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Girish Nair Zonal Manager (South) Mapei Construction Products India Pvt. Ltd. www.mapei.com |
Life expectancy is not just a term associated with a living, breathing being but even with an immobile non-living element, like a building. According to researchers, the general lifespan of a concrete building lies in the average range of 75 to 100 years and for a residential building, this can be even close to 40 years. By which time, complete deterioration can happen in the absence of building maintenance.
In this article, we shall discuss about repair of a residential building which is 40 year old using Mapei products and also listing of Mapei products that can be used for different type of maintenance of a building.
Each building, early deterioration of a building can occurs due to:
⦁ Poor design, detailing and construction
⦁ Severe environmental actions
⦁ Substandard construction materials
⦁ Unintended use
⦁ Poor management
Repair Of A Residential Building
Ground floor of a residential building which is 40 year old had deteriorated very badly and had one more floor with people living in it. The ground floor was damaged due to water seepage and bad maintenance. This house was to be repaired without damaging the first floor. The risk of crack and damage to the first floor was high. The damaged house had water seepage, no maintenance and usage of substandard construction materials.
Mapei offers wide range of repair products but due to budget constraints the following products were used for repair of the referred house.
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| Fig. 1: Shows the Damage of the House with Big Holes where the Termites had Damaged the Bricks | Fig. 2: Shows Treated Wall with Mapegrout T40 and Application of Planiseal 88 |
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| Fig.3: Smooth and even Wall using Mapewall Ready Mix Plaster | Fig. 4: Completed Wall |
Conclusion
‘Better Safe than Sorry’ Following good construction practices and using construction chemical products during the construction of a residential
building give more life span and low maintenance cost.
Acknowledgement
The author thanks Mr. Chandrakanth Kamath and Mr. Jackson for the inputs of the residential building and photographs