Terrace Garden Waterproofing

Waterproof the terrace before gardening it

It’s important to waterproof your terrace before you take up terrace gardening in any Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) structures. At the area selected for gardening, the slab porosity is to be checked for leakage. Field experts can check weak points where pressure grouting is done, i.e., holes are drilled into the RCC slabs and, through nozzles, cement neat slurry is forced into them.

The foam formed fills all the holes, making the concentration of the slab denser.

The weakest point is the 90-degree angle where the floor meets the parapet wall where waterproofing is paramount.

‘Coving’ is a procedure done here with a cement-polymer mix used for reinforcing these junctions. Waterproofing plaster is applied at pipe intersections, sealing all the gaps where the pipe and the roof meet. Slopes are prepared for new buildings, but for existing ones adequate drainage has to be worked out for getting rid of excess water.

Amongst the waterproofing systems, the traditional Brick Bat Coba (BBC) consists of putting brickbats on roofs to give a slope and then grout the same with mortar admixed with various proprietary chemicals.

In newly constructed houses, it provides a good slope at a moderate cost, so that the water drains away. In Acrylic membrane method of waterproofing, the membrane is manufactured using acrylic based chemicals that make it highly elastic and durable. 

Easily applied with the help of adhesive

Unlike bitumen based membrane which is quite difficult to install(for melting LPG cylinder is required) an acrylic based membrane is applied with the help of adhesive which is very easy to apply. In addition, it is far more environment-friendly than tar based products.

It protects buildings from the adverse effects caused due to constant exposure.

In Bituminous Waterproofing a tough grade material is used that is saturated with a special bituminous compound comprising minerals fillers.

Polymer-Based Proofing is a type with a modified cementitious waterproofing system. Field workers say it is also not a perfect method of waterproofing as it is prone to a damage if the surface fails.

The polymer base protects the building roofs from fungus, salt penetration, and environmental attacks.