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J UNE 2015 | 49 Waterproofing PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY MAXXON CANADA; DRYVIT SYSTEMS CANADA LTD. B uildings in Canada are constantly under attack and it can take years before the culprit is identified. The "culprit" we are talking about is moisture, which quite often quietly infiltrates the building envelope over time. Thankfully, builders have options to prevent this from happening. Companies such as Durabond Products Ltd., Euclid Chemical Co. and Maxxon Corporation have noteworthy solutions to help construction firms and architects design and build water-resistant projects. Durabond Products Ltd. technical manager Gary Osmond points to a number of solutions from his firm. Durex Acrotel Superbond Non-Porous Surface Primer, for one, is a high-performance acrylic primer that bonds to high-gloss surfaces such as tile, glazed brick, aluminum and metal, without the need to scuff-up or abrade the surface. This feature provides designers with cost-effective options to over-clad failing wall facades with exterior insulation finishing systems or other protective wall coating solutions. The company also offers defences for concrete structures. The Durex Acrotel EC-A Elastomeric Anti-Carbonation Protective Coating creates a waterproof layer to resist moisture and carbon dioxide diffusion, which can corrode reinforcing steel. A 160-millimetre-thick coating of this product provides the equivalent of 40 centi- metres of concrete cover. Another option to safeguard smooth surfaces or to rejuvenate failing facades is a roll-on, pigmentable breathable coating, such as Durex Ecto-Sil 1000 Elastomeric Decorative Silicone Coating. According to Osmond, "this high-solids moisture cure silicone coating is an excellent method to stop water intrusion and reduce air leakage of concrete, stucco, masonry or wood facades and exterior insulation finishing systems." Dryvit Systems Canada Ltd. offers Backstop NT and AquaFlash, two products that work together to create a seamless air- and water-resistive barrier. Polymer- based and liquid-applied, Backstop NT shields the substrate while AquaFlash safe- guards rough wall openings. Backstop is available as both a vapour permeable and a vapour barrier option, making it ideal for a range of wall types and continuous insulation configurations. Dryvit recently announced that it now offers Backstop NT and AquaFlash for all claddings. That expansion means these products can be used with not only Dryvit claddings, but also other cladding sys- tems such as brick, stucco, siding and metal panels. Technical services manager Amanda Sinnige explains that the company noticed a need for liquid- applied air- and water-resistive barriers for different kinds of cladding. "A lot of builders use peel-and-stick products for openings around windows and doors, but they can be hard to work with. They crumple. You don't get a smooth finish, and there's the chance that you'll wind up with air pockets." Drvyit's products are also more adaptable than peel-and-stick, which spells flexible sequencing. "You can apply it in any order," Sinnige says. "Start with BackStop and follow with AquaFlash, or go the other way around. If you use peel-and-stick, you have to apply it at a particular point to get the tile effect, so the water runs off properly." You'll find Dryvit's solutions in use across numerous construction projects. Recently, for instance, Ancan Construction applied Backstop NT as the water-resis- tant barrier behind the lower brick portions of a new townhouse development in Toronto. The barrier and bricks go hand in hand with Dryvit's exterior insulating finishing system on the upper floors to create moisture-free and protected homes for future occupants. Maxxon has seen a lot of interest in its Moisture Vapor Protection (MVP) and Damp Proof Membrane (DPM) barriers. MVP is for suspended, on- and below-grade slabs where moisture vapour pressure is 10 to 25 pounds. DPM is for concrete slabs suspended, on and below grade where moisture vapour pressure ranges from 20 to 25 pounds. The owners of Lanai at Manele Bay Four Seasons Resort in Hawaii turned to Maxxon to preserve a new flooring investment. The resort operator opted for MVP, applied prior to installation of Maxxon's Dura-Cap underlayment. Together, the products created a moisture-free and smooth surface that ensured the finished flooring stayed dry and warp-free. Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy in Chicago chose DPM to make sure its flooring wouldn't delaminate, particularly in areas where the flooring was installed over a concrete slab-on-grade. In the academy's case, installers applied DPM along with a Maxxon underlayment, which levelled the floors and also contributed points to the project's LEED Silver certification. Euclid Chemical Co.'s moisture-stopping products are mixed right into wet con- crete. The company offers Eucon Vandex AM-10, an admixture that infuses con- crete pores with microscopic crystals, so when the mix hardens, it's watertight. This product suits a wide range of commercial applications, including foundations, parking structures and water reservoirs. Euclid is on a roll with its admixture advancements of late. For instance, earlier this year, the company announced the results of a test that proves Eucon Vandex AM-10 is suitable for use at a dosage range of one to two per cent, mean- ing that builders can use the product in as low as a one-to-100 ratio with concrete. "Our competitors were offering up some lower dos- age rates," says Brian Salazar, national business devel- opment manager at Euclid Admixture Canada Inc. "At two per cent, we were blowing them out of the water, but we decided that if they were cutting back and still getting acceptable results, we had better do the work to prove that our product is just as good or better." Lower dosages lead to cost savings. "Companies can use half the volume of material to be more com- petitive," Salazar says. "It's more cost effective, and it still meets the criteria set out by the CRD-C48 test for water permeability of concrete." The next generation of waterproofing solutions is here BY STEFAN DUBOWSKI Moisture Vapor Protection from Maxxon; Backstop NT from Dryvit used behind masonry.

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