Delta Registered Installers provide dry future for Manchester’s The Hub

Delta Registered Installers, Timberwise, recently completed a project which helped The Hub, in Greater Manchester, achieve a dry, usable underground parking facility.

The Hub, Hattersley, Greater Manchester, is a landmark building forming an integral part of a new district centre completed in 2012. The project was designed to bring people together and to supply a variety of services such as a community centre, library, youth club, police post and café.

Delta Registered Installers, Timberwise were approached by the customer to provide a guaranteed, cost-effective scheme that would comply with both BS8102:2009 and any requirements of third-party warranty providers.

A robust waterproofing system needed to be designed for a troublesome leaking podium deck to the entrance of The Hub. Resulting problems from the leaking podium led to high volumes of water ingress to the underground parking facilities.

After years of sealing leaks on the podium deck, The Hub called in a Waterproofing Design Expert to design and install a solution. Underground car parks are by their very nature exposed to moisture and water ingress due to the typical environment they exist in and as a result, some moisture is tolerable (Grade 1 BS8102:2009).

Following a full assessment of The Hub and its underground parking facilities it was identified that rainwater was entering the basement car park through the ceiling deck at multiple points. These points included holes that were formed to allow drainage from the surface, movement joints and investigation holes that had been created through the steel rib and concrete deck. Because of the same, there were large areas of ‘pooling’ within the basement car park.

A system was designed post-construction that would offer the same quality of structural protection had it been incorporated during the build phase. This involved removing all flagstones from the paving area to the front of The Hub and setting them aside for reuse. A special expanding mortar ‘Koster Repair Mortar Plus’ was then used on the wall floor junction/fillet seals as angles are potential stress points for waterproofing and so require special attention. Furthermore, the crack bridging properties of flexible waterproofing provides security for these inherently difficult junctions.

Koster Polysil TG 500 was applied to both the junctions slab and fillet. Koster Polysil TG 500 is a free lime and salt encapsulating primer that modifies mineral surfaces and effectively consolidates the surface to ensure that when the waterproofing layer is applied it can bond effectively to all types of concrete, stone and brick.

Finally, Delta Geo Drain Quattro offered further protection to the structure by overlaying the Deuxan 2C to the external perimeter wall, draining excess water away from the structure. The fabric of the building, including embedded structural steels are now thoroughly protected for the future.

Delta Geo Drain Quattro is a unique four-layer drainage and protection board that also features a slip layer to further protect proprietary waterproofing systems and deal with lateral as well as vertical loads. Delta Geo Drain Quattro has a very high load-bearing capacity (400Kn per meter squared). The principle of draining water away from the waterproofing before it can pressure on it is a desirable function and a good design principle which can add to the overall success of the system.

External contractors then carried out the landscaping and surface water drainage connections, ultimately leaving The Hub with a dry, usable underground parking facility.

Delta Membrane Systems,
Delta House,
Merlin Way,
North Weald,
Epping,
Essex,
CM16 6HR
United Kingdom

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