Building Failures: Diagnosis and Avoidance

199 Pages·1987·10.079 MB·English

by  W. H. Ransom

Building Failures
DIAGNOSIS AND AVOIDANCE
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Building Failures
DIAGNOSIS AND
AVOIDANCE
Second edition
W.H.RANSOM
First edition 1981 by E & FN Spon
Second edition 1987
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of
thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Spon Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
© 1987 W.H.Ransom
ISBN 0-203-47301-9 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-78125-2 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0 419 14270 3 (Print Edition)
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private
study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright
Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may not be
reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case
of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with the terms of the
licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK, or in
accordance with the terms of licences issued by the appropriate
Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the
publishers at the London address printed on this page.
The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with
regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and
cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or
omissions that may be made.
A Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
Contents
Acknowledgements viii
1 Introduction 1
2 Agencies causing deterioration 4
2.1 Solar radiation 5
2.2 Moisture 7
2.3 Biological agencies 9
2.4 Gaseous constituents and pollutants of air 11
2.5 Ground salts and waters 12
2.6 Manufactured products 13
2.7 Juxtaposition of materials and components 13
3 Durability of materials 15
3.1 Asbestos cement 15
3.2 Asphalt and bitumen 17
3.3 Bricks and tiles 18
3.4 Cement and concrete 20
3.5 Metals 25
3.6 Glass 31
3.7 Mortars and renderings 31
3.8 Plastics 32
3.9 Natural stone 34
3.10 Timber 37
3.11 Moisture movement 38
v
4 Moisture 40
4.1 Water entering during construction 40
4.2 Ground water 41
4.3 Rain and snow 42
4.4 Moisture from human activities 45
4.5 Condensation 46
4.6 Avoidance of condensation 49
5 Foundations 53
5.1 Type and structure of the soil 53
5.2 Interaction between soils and buildings 54
5.3 Soil movement 55
5.4 Fill 61
6 Floors, floor finishes and DPMs 65
6.1 Hardcore 65
6.2 Damp-proofing of floors 68
6.3 Concrete floors 69
6.4 Magnesite flooring 75
6.5 Timber flooring 77
6.6 Clay floor tiles 80
6.7 Plastic sheets and tiles 81
7 Walls and DPCs 83
7.1 Moisture penetration from the ground 83
7.2 Rain penetration 85
7.3 Cold bridges and interstitial condensation 93
7.4 Cracking and spalling of masonry through movement 94
7.5 Damage to walls by chemical attack 98
7.6 Damage to walls by physical attack 102
vi
7.7 Problems with renderings 105
8 Cladding 108
8.1 Differential movement 108
8.2 Inaccuracies in construction 112
8.3 Faults caused by movement and inaccuracy 113
8.4 Sealants 116
8.5 Fixing methods 116
8.6 Prevention of loss of integrity in cladding 119
8.7 Water entry 122
9 Doors and windows 126
9.1 Doors 126
9.2 Windows 127
9.3 Prevention of failure and remedial work 134
10 Roofs 136
10.1 Flat roofs 136
10.2 Pitched roofs 155
11 Services 161
11.1 Heating installations 161
11.2 Chimneys and flues 164
11.3 Plumbing and drainage 165
11.4 Electricity supply 169
12 Failure patterns and control 170
12.1 Cost and types of defect 170
12.2 Causes 172
12.3 Reasons for failure 173
12.4 Problems of innovation 175
12.5 Towards better control 177
vii
References 182
Further reading 185
Index 186
Acknowledgements
Improvements in building techniques, understanding of the reasons
for, and the prevention of, failures, the encouragement of sensible
innovation and the development of safe standards owe much to the
Property Services Agency, the Building Research Establishment, the
British Board of Agrément and the British Standards Institution. So,
too, does this book. I wish also to make specific acknowledgement to
the Property Services Agency for permission to use Figs 4.2, 8.2, 10.1,
10.5, 10.6 and 11.1, to the Director of Building Research for Figs 2.1.
3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 4.1, 4.4, 6.1, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, 7.10, 9.1,
9.2 and 11.2. Figure 8.1 is reproduced by kind permission of the
Brighton Evening News and Argos. Figures 6.2 and 7.3 are based on
figures in publications by the Building Research Establishment. I wish
also to thank the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
for permission to include Table 2.1, to the British Standards Institution
for agreeing to the publication of Tables 4.1 and 4.2 and to Mitchell
Beazley Publishers for the use of information resulting in Table 5.2.
W.H.R.
1
Introduction
Most building defects are avoidable: they occur, in general, not
through a lack of basic knowledge but by non-application or mis-
application of it. Knowledge seems to become mislaid from time to
time. Those with long memories, and those whose business it is to
make a particular study of building defects, are often struck by the re-
emergence of problems which have been well researched and
documented. Certain basic properties of materials, such as their
ability to move through changes in temperature and moisture, seem
to be overlooked and a rash of difficulties occurs. A call goes out for
more research but, in truth, all that is usually needed is a good system
for the retrieval of information, a better procedure for its
dissemination and, most important, the realization that an
information search is desirable.
Current training in design tends to concentrate on what to do rather
than what not to do. A similar situation exists in training in
constructional techniques, where the craftsman is instructed how best
to undertake a particular operation but, to a lesser extent, in the
dangers of deviation from an accepted technique. Understanding of
the likelihood of defects through inadequate design or construction is
taught implicitly rather than explicitly. The level and nature of defects
in building construction currently encountered suggest that more
guidance is required on the avoidance of failures. A need is seen, too,
for such guidance to be a positive part of a training curriculum.
Indeed there are good arguments for suggesting that, as the first
essential in design and construction is to ensure that the structure
provided is stable and durable, specific education in the avoidance of
failure should be a major part of any design and construction syllabus.
The purpose of this book is to provide this positive guidance in a
suitably compressed form. It does not set out to describe every