Challenge:

A beautiful architecturally designed home was being built at Mangawhai Heads. The homeowner and architect were adamant on a ‘belts-and-braces’ approach for the waterproofing below the floor slab and the exterior walls below ground level. The most difficult and therefore expensive types of leaks to rectify are those that happen below floor slabs and/or below ground-level, so it needed to be done right first time and the waterproofing needed to fulfill the 50-year durability requirement of the Building Code.

Solution:

The architect specified Allco’s Voltex to seal the footings and under-slab. This specialised clay-based system is compatible and would therefore tie-in with Allco’s Swelltite Volclay to be installed on the exterior of the block walls, resulting in the whole building becoming fully encapsulated below floor level.

Aquaproofing were hand-picked for this job for a few reasons. Aside from our high standard of workmanship and the fact that we’ve had no call-backs with tanking projects, we also have a reputation for managing such projects seamlessly – no easy feat considering there’s a lot of planning and coordination with other trades in order for the below-ground waterproofing to be successful. A key example is the need for the back-filling to be performed in a series of frequent stages by the main contractor. This also involves intermittent compacting of the back-fill. These phases are critical. If not done properly, the expansion properties of the specialized clay-power will not work to full capacity which could compromise water tightness.

Result:

Like Aquaproofing’s other tanking projects, this upmarket seaside residence hasn’t leaked and is expected to remain watertight beyond the Building Code’s minimum durability requirement of 50 years.