The operation of underground parking and their construction is quite difficult. The whole problem is that such places are located below ground level, which means that they are quite strongly influenced by groundwater. Because of this, the issue of waterproofing underground parking is quite acute.
General description of the design
Due to its location, the parking, or rather the walls of the structure, is constantly under pressure from groundwater. Because of this, they suffer quite a lot. The floor is also subject to constant load from the wheels of cars. If we add to this the absence of sunlight, as well as constant problems with ventilation, then this is also an ideal place for the appearance of fungus.
In addition to these problems, another arises - the accumulation of a large amount of moisture after rain, melt water in the spring, etc. All this liquid will certainly look for weak spots in the compounds in order to seep inside. These reasons are quite enough to already think about the maximum possible waterproofing of the underground parking. It is worth saying that such a design has a lot of weaknesses. This can be ventilation, and joints of the floor with walls, and zones of expansion joints.
Insulation arrangement
When it becomes clear that the waterproofing of underground parking is one of the most important tasks, the question arises of when to tackle this problem. With absolute certainty we can say that the initial stage of laying waterproofing is still at the design stage of the entire parking lot as a whole. If we talk about the theoretical part, then the finished building should be completely isolated from moisture for decades. However, practice shows that a monolithic concrete structure withstands rather poorly the effects of water.
Due to the fact that it is necessary to compensate for the loads that will be exerted on the structure from the side of the temperature drop, as well as pressure, it is necessary to construct expansion joints. Through such sections of the underground parking, water can easily get inside.
The consequences of poor insulation
As already mentioned, moisture can still penetrate through certain places. Everything is complicated by the fact that in the process of construction, most likely, other unplanned weaknesses will arise. Moisture can get inside through the seams forming between the concrete blocks, through cracks, through the entry points of communications to the parking lot. All this suggests that absolutely the entire section of the underground building should be isolated. Successful waterproofing of underground parking is the key to its long service life. If you do not fulfill all the requirements or fulfill them poorly, then defects such as puddles on the floor, water flowing down the walls, as well as patterns on the ceiling and a fungus appearing there, will not be long in coming.
Polyurea Isolation
There are several advantages that you can get if you equip an underground parking lot with polyurea waterproofing.
- A monolithic layer of material thickness, which is poured from 1 to 3 mm. This arrangement provides reliable protection for any joints, gaps, cracks, etc. In addition, the insulation will be the same in all areas of the parking lot.
- The second feature of this particular material will be that it can be used in any area from floor to ceiling, and the same people will do the installation. This eliminates the need to find a combination of different materials for complete waterproofing of the parking lot.
- An important factor is that the penetrating waterproofing of the parking lot with this material will make it insensitive to technical oils and gasoline. Contact with these substances in such a place is inevitable, but the high chemical resistance of polyurea will easily cope with this.
- Arrangement of waterproofing with this particular material will also positively affect the absence of waste, since there is no need to arrange fasteners or cutting material.
- The substance can be sprayed onto almost any surface. The adhesion of polyurea and concrete, metal, stone, brick, etc. is very high.
Methods and materials for waterproofing parking
Currently, there are two different groups of materials used for waterproofing parking lots.
- The first type is materials related to the membrane type. Such products include, for example, roofing material, lysol, bicrost. The essence of the external waterproofing of the underground parking with such materials is that they create a protective layer between the ceiling and the walls of the parking lot and the external environment.
- The second type of material is penetrating. The most common material in this category is Penetron waterproofing. The service life of such insulation is the same as that of the concrete building itself.
The simplest and most effective way of applying this type of insulation is to mix a substance with a concrete solution during its preparation. It is important to know that for 1 cubic meter of concrete it is necessary to use up to 4 kg of Penetron Admix waterproofing. The water resistance of the resulting material will be 4 times higher than that of ordinary concrete.
Outdoor insulation
For the arrangement of external insulation, polymer-cement material is most often used. One of the best representatives of this type of material was MAXSEAL SUPER. This substance is a mixture of several types of cement, which are carefully selected according to the composition of the fillers, as well as special organic and inorganic additives. The peculiarity of this type of mixture is that it penetrates the main structure through the capillary system. This leads to the fact that the entire structure of the substance crystallizes completely, and absolutely all the pores present in such building materials are sealed. It is this property that leads to the fact that concrete receives all the necessary waterproofing properties.
It is also worth adding that you can apply this material regardless of the state of concrete. It can be applied both to freshly laid concrete, and to an already dried and settled mixture. In addition, such a substance can be laid both on brickwork and on cement plaster. It is also possible to use with prefabricated concrete blocks, which are often used for the construction of underground parking.