Case study
Caulfield Apartments
Hot water systems and air conditioning units with no trays over occupied apartments, on a roof nobody else would inspect.
The access was the reason nobody had looked
Access to this roof was poor enough that no other waterproofer was willing to go up and establish what the problem actually was. We took it on.
What was up there was a compliance problem before it was a waterproofing one. The hot water systems had no trays underneath them. Sitting above an occupied apartment, that is a legal requirement, not a preference - and the units were heavy enough that no contractor had been prepared to lift them to put one in.
Thermal imaging confirmed the rest. Behind the air conditioning units the waterproofing had not been applied correctly, and beside the drainage the membrane that had been used was never rated to sit under water. Once water started ponding there, it broke down.
How it went
- 01
What was up there
Hot water systems standing straight on the roof with no trays under them, and water ponding around their bases. Above an occupied apartment a tray is a legal requirement, not a preference.
- 02
Where the membrane had failed
Beside the drainage the membrane had never been rated to sit under water, so once it started ponding it broke down. Thermal imaging had already told us what the staining underneath confirmed.
- 03
Lifting the units, rebuilding underneath
We engineered a way to lift the hot water systems safely, ground the outlet back, waterproofed the roof under them with a system rated for standing water, and installed compliant trays before setting them down again.
- 04
Finished
Everything is back on compliant trays and the roof is waterproofed under the units rather than around them.
The outcome
Hot water systems and air conditioning units heavy enough that no other contractor would lift them are back on compliant trays, with the roof waterproofed underneath rather than around them, and a membrane beside the drainage that is rated for the water it actually sits in.
