Miscellaneous

Finlock gutters

• Project Local Authority Housing, N. London.
• Substrate Failed concrete finlock gutters
• Product Kemperol V210
• Requirement The Finlock gutters on this medium-rise block of apartments, built in the early 1950’s, had started to fail in several places, with seeping rainwater tracking through the cavity wall below and causing internal damage to several of the apartments below. Inspection of the roof and gutters showed the primary cause of failure to be structural movement between the concrete Finlocks, which combined with a general deterioration of the mortar joints between adjoining units had weakened the overall integrity of the gutter. The rough surface of the gutter had allowed a gradual accumulation of lichens and moss which had in places severely affected flow rates, causing ponding which had exacerbated the weaknesses. Patch repairs had been undertaken in the past, using single-coat compounds to re-seal the joints, however this had not successfully resolved the problem and there was evidence of adhesion failure where this had been applied.
• Solution The options considered were to repair or replace the guttering. The Kemperol solution, using the product 1K-PUR, had the advantage that removal of the existing gutters was not necessary. Consideration was given to replacement, however this was considerably more expensive and the disruption to tenants would have been greater. A number of other solutions were appraised, including re-lining in aluminium through to simple patch repairs. These were either more costly or less permanent (or both!) and a decision was made to waterproof with Kemperol which had proven performance for this application, was highly cost effective and had an long expected repair life. A further advantage of 1K-PUR was that it is applied straight from the can without mixing, making application easy and economical.

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