Case 3
- Introduction
- Causes of Defects
- Good Practices
- Standards
- Maintenance and Diagnostics
- Remedial
- Similar Cases
- References
Water Leakage through RC Internal Floor Slab
Introduction
Type of Building: Public
RC internal floor slab over a wet area is cracked and badly stained with algae. RC is a durable material under tropical conditions and the steel reinforcement is chemically protected from corrosion by the alkaline nature of the concrete. However, aging, deterioration of concrete structures and many other external factors such as structural movement can cause cracking which may be further grouped into pre-hardening and post-hardening cracks.
Excessive shrinkage of the slab could be one possible cause of the crack in this case since drying shrinkage cracks appeared to propagate perpendicularly along the long dimension of the slab. Slab soffit has observed to be soaked with water. It is evident that slab was subjected to water seepage for a long period. This constant supply of moisture provides an excellent environment for growth of algae over soffit. In fact, cement-based products are more prone to algae growth.