Story at a glance:
- Coastal properties face heightened risks due to high humidity, UV exposure, and temperature fluctuations, making waterproofing systems essential for long-term deck and walkway durability.
- Effective project management and communication between trades are crucial in preventing issues like galvanic corrosion and ensuring waterproofing and other systems work together seamlessly.
- Westcoat offers solutions that allow property owners to achieve desired aesthetics while prioritizing waterproofing to prevent structural damage from water infiltration.
When it comes to dealing with decks and walkways, properties near the ocean present a unique set of challenges. High humidity can cause materials to swell, warp, or develop mold and mildew, UV exposure can break down coatings, and temperature fluctuations between night and day may cause decks and walkways to expand and contract. As such, selecting the right waterproofing system is vital to maintaining the health of a beachfront property.
“Oceanfront properties have a different set of problems. Things like rusting rebar that’s two inches below the surface of the concrete with concrete that is crumbling and falling apart, or you may have structural issues—items breaking down underneath top deck area,” says Marc Di Zinno, regional sales manager at Westcoat. “It is a different set of challenges. We are always concerned with the amount of moisture, and there’s the marine layer that comes in almost every day of the year on the coast of California. These types of environments with moisture making contact with these decks can completely destroy certain types of metals very quickly.”
Surfsong HOA
Coastal properties face heightened risks due to high humidity, UV exposure, and temperature fluctuations, but waterproofing systems can help. Photo courtesy of Westcoat
Consider Surfsong HOA, a beachside condominium community in Solana Beach, California. When Di Zinno visited the site, he found that the coating had expired and there were a number of issues with the details of the previous deck systems’ construction. Copper flashings underneath the thresholds had been broken through and were touching galvanized steel flashings. When two dissimilar metals touch each other without some kind of go-between, it can lead to a process called galvanic corrosion, Di Zinno says. This occurs because some metals are more reactive than others. When moisture is present, the more reactive metal starts to break down or corrode faster. As one metal corrodes it can weaken the surrounding materials. In the case of Surfsong, this issue with the initial construction was leading to water infiltration that was eroding the pre-existing coating.
Before Westcoat’s involvement, repairs were being conducted twice a year to fix areas with problems. “They just kept putting a Band-Aid on it, but they never really dug into what the source of the problem was,” Di Zinno says.
For this particular project, the applicator General Coatings Corporation was able to remove the worn-out solution from a competitor on the original concrete surfaces before preparing the concrete surfaces for an application of Westcoat’s MACoat—a fiberlath reinforced deck system installed with a series of waterproof acrylic applications and sealed with a clear sealer.
Construction Management
The MACoat fiberlath reinforced deck system was applied at Surfsong HOA. Photo courtesy of Westcoat
Di Zinno stresses that it’s issues like those uncovered in Surfsong’s previous deck system that make it so important to get things right from the start. To that end, he recommends strong oversight by construction management when tackling complex projects.
“What often happens is a sheet metal company comes in and does its work, and they might be very good at cutting, bending, and fastening sheet metal, but then you have a separate contractor who is going to do a waterproof deck coating application. He may also be very good at what he does, but he knows he didn’t get paid at all to have anything to do with the flashing, so he says to himself, ‘Oh, I assume that the flashing works and the pillars, drains, and rails are done because it’s none of my concern’,” Di Zinno says. “He’ll then install a waterproof deck coating system per specification, but because the trades weren’t talking to each other, there may be problems.”
He says construction management can avoid situations like this emerging in the first place. By making sure the trades communicate with each other and appropriately coordinate their work, a more effective overall installation can be ensured.
Aesthetics Meets Functionality
Surfsong HOA is a beachside condominium community in Solana Beach, California, that needed waterproofing. Photo courtesy of Westcoat
Effective waterproofing doesn’t have to come at the expense of aesthetic appeal, either. Often clients seeking a less commercial finish will opt to install tile over their waterproofing system for decorative purposes. However, even with an appropriate waterproofing membrane that allows the tile to be safely applied, it may be difficult to identify water intrusion should it occur, Di Zinno says.
To solve this problem Westcoat offers a variety of systems that allow for a shapeable cement-based layer to be applied on top of a waterproofing membrane. Scoring can then be used to create grooves or joints that give the surface the appearance of tile. Finally, color stains and finishes can be applied to emulate the look of natural stone and other common aesthetics. Westcoat’s Texture-Crete system is also one of a few different options that allow for a more decorative surface.
“The beauty of this is that it gives people the aesthetic qualities that they are after, but the priority is still the waterproofing,” Di Zinno says. “People often want things to look very nice, and so the priority tends to become the aesthetics. However, it really needs to be the waterproofing integrity because if there’s a leak all bets are off.”
