Product category:
Balconies and Canopies
News Release from: Schluter-Systems | Subject: Ensuring long-lasting Balconies
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 16 November 2004
Ensuring long-lasting Balconies
Ian Knifton, Technical Manager of Schluter-Systems, answers your questions about using a proper surface drain assembly to ensures that water drains off outside patios, balconies and terraces.
Using a proper surface drain assembly ensures that water drains off outside patios, balconies and terraces - but even with a drain system, there can often be another, more serious, problem with such outside installations While the surface covering of tiles or stone may appear to be trouble-free, unseen drainage problems in the substrate may prove to be a ticking time-bomb, silently and unseeingly breaking down the substrate, which in turn will cause the tiles to debond and crack
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 11 Apr 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Ian Knifton, Technical Manager of Schluter-Systems Ltd, answers your questions on ensuring the long-lasting integrity of external installations.
QUESTION I need to put ceramic tiles on a balcony.
But, I'm worried that water will get trapped in the screed, which will become saturated, eventually breaking down through freeze-thaw action, causing the tiles to crack and become debonded.
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Stone floor cracking or debonding from substrate
Ian Knifton, Technical Manager at Schluter - Systems, says very often stone floors crack or debond because installers have not fitted an uncoupling membrane, or movement joints correctly
ANSWER You've every reason to be worried, because that's exactly what happens in so many cases.
Because balconies and terraces aren't as commonplace here as in the warmer European countries, there is only one all-round solution on the market in the UK.
It's a sub-surface drainage membrane which has been used extensively on the continent for over 15 years.
Known as Schluter-TROBA, it's a drainage matting system for use over sloped waterproofing layers, consisting of a polyethylene sheet with perforated dimples which form vault-like cavities between the waterproofing layer and the screed.
Water penetrating the tile covering and screed passes through the perforations to the waterproofing layer, where it runs off freely through the drainage cavities.
This stops a build-up of moisture in the screed, meaning the screed is unaffected by freeze-thaw action which would cause it to break down.
But without that system in place, water seeps through to the waterproofing layer where it has nowhere else to go, and simply saturates the screed.
QUESTION How easy is it to install? A First, the waterproofing layer is installed.
Schluter-TROBA is dry-laid loosely on top, with the screed going over that.
If an uncoupling membrane is required to protect the tiles from stresses coming up from the screed, that is installed next, and finally the tiles.
QUESTION I've also been asked to create a terrace for the same customer.
Will it protect the substrate in that instance? ANSWER You don't say if it's a tiled or stone surface.
The system has recently been fitted to protect fully vitrified Buchtal Acrob tiles on a terrace at the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon, after the screed broke down and the installation had to be rebuilt.
However, an alternative version has been specially designed as a drainage system for large format stone pavers.
Schluter-TROBA-STELTZ comprises 25mm-high polyethylene rings which are positioned where the pavers meet.
They're filled with fresh mortar which turns them into support pedestals.
Water is drained from the completed floor covering through the open joints and into the unobstructed space between the pedestals, where it then runs across the waterproofing layer to the drainage exit.
QUESTION I've seen several terraces where water has formed puddles near the door.
How can I prevent this? ANSWER When waterproofing balconies and terraces, it's not uncommon for the construction height - from the waterproofing layer to the building elements, doorsills or wall surfaces - to be inadequate.
According to DIN 18195, Part 5,7.1.6, the waterproofing membrane must be carried vertically, 15cm above the upper edge of the covering.
Because of those specifications, 15cm-high doorsills are required at door connections, and, according to decking guidelines, deviation is only allowed if suitable drainage can be guaranteed.
In such cases, the Schluter-TROBA-LINE guarantees drainage at a low connecting height.
It is a stainless steel drainage channel, consisting of perforated upper and lower U-shaped sections, and installed above the drainage matting.
Water simply drains straight through the perforations, down through the mat onto the waterproofing layer and away to the drainage exit, preventing puddles from forming.
* While we receive numerous queries regarding specific tiling problems, which we answer through this column, we're also constantly asked about the level of training we provide to the industry. Request a free brochure from Schluter-Systems ...
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