September 2024 Leakfix Newsletter: ELD Testing and Bitumen Membrane Applications
Owners Insights: A price for a piece of mind.
Our most recent project we completed just in time to leave for a short family holiday was a gym rooftop in one of the Broadbeach iconic 80’s residential towers. There were many problems with the roof. Firstly it was not draining properly. With just one through wall drain which was sitting roughly 25mm above the roof level, the roof never drained completely and at times the outlet would get clogged up completely and flood the inside through the vent openings.
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| Figure 1 - Ponding Water | Figure 2 - Dysfunctional through wall drain |
What we proposed was a comprehensive service that included not only new waterproofing but also correcting falls and installing a high-performance, verifiable waterproofing system that can be maintained for the design life of the structure.
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Figure 3 - Specification Report |
Figure 4 - New Waterproofing Design |
We at Leakfix design, install, and verify the waterproofing systems with confidence. We also guarantee the performance outcomes. These days, value isn’t found in the lowest price; value lies in peace of mind. That’s why we designed a waterproofing system, wrote a specification, executed the plan, and then verified the system. Below are some pictures of our work we included in our daily QA and progress forms submitted to stakeholders daily while job was in progress;
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| Figure 5 - Core drilling new openings for drains | Figure 6 - Removal of existing membrane |
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| Figure 7 - VCL | Figure 8 - Tapered Insulation |
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| Figure 9 - Installation of cap sheet in progress | Figure 10 - Conductive underlayment |
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| Figure 11 - Testing | Figure 12 - Finished gutter |
Below you will find products and services we used on this project;
Tapered Scheme & Membranes - Enduroflex and Soprema Australia
Conductive Underlayment - Controlit and Proven Membranes
Testing - Waterproofing Compliance
Concrete prep and core drilling: Perfect Concrete Care
Expert Tip of the Month: Waterproofing System Verification - ELD testing.
Introduction
It would be nice for all waterproofers to guarantee the outcomes of their work. Currently, especially in remedial space, we find a lot of contractors avoiding responsibility and trying to outsource it to different entities, being typically Waterproofing Product Manufacturer, Waterproofing Consultant and whoever else they can drag into the situation.
As an alternative, I propose using an objective scientific test—an electronic scanning system to locate membrane breaches on both horizontal and vertical surfaces. In order to make any ELD testing method possible, a conductive substrate below the non conductive membrane is a must. On my latest project I used Controlit conductive underlayment in between 2 layers of Soprema modified bitumen waterproofing. I decided to use Controlit because I needed to correct falls on the roof. The tapered insulation scheme solved this problem, however in order to verify the system, conductive underlayment was required. I have used Controlit previously in a slightly different scenario - In a stormwater tank. In instances where the membrane is loose laid it was very easy. However, adhered assemblies can be a bit tricky - I wasn't sure what would be the best placement for Conductive underlayment due to the use of complicated multi layer warm roof assembly. Eventually after confirming with Controlit (Which BTW have excellent technical support - Thank You Julien :) ) we decided to use Controlit between the 2 layers of modified bitumen membrane as shown below;
Figure 13 - Warm roof Conductive Underlay Diagram
In our case, we were not going over the existing waterproofing but decided that we will “embed” Controlit between layers as an attachment method. Despite a few minor installation issues (mainly related to setting out rolls in windy conditions) we found the product to be good to work with and adhesion between layers satisfactory. We really like professional grounding point covers concealing earthing rods that come with very good and concise manuals.
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| Figure 14 - Grounding Point |
Figure 15 - Grounding Point connected for ELD test |
Figure 16 - Grounding Point Finished |
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