change it as there was water leakage from the terrasse to the workshop and, as this room was not properly ventilated moisture set itself on the wall and the floor.
I painted the workshop walls with waterproofing paint, the terrasse with a waterproofing liquid but, lately we had a heavy rain fall and I still had leaks but not at the same level as before. I know that, on the terrasse there are very narrow cracks and I am sure that water may infiltrate through these. Reviewing the problem with my neighbourg who is a contractor, he told me that, the best would be to put, on the terrasse a layer of tar impregnated felt and, over it a layer of mortar in order to be able to walk on but I am not ready to invest so much. I thought using Rubson rubber paint laying a two inches wide paint on joint between the wall and the terrasse and cover thoses cracks with the same paint.
Would someone tell me if this is a viable solution or if there is any other one that would cure the problem without too much of an investment.

Thanks
Claude

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  1. George_Lentulo | Oct 08, 2000 01:16am | #1

    *
    Dear Claude,

    We do not use the word _terrasse_ in America, but I am guessing it is some form of deck (floor), obviously?

    When you speak of the "cracks" - are these the joints between wood decking members, or is it something else?

    Attempting to waterproof a deck with paint is not a viable solution. There are elastomeric coatings which can bridge over cracks, but their primary function is to bridge cracks in Vertical plaster or concrete walls - I have never seen one where the manufacturer did not recommend AGAINST using it on horizontal surfaces.

    I am not sure if the terrasse is suspended over the roof of this room - or if it constitutes the roof itself? It sounds to me that what you really have is a ROOF for the space below, and it should be treated as such - covered, flashed, etc.

    I am sorry, but I think if you are going to try and seal a roof with paint, you may as well put the money for the paint in an envelope and send it to me (S) ... it will do you about as much good. Cover it w/ heavy polyethylene sheeting and weight it w/ bricks to get through the winter until you have more money. Good Luck!

    Geo.

    1. Claude_Gengoux | Oct 08, 2000 11:02am | #2

      *Thanks George for your answer. In fact I did a slight mistake in spelling the word terrasse. IN English(dictionnary)it spells terrace.You are wright, the terrace constitute the roof of the room which is below it.There is no wood at all but made with prestressed concrete bars spaced at 2 meters from each other and, inbetween concrete blocks. Sorry but my knowledge of US construction terms is minimal though I am a FineHomebuilding subscriber since 1992. Seen from over, the blocks are covered with a layer of cement and the cracks appears there.I have tried polyethylene sheeting without great success at the sheeting does not protect the join between the wall and the terrace.Therefore the rain flows on the wall directly on the join. Unless I glue the sheeting on the wall this solution may just reduce the leak.

      1. Rob_Rehm | Oct 09, 2000 04:28am | #3

        *Claude,Check Duradeks website (www.duradek) & see if they have any one over there that can take care of the problem.

        1. Claude_Gengoux | Oct 12, 2000 09:46am | #4

          *Hi George,Yesterday I was walking on a strett downtown Nice and found a Do-it-Yourself shop. I went in and asked for help. They had a lot of catalogues one of which was the SIKA (or SIKKA) in which I found the right product called the SIKA floor 400F. This product holds cracks up to 2.5mm (1/10th of an inch) either already there or if they occur after the product has been laid out. It is made for horizontal flooring, stairs and you can walk on.The same shop called me yesterday to let me know that they found another product based on tar, that is black and on which you can walk.Next Tuesday I will pass in the shop and look at the specs.ThanksClaude

          1. Claude_Gengoux | Oct 12, 2000 09:48am | #5

            *Thanks Rob for your help. I will look at Duradecks website and compare the specs of their product to the SIKA's one or the one that I will get next Tuesday(ref my todays message to George LentuloRegardsClaude

          2. Luka_ | Oct 12, 2000 10:17am | #6

            *Claude,I am sure that you have already thought of this, but figured it couldn't hurt to mention. If you are going to do any of these solutions, you might want to pay attention to the surface that you already have,Before you apply anything else over it, make sure the surface has no gravel, etc on it which could cause problems with the other products. Also, check out any cracks for sharp edges. You may want to fill cracks with something first, then smooth out the surface to make sure there are no protruding edges from the cracks, etc. Then, clean the surface well.

          3. Norman_Williams | Oct 12, 2000 01:03pm | #7

            *Claude, Check http://www.grailcoat.com this product should be available in Europe. It is a polymerized portland cement product. We have applied it to existing craked concrete surfaces with great results. Use the Superflex for a base coat. Top with the Durasurf.

          4. Billy_Gear | Oct 12, 2000 05:30pm | #8

            *Hello Claude ... Try GRAILCOAT.com for ideas relating to your situation.They make a product that is made of portland and elastomeric reinforced with polyproplyene grid cloth. I wanted to use it on my flat deck over a two car garage. The roof is level to the side door and we wanted to use that area as a deck, and Grailcoat promised to keep things dry for 20 years, with a guarantee to back it up. Only problem was that importing it into Canada from the USA proved to be too cumbersome. So I had my buddy treat it as same as the deck of a ship. He fiberglassed it and now it is as tight as could be. No leaks. He finished it off with gray gelcoat, and sprinkled on some fine sand to provide a safe footing. I put in a call to him to ask if it could be done over concrete. He hasn't called back yet, but when he does, I will let you know. Good luck ... Billy

          5. George_Lentulo | Oct 14, 2000 06:30am | #9

            *Claude,Yes! The SIKA line is very good - I was not aware there was something from there for horizontal surfaces, however. We have used the SIKA-FLEX as a caulking to fill cracks up to 1/4" wide. top-coating w/ an elastomeric.Again, best of luck.George

  2. Claude_Gengoux | Oct 14, 2000 06:30am | #10

    *
    I bought a 20 years old house on the french riviera. This house has been built on a hill and, therefore, the contractor had to dig the hill in order to build the house. To avoid humidity through the garage wall, he decided to build a small room between the hill and the garage but the first owner decided to use it as a workshop. The problem comes from the fact that over this room there is a terrasse. The contractor did use silicon glue as a jointer between the house wall and the terrasse. I had to change it as there was water leakage from the terrasse to the workshop and, as this room was not properly ventilated moisture set itself on the wall and the floor.
    I painted the workshop walls with waterproofing paint, the terrasse with a waterproofing liquid but, lately we had a heavy rain fall and I still had leaks but not at the same level as before. I know that, on the terrasse there are very narrow cracks and I am sure that water may infiltrate through these. Reviewing the problem with my neighbourg who is a contractor, he told me that, the best would be to put, on the terrasse a layer of tar impregnated felt and, over it a layer of mortar in order to be able to walk on but I am not ready to invest so much. I thought using Rubson rubber paint laying a two inches wide paint on joint between the wall and the terrasse and cover thoses cracks with the same paint.
    Would someone tell me if this is a viable solution or if there is any other one that would cure the problem without too much of an investment.

    Thanks
    Claude

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