At In-Form Building & Consulting, our ownership team have a wealth of experience in rectifying defective building elements that have stemmed from minor and major construction defects. From that, we have developed a range of investigation techniques to assist with identifying these issues in new and old dwellings which then allow us to properly estimate projects.
Initial Consultations
This is the first step and is a required element to get us to site and commence investigation and depending on the issue presenting, this may involve a simple inspection or may require testing.
Testing can include non-destructive or destructive testing; we have a range of non-destructive testing devices to assist with avoiding unnecessary damage in the early stages of the investigation.
For scopes outside of our area of expertise, we can directly engage expert Engineers and Plumbers to assist with further testing and investigation should the need arise. By utilising the same teams of people, we have had the ability to hone our systems in collaboration to reach a consensus on any causation.
Water Problems
Water is pernicious and has multiple sources.
Internal waterproofing
Failures to internal wet areas are a major issue due to the modern style of bathroom construction as a failure will often result in hidden structural damage before it is detected through finished elements. We have non-destructive methods to test the waterproofing system in your wet areas that will assist in confirming the actual cause of the failure.
The important thing to note here, is that a part failure of the system does not mean the entire bathroom needs to be rebuilt. There are alternatives that are possible, and will be dependant on the type of leak occurring. We have managed hundreds of bathroom wet area failures and a large portion often have the potential for minor rectification in lieu of complete rebuilds.
External waterproofing
Failures to external wet areas are generally found in balconies and planter boxes. Unfortunately, this is a significant volume of insurance claims in Victoria and a major point of contention in our industry.
Much to many advocates chagrin, failure is rarely as result of deliberate acts by builders to cut corners. Unfortunately, the reason is poor training and worse detailing. The detailing is probably the more important factor as this is the biggest problem. If the drawing supplied to a builder or contractor doesn’t include detailing on how the various junctions are to be managed (and there can be up to a dozen in any balcony area), then it is usually left to the waterproofing contractor to figure it out.
The problem there is that depending on when the contractor is engaged, many elements are already built, so their options for making it work become limited.
I’m sure you can see how that plays out. Everyone is left doing the best they can, but ultimately, without good design detailing, or a really experienced supervisor who can manage it properly, it gets left to the end.
Then, you can add in how the waterproofing system interacts with the weatherproofing system and how both of those manage penetrations by handrail/balustrade structures…. It gets very messy VERY quickly.
Having managed and rectified in excess of 50 balconies over the last 8 years, we know what to look for and what needs to be done. There is some flexibility here as we can look at risk points and likelihood of failure in reducing the scopes of work when we are looking at the cladding component.
The ultimate end point we reach and advocate for – NO MORE TILED BALCONIES. Even with all of the detailing worked out perfectly, controlling for thermal movement of the tiles, the substrate, any screed used, and even the colour of the tile is just not possible without a high level of residual risk.
Pedestal paving systems are a simple solution; they look great and are easy to maintain. Problem? Lift tile, look at issue, fix in an hour, replace tile. Nice and simple.
Basement waterproofing
This one is always going to be trickier to manage in Australia when we don’t have an Australian Standard or any Australian Building code details to manage this. It’s entirely based on what the design drawings and has historically been done very poorly.
The code allows for what has been termed a ‘wet basement’. This has been poorly interpreted by many commercial builders to mean that they can allow leaks as long as they put a drain in. The ‘poor’ part of this is that uncontrolled leaks through wall cause rusting to reinforced steel so the concept of allowing controlled drainage has been skewed.
Rectification of these issues requires Engineering input to assess damage and specify the correct waterproofing system is used.
External weatherproofing
As noted above, weatherproofing is closely related to waterproofing but MUST NOT be confused. Weatherproof is not designed to do the same things as waterproof and it’s important to remember this when considering cladding and roof design.
A simple fact that is poorly understood and is a major reason for leaks through walls and around windows; CLADDING LEAKS. Even rendered hebel systems and masonry veneer have the capacity to leak and Hebel comes with a Codemark certificate (which is ludicrously expensive to obtain) that says it doesn’t.
When the cladding leaks, a builder is obligated to provide a method of controlling that moisture without it causing damage or loss of amenity to the dwelling (this is a core element of our building code). Unfortunately, this is another element that is really better detailed by an architect/building designer. Sadly, not many want to spend the additional money required to create these details so everyone falls back onto the manufacturers ‘standard details‘. These are great, until you reach a detail that doesn’t suit…. Then, it’s up to the person staring at the wall to figure it out and we know the result of that unless that person is highly trained and experienced in this area (which is upsettingly rare).
We have reclad apartments, townhouses, and standard residential homes and know what is required to properly create a weather resistive barrier before installing cladding.